TRADEWINDS TEST
We who write for the yachting press are deluged with tales of extraordinary achievement. Although I’ve done more than my own share of ocean walloping, I’m often humbled by the exploits of others, so it comes as a pleasant respite to discover a well-written blog from a regular human being who is on the way around the world with the man she loves.
Before Barb White set out on her trip in the 1989 Oyster 406, Zoonie, she spent 13 years as a driving instructor. Her shipmate and husband, Rob, ran a family business which included directing funerals. Not the obvious stuff of the superhero, perhaps, but tough times bring out the best in people of all sorts, as you’ll see when you discover Barb’s account of a tradewinds passage that fell a long way short of the propaganda brochure.
I’ve suffered a similar hammering from a strong tradewind on the beam myself, and while it may not be Cape Horn, it’s certainly no joke. Barb, Rob and hang on, ride the rough with the smooth and make it from Fiji to New Zealand more or less unscathed. If. You’ll enjoy the straightforward honesty of the accounts.
