Yohanta

By Burl Ellis

Yohanta is the story of a 63 ft sailing boat, from its conception, through four years of construction, to its launching and the realisation of a long-held dream.

The name Yohanta was derived from ‘Hanta Yo’ – a term of deference to an elder of the Kwakiutl tribe – meaning “One Who Clears the Way”. It was the author's intention to use this project to settle and clarify the tumultuous experiences of his recent past and to make 'way' for a more stable future. It was with this singular purpose in mind that the long and arduous hours spent in building Yohanta were sustained and ultimately realised in her launching. The subsequent seven years on the high seas encompassed scuba charter in the Comoros Islands of the Indian Ocean followed by a crossing of the South Atlantic and a year of cruising up the coast of South America, and culminated in chartering in the Grenadines, among the windward Islands of the Caribbean. Yohanta voyaged among the ravages of turbulent banana republics and failed coups d'etat to the wild dichotomies of the seemingly tranquil West Indies and its often despotic and violent reality.

Yohanta is also an intimate journey of self-discovery, written by a father to his three beloved daughters. As a metaphor of transformation, she provided its author with catharsis and redemption from a youth smitten with instability and the endlessly repeating cycles of manic depression. "Building Yohanta was like deconstructing and then reassembling my own psyche in a more organised and mindful form. Sailing her was an extraordinary journey of discovery - a revelation - and an awakening to new realms of being."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Burl Ellis
• Release date: Jul 16, 2013
• ISBN: 9780646907147

Burl Ellis

The author, has lived in six countries on five continents, and now lives in Australia. Having spent most of his life in development and project management in the construction industry, he is now semi-retired. He is a passionate environmentalist who's had part of a 'tread lightly' manual published as a series of articles in a number of Sydney newspapers and was the founder and CEO, respectively, of the innovative Ecological Restoration Foundation, and ecotourism company, Oz Naturally Limited. Currently, his primary purpose in writing has been to come to terms with his lifelong struggle with an inherited bi-polar disorder (manic depression) and to articulate this to his daughters and others who might benefit from hearing his story. 'Yohanta' is part of a more comprehensive autobiographical book that is to be published shortly.

Book preview

YOHANTA

Burl Ellis

.

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2013 Burl Ellis

License Notes: This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Ebook formatting by www.ebooklaunch.com

Table of Contents

Acknowledgement

Foreword

Chapter 1 - Yohanta (the narrative)

Chapter 2 - The Kite Ride

Chapter 3 - Cop-van

Chapter 4 - Daphne

Chapter 5 - Lilani Moonlight

Chapter 6 - Sangoma Malanga

Chapter 7 - Mach Junk

Chapter 8 - Broken Mooring

Chapter 9 - Mayotte Mayhem

Chapter 10 - What's the Difference?

Chapter 11 - Durnford Lock

Chapter 12 - Bent CQR

Chapter 13 - Troppo Tug

Chapter 14 - Where's Jill?

Chapter 15 - The Pink Panther

Chapter 16 - Monarch of the Seas

Chapter 17 - Halyard

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Thanks are due to a number of my friends for encouraging me to publish these stories. Among them, and above all, special thanks are due to Mark Muirhead for his reading and editing of the manuscript and his constructive criticism. My thanks also to Doug Stark, Nick Basford and Tony Webb for their encouragement and advice.

This story is part of a memoir called 'Shit Happens'. Although the names of some people have been changed to protect their identity, it is otherwise a true story, written as the author remembers it.

For my three beloved daughters.

Foreword

I have written this story in seventeen chapters. The whole narrative is condensed into the first chapter and the detail that follows is provided in the form of sixteen vignettes - or short stories - that together, express the whole story of Yohanta. I've told them all as I remember them and although parts of them may be hard to fathom at times, they are nevertheless, true stories. It's for you, my dear children, to cast some light, hopefully, on the enigma that is your father.

As mentioned already, this story is part of my whole memoir entitled 'Shit Happens', as quite often in life things do happen by circumstance rather than by choice, or as luck would have it, even though I strongly believe that we do make our own luck, and to be sure, I've had an abundantly lucky life, as many people would attest. Although much of it has been happy, and quite ordinary in many ways, I've not sought to convey much of 'la la land' here. I've focused, primarily, on the specific events that I've found to be more interesting, more revealing and certainly more valuable for me to ponder. To be clear, I'm no victim of life. Rather, I've been dealt a series of memnoons - gifts - that although challenging at times, have led to greater understanding and a measure of personal growth.

So, to come to the main purpose for writing, I've needed for some time to come to terms, to understand and to make sense of things; particularly to understand the bipolar 'reality' that life has, on and off, dealt me. So writing has been a form of therapy that has provided me with some measure of catharsis. In expressing the detail of certain times I've allowed myself to remember - prompted my memory if you like - to expose some really questionable, and at times, shameful things. Feeling that shame again has enabled me to come to terms with it and to move on. Although I'm not looking for forgiveness from you, or anyone else, it's enabled me to accept and to forgive, myself. You will see what I mean, I hope.

You might also notice that I skip over some quite large chunks of time, and more surprisingly, skip over some important people who you might have expected me to give more time and significance to. In this I do ask for forgiveness. There have been so many wonderful people in my life that I could never do them all justice, and a few amazing people that deserve a lot more than I could possibly ever give them. May they forgive me too. But I've not written this for them. I've written this for me and for you, my children. And having already been accused of navel gazing and narcissism by my own brother, I'd like to point out, that whatever you may come to think, your opinion of me is none of my business.

However, my hope is that, if you do read this, you will be forewarned and forearmed and have some insight into manic depression, or bi-polar disorder, that I inherited from my mother and that you or your offspring may possibly inherit from me. Given my life again, were I to be given the choice of not having mood swings, would I so choose? The answer is: Certainly not! Life without any of the exquisite highs I've experienced, would in my opinion, be a dull life indeed. And the lows, painful though they've been, are intrinsic to my life and an important learning too.

My only regret is that I wasn't given, nor did I seek, more guidance and information. Hence this document, as an exposé, seeks to redress that and provide some for you.

.

The way upward and the way downward are the same.

Heraclitus

Chapter 1 - Yohanta (the narrative)

I was in my 30th year and, having recently emerged from an extraordinary hyper-manic episode, had reached another crossroads. As always, when in doubt with what to do with my life, I decided to travel again. So in the spring of 1975, I happily took a long three-month motorcycle trip, through France, Italy, Spain and Portugal, alone, briefly visiting friends - first in Normandy and then Provence and at the end, my brother and his family in the Portuguese Algarve. Although I'd hoped to share this trip with Geraldine, my Canadian girlfriend, alas, her plans had changed at the last moment and her life was headed in a new direction.

Later that year, after getting back to London from the Continent, I worked with builders Hawk & Dovetail again, and helped David and Heather finish their conversion of a Victorian house in Clapham. I ended up buying their attic flat for 12,000 pounds and moved in with all my worldly possessions. At last I had a home of my own and a base from which to explore my future options. I spent some weekends exploring the West Country and came close to moving to the edge of the Mendips in Devon. A little stone cottage there was crying out for me to renovate it and there was lots of other renovation and restoration work around. I would apply my natural gift - I am good with my hands - I have always merely had to watch someone do something to be able to do it myself. My grandfather's exhortation to become a jack of all trades had become a dictum of mine, and eventually, my reality. Over the years, not afraid to try new things, I'd picked up a broad range of craft and building skills. To give my father some credit, those early years, doing extensions, building sheds and fixing all manner of things on the dairy farm, had rubbed off on me too. These skills have always stood me in good stead and I've resorted to them, time and time again, as my basic 'stock in trade'. The years studying architecture too, have never been wasted, and although I have often thought of completing my degree, it's seemed pointless, as I'd already learnt what I'd needed to know and being a 'qualified' architect wasn't important to me.

But before I committed myself to another isolated Celtic shire I had to sort my affairs out in South Africa. There was the question of what to do regarding the South African Exchange Control Authority clutching at some money I'd inherited from my mother back there. What I needed most at this juncture of my life was a therapeutic endeavour. Something that would provide the catharsis I was in need of. An endeavour of substance - some long-term project or other that I could throw myself into - heart and soul.

Back in South Africa, after seven years abroad, it suddenly dawned on me that this was both the solution and the opportunity I'd been looking for. I had always wanted to build a boat. I'd call her 'Hanta Yo' - a term of deference to an elder of the Kwakiutl tribe - meaning One Who Clears the Way. I would use this project to settle and clarify the experiences of my recent past and make way for a more stable future.

I'd seen a documentary, shot in the Queen Charlotte Islands of Canada, about schooling Orcas. They'd set up this sailboat with a moog synthesizer aboard and underwater speakers, taken out microphones on long leads in kayaks and dropped them among the pod, then played an isolated chord through the speakers to see what the whales would do. The response was nothing short of stupendous. A single killer whale tentatively sang a note in response. After much adjustment