Singlehanding Done Right

[AdriftAtSea]

Maud Fontenoy, a 29-year old native of France, was about 2000 miles from completing her non-stop westabout solo circumnavigation her boat L'oreal Paris was dismasted. 

Fontenoy spent the next several hours cutting away the mast and then conferred with her support team about what to do next.  They assumed she would abandon ship, and a German freighter changed course to offer assistance. 

Instead, she decided to construct a jury-rig from her boat's 220-lb boom and continue on, in hopes of finishing her voyage.  She was quoted saying, "I don't want to abandon.  I now have a healthy boat in which I feel safe."

She was able to complete her voyage under jury rig.  Now that's a sailor. 

[cgoinggal]

 :o

It should be noted that the same 29 year old also rowed a 22 foot boat across the Pacific singlehanded last year and several years back rowed singlehanded aboard the same boat across the Atlantic. 

Maud is not your average girl and I admire and aspire to her level of performance and courage.

She is also extremely active in Children's causes and she uses her 'celebrity' to help others attain their goals.  Basically, she rocks!

[AdriftAtSea]

That she does... and you could certainly do worse for role models... ;)

[CharlieJ]

Speaking of lady singlehanders- Donna Lange is currently offshore in the remains of the poop that hit the east coast- battling high winds and big seas- and she lost her sea anchor.

http://www.donnalange.com/logpart2nztori.html

[AdriftAtSea]

I think Donna will be okay...  The storm is slowly dying off, and heading off finally.  I think the message from Ken Barnes is rather ironic.

[CharlieJ]

apparently another low to form right over her position tomorrow late. Hope she fares well- her latest posts sound like she's exhausted.

[AdriftAtSea]

Ouch...that sucks... what bad timing... it also sounds like her self-steering, Autopilot and/or windvane, is shot... I wish she had a JSD on-board.

[Frank]

That Donny Lange story is truly remarkable...she is 'made of good stuff'. Hats off to her and I am so happy she is now safe in Bermuda. One cannot imagine the total exhaustion she would have felt hand steering for that long out there in 'the big stuff'....TRULY BIG STUFF.  The mental and physical drain would be overwhelming..unbelievably overwhelming...to the extreme.  One amazing lady !!

[AdriftAtSea]

And it is only a short hop for her to finish her circumnavigation.  :D   Short being a relative term.

[Captain Smollett]

And it is only a short hop for her to finish her circumnavigation.  :D   Short being a relative term.

She's already completed her circumnavigation - when she arrived in the Virgin Islands on 29 March.  The celebration is going to be held in Bristol, though.

[Parrothead]

Does anyone Know why this Ken Barnes guy thinks we need a sailing site run by someone with an obvious lack of seamenship? Im confused!

[Zen]

Does anyone Know why this Ken Barnes guy thinks we need a sailing site run by someone with an obvious lack of seamenship? Im confused!

What ??

[AdriftAtSea]

Zen-

Scary but true, from Kensolo.com, Ken Barnes's website.

The New KenSolo is Under Construction

Thanks for checking back with us!! We are in the architecture phase of the new web site which will allow all adventurers the ability to file an adventure plan and profile, free of charge. Our goal is to add capabilities for individual or team assisted real time or latent adventure updates.

If you are interested in the progress, launch or beta information, please click here to fill out this form and we will email you with our updates as we progress. If you have suggestions or ideas, please enter in the comments area or email us at info@kensolo.com.

[Captain Smollett]

If that is what he is doing, what is wrong with that?

He claims to be providing a service, for free, to other cruisers.  I think that is pretty cool, and actually kicked around a similar idea a couple of times.

Are we now going to start faulting the guy for having an interest in sailing, just because he had to abandon his cruise and his ship?

Given his equipment list and experience before heading out, I could, to a point anyway, understand questioning his running an 'advice' or 'how-to' site.  But from that description, it seems like he is just providing a web space for folks to post THEIR dreams and adventures.

[CapnK]

Hi Parrothead, Welcome Aboard! :)

IIRC, that info was put up on the kensolo website shortly (within a couple weeks) after he was safe and back in the US. Looking at the site, it hasn't changed much at all since then, which was what, ~4.5 months ago? To me it looks like he was trying to make it an 'all-encompassing-adventures' deal, not just sailing.

Remembering all the media attention that his story received, it seems that he or his website guy was attempting/hoping to capitalize on that, but in a manner which might have been free and benficial to 'adventurers' in general. The idea is not a bad one, I think.

If, however, we'd been hearing him relentlessly on talk shows and/or seeing him on the covers of sailing rags as "The Old Man of The Sea" ;), I might be more skeptical of his intentions.

That we haven't makes me think more along the lines of "There, but for the Grace of God, go I...". :)

[Frank]

Donna has made it home a few days back and is tied up at Bristol. AMAZING lady!!!!!! She mentions 4 boats lost off Florida recently..anyone have any info?? Congrats to Donna on one heck of a trip.

[AdriftAtSea]

I think Donna may have been talking about the boats recently lost off the east coast of the US, including the one that triggered its EPIRB but all contact was lost with a few hours later.  Believe there were three aboard that one.

[Captain Smollett]

Believe there were three aboard that one.

If you are talking about FLYING COLOURS, there were four aboard - 2 men and 2 women, all from Rhode Island.

[Frank]

Capt S...what is the story on 'Flying Colours' ?? I've heard nothing about the storm or boats in trouble up here at home.