Wonderful story by Mark Hassell of building his 62' Searunner in Guatemala....

[Owly055]

Read this amazing story about Mark conceiving and eventually constructing his 1 off constant camber trimaran in the wilds of Guatemala.  The dream, the efforts to raise the funds, convincing Jim Brown to design it, the extremes of finding the materials and getting them to the Rio Dulce, dealing with a maze of bureaucracy and corruption, etc.   His single minded and relentless efforts of years.  Mark's a great writer, and the story is captivating. 

Read it online here....but not if you are in a hurry!!:      http://www.multihulldynamics.com/news_article.asp?articleID=243   Read and enjoy!!

                                                                                                                                       H.W.
My favorite quote is:

Nothing comes easy in a country like Guatemala except sunshine and rain. Anything else requires hard work. Thats why I like it there. It always seemed to me that the civilized world misses the point. There, the fruits of labor are highly valued but not the labor, and every man is made poor by that notion. From that standpoint, I was a rich man, and nothing made me richer than the struggle to acquire materials for my boat....like my six barrels of epoxy resin.

     A truly profound observation, but Mark is known for pithily profound observations.  Obviously a follower of Sterling Hayden who wrote:


"To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise, you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen who play with their boats at sea... "cruising" it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about.

"I've always wanted to sail to the south seas, but I can't afford it." What these men can't afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of "security." And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine - and before we know it our lives are gone.

What does a man need - really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in - and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all - in the material sense, and we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention for the sheer idiocy of the charade.

The years thunder by, The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed.

Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life? "
― Sterling Hayden, Wanderer