Flicka 'round the world' trip planned

[AdriftAtSea]

Trust me, Ken Barnes and his protege David Vann aren't on my heroes list... far from it.  They're on my list of people not to be like.

My heroes are the ones that made it.  They are worth my time. Those who do not have some problem that was not resolved. The FAILURES are not worth my time.

[Tim]

I guess He is going to shelve it and take the boat back to Napa until next year.
Here's a link to Latitude 38's story;

http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lectronicday.lasso?date=2008-02-18&dayid=74#Story2

[Bill NH]

The latest from Heather...  as it was a group email, I don't think she'd mind it being shared.

The weeks since returning have been, and remain, the most difficult of my life.  The life I knew is gone and the future I believed in out of reach.  I have not been able - and will not now - relay to you all that has happened.  There is no sense in it.  It is taking everything I have to write these few words to you.

My medical bills have escalated and I now face the probability of surgery on my declining hand.  My funds are dwindling and I have returned to work in a real estate market which is not currently meeting the bills.

I am in the process of relocating to Gainesville where I will rebuild my life anew, continuing to work in real estate, and probably, for a time, a part-time job as well to make ends meet. 

I am therefore forced to sell Flight of Years.  I will not itemize here all the costs and work which have gone into her over the last year.  Suffice it to say I have countless hours of work and some $100,000 in her (provable by receipt), including thousands of dollars for rigging, equipment, the Monitor self-steering wind vane, the Air-X wind generator, satellite phone, dinghy and motor, as well as $14,000 for custom-built Ultimate Offshore Sails by the German company, Schattauer Sails.  You have only to read the months of preparations on this web site to see the work, love and money which have been lavished on her. 

I offer Flight of Years, the last Flicka ever built, and the most beautiful boat I have ever seen, for $73,000.00. 

If you are not a serious buyer with the means to purchase, or if you have unkind things to say, please do not write me.  I cannot bear it.

[AdriftAtSea]

It's also up on her website.  I do have to wonder how her dream of forty years managed to die so tragically over the course of just two months.  Go small, go simple, go now... or you may not get the chance again. 

[Gus]

Got the email too, sad news, but boats come and go, I hope she won't give up on her dream.

Gus

[Zen]

Sad news,...Life is like a river full of curves, go with it or go aground...

Best wishes to her.

[ronc98]

Sad news indeed.  I have followed her site and I truely hope she finds peace within herself and does not giveup her dream.  People tend to not understand what their limits are and what drives them until they are forced to deal with situations like what she had to deal with. 

The fact is she faced a situation that was about as worst case as it could be, She coped and made it back on her own.  The fear factor had to be huge, however she made it back.  I hope she finds comfort and confidence in that fact. 

[Gus]

The sea can play some tricky stuff in one's head. When I found myself alone in the middle of the Pamlico sound, and with night approaching fast, it was very crappy. The though of that "I'm almost there" help me keep going. I understand her, I hope she doesn't give up sailing.

Gus

[Lost Lake]

Well this is terrible news.

I thought, nay hoped and prayed she could and would do it. I guess if I gave up everything I had, and garnished so many expectations, I would be out there on the sea, come heck or high water, injury or health. I believe you have one chance in life, and I know Heather was going to grab for the ring, but she slipped.

Now what really bothers me is selling the Flicka!  That means she is giving up. None of us would sell our dream... yet she is selling the dream.

What I am saying is: If we planned or hoped or dreamed of voyaging Mother Earth, we would  hold the items necessary for such dream as long as possible, relinquishing them as a last resort.

I get the impression Heather is giving up too soon. And dare I say:

Her heart was not in it.

[Lynx]

I don't think that she is giving up, just a real estimation of that it takes to get her body back into shape. 

There are far to many singlehanders for her to give up sailing. I have met a few that are not anymore.

[CharlieJ]

I've said this before.

I've felt from the beginning of reading about this, that it wasn't truly HER dream, rather her FATHER'S for her and vicariously for him. I'm sure she was into it, but I somehow don't feel it was her PASSION.

Ellen MacArthur has the PASSION, my wife does too.

I hope Heather does very well in her life and if she really wants to do the circumnav or even just close coastal sailng, that she winds up with another boat and does it, in her own good time. I truly wish her well.

[ronc98]

I wonder how many people have a dream of a trip like that only to get there and realize it is really not what they thought. 

I have that dream since I was a kid, and really was not able to work towards that dream until I hit mid 30's.  I have only been sailing for about two years however each day I spend on my boat my dream is reinforced.   I wonder if exposed to a situation like she was exposed to would change the importance of that dream for me? 

I guess you never know unless you try.  There is no less honor in trying and realizing it is not your dream after all.   The issue for me is not trying and wondering what if.  Life is to short to live with what if's.

[Captain Smollett]

I guess you never know unless you try.  There is no less honor in trying and realizing it is not your dream after all.

Grog for that one.

[AdriftAtSea]

I'd have to agree with Charlie....

Her dream, in her own words, slowly grew over nearly forty years... and yet it died in just two short months.  I think part of the problem was that this dream may not have really been Heather's alone.  Given the tone of her father's letters and posts—it seems this was his dream as much as, if not more, than it was Heather's.

I wish Heather well... and feel sorry for the death of her dream. I had hoped, just following her return to Steinhatchee, that she would have been able to sail and cruise in s/v Flight of Years—slowly gaining the necessary experience and skills to allow her to resume her circumnavigation. It does not look like s/v Flight of Years will be taking any journeys, any time soon.

[Godot]

Hmm.  Dreams come and go and sometimes come again.  She seems rather distraught at having to part with Flight of Dreams; but that doesn't necessarily mean anything.  It is one expensive 20 footer!  If she needs the money now, and it doesn't look like she is going to take off again in the next year or so, it makes perfect sense to me that she might want to sell it.  She could easily spend ten thousand dollars on an older, perfectly functional and seaworthy (if not as nice), alternative and have huge cash reserves to deal with her current emergency.

I don't know if that is her plan.  It doesn't really matter.  If she is like most of us she will first do what she has to do, then figure out what she wants to do.  I hope she takes a lesson from this, though, and if she does do it again go more low key.  I've been reading a few sailing blogs of folks in small boats.  Many of them seem to feel a lot of pressure to go on from the internet denizens. Sailing (especially single handing) is a distinctly personal occupation.  Feeling responsible to a bunch of faceless readers has got to take away some of the feelings of freedom and individual accomplishment.

[nick]

I almost fell off the bar at reading she spent $100,000. Seriously, the mega budgets people are anticipating for round the world sailing is staggering. It's like a kid I know here in Europe that spent 25,000euros on a solo Atlantic crossing. What the heck? Where is all this money going?

It's guys like the crazy French that built an outrigger and sailed the pond that make me wake up every morning - She could have invested $15,000 in a good boat, and another $15,000 in some zero to hero Yachtmaster super tonnage bullshit course and had the confidence to do the trip (or the knowledge it wasn't for her). And then the rest of the money could have had her eating out in fancy marinas for the next two years in foreign ports. Or heck, $73,000 for a 20ft boat? I saw a 35ft boat designed for northern latitudes for less. Oh, and $14,000 for offshore sails? Must I continue?

I hate to be blunt, her method of tackling the entire project was ridiculous. All her priorities were in the completely wrong places.

[Manannan]

I agree on that. She got overwhelmed by the preparation, forgetting all about the meaning, the purpose of the trip and why she dreamed about it in the first place. It got completely out of her hand, if it really got into her hand in the first place. I hate to see money wasted... and only can dream about what I could do if I had half of it in my pocket, or even a quarter of it !!!  :(
Yes, Cheers to these French guys...

[Shipscarver]

I feel it would be appropriate to wish her well in this new chapter in her life. It is also worth keeping in mind the expense she faces in the pending surgery and costs of getting reestablished at a time that is at the very  least, troublesome. Surgery is expensive, as is rehab. And, in America, when you have no insurance but do have net worth, you are in real trouble. But, she is a bright an capable lady and I am sure that time is on her side.

[CharlieJ]

I think we ALL wish her well in this next stage of her life, and we are all saddened that the plans fell through.

Tough thing to go through, no matter WHO'S idea it was originally. Much effort gone for naught.

[Manannan]

Of course we wish her well ... And i guess it is why this topic was hot... We know what she must be feeling. I sure know that myself having hit the ground a few time... and even lost a boat on a coral reef. But as we all do, she will learn from this experience and will get out stronger and ready for a new stage in her life, and who knows ? let time pass a bit, if she really have this passion well anchored she will go back to it.
I wish her the best. Bonne chance Heather...