Latest Magazine Article -Ocean Navigator

A woman sailor need not leave her boat behind when her husband passes away, while sailing around the world…she CAN continue on!

Leaving Cape Town after my husband died from Covid, across the biggest ocean yet, without the captain I sailed the last 75,000 miles with was daunting. The very thought of it causes immense anxiety in my life to this very day… but with some careful planning and assessment of the risks, I was able to prepare for a passage with another man…and to successfully cross the southern Atlantic Ocean, 6100 miles this past year. This is the story of what I did to prepare for such a task.

Well, I am finally back to writing articles after nearly 2 years of not…this time for Ocean Navigator magazine. Michael Hayward did much of the photography for it. You can view the article below on page 24

Did you know you can get free electronic copies of the latest editions of Ocean Navigator? Mine as well…Michael may have have an article in the next edition, and I will be writing more for the magazine as well…

One major mess up that Ocean Navigator did was to NOT give the photo credits to Michael Hayward… all but a few were from him..the best ones…

https://oceannavigator.com/digital-editions/

Sailing Brick House Update -Video? Departure?

Three Bits of News:

  1. The Video coming out shortly, debuting 2pm tomorrow, is from before we departed Cape Town. We sailed his boat, Intrepid, a small 31 Foot Steel Boat. One great way to interview the potential Captain was to see how well he sails his OWN boat, how well he maintains it, if he even knows how to sail etc. So we sailed off to Hout Bay. It took a couple tries to get there due to stormy weather, but we eventually got there! Hope you like this lighthearted video with all the smarty pants questions the poor Captain was asked! See how he fairs, when the new video is released in the next 24 hours at “Sailing Brick House” on YouTube.

 

  1. We have finally departed Cape Town. The new Captain has lots of footage of the passage and will now have time to learn how to edit the footage he has, so you can look forward to the growth of his videos as time goes on. I will continue to make many of the videos too.

One video is underway now showing you both the sailing and personal challenges we both encountered preparing for this new chapter! Not easy to pluck a man from land, give him a much more complicated boat than his own to run, have him sell up and prepare to depart in a few short months. This story will be a video next month, likely while we are at sea, since there is no affordable internet after this stop, til we arrive on the other side…

  1. Not everything was ready when we departed Cape Town, but sometimes you just have to untie the dock lines and go. Reghardt Van Der Rijst, a 41 year old Afrikaans friend of Michael’s,  accompanied us for the sail up and was a huge, enthusiastic help, and pleasant company too.  He had to be back to work for yesterday so we could not delay any longer.

We arrived after a rambunctious 7 day sail that Michael will detail in his debut video in a month or so, also while we are at se.. We cleaned up the boat and rented a car to do our first reconnoiter, after clearing in which was easy and pleasant. No covid test was even asked for and no quarantine. Maybe they forgot as other cruisers had a bit of a run around.  Namibia is proving a beautiful country with very nice people, already. I think we will take another trip soon, maybe to Etosha National Park one more time, so I can see my African animal friends once more, and Michael can see the beauty in he countries on his own continent.

As you can well imagine, Michael is struggling getting used to this small space and radically different lifestyle with me; a crazy emotional lady … and me…getting used to a new Captain on a boat I spent so many years with Patrick on…still grieving in many ways, and still struggling to maintain happiness, and the sailing life I so badly want to continue with. Handing control over to a new Captain with not that much experience…not knowing if we will stay together long term… struggling with knowing when to point things out that must be done a certain way,  and when to stay quiet and let him do it his own way.  There are after all, many ways to do the sam thing, correctly! Not without struggles, to say the least. But we are both trying hard to adapt and make this all work in already trying covid times, so we can pursue a common goal.

Cross your fingers for us! We need lots of fingers!

 

Farewell Patrick Childress – Sail in Peace my best friend…

Covid-19 Onboard

 

Coronavirus Update on Brick House -How did we catch it? and More

 

 

Patrick Childress – His Last Photographs of SV Brick House

Days before Patrick’s hospitalization for Covid 19, he had been disassembling the boat to supply many many photos of our Sailboat ..a Valiant 40: Brick House, for an article that was being written for Practical Sailor Magazine, about one of the greatest boats ever made for cruising, the Valiant 40. Its a good read and shows my home of nearly 20 years. The link to the article is below.

Maybe just maybe I should sell her, and look for other sailboats to join in all of the beautiful places in the world I have yet to see and sail. No big ocean crossings just the joy of a new destination…hmmmmm…

No decisions the first year they say…and it would be extremely tough for me to sell her. I am turning up short on captain companions ready to continue on with me, and I have no desire to sail on my myself, with groups of woman, or with mere delivery captains. I’m already home. First choice would be to find a very experienced companion to continue this life with, but it’s proving difficult to find and I don’t want to waste my life trying to maintain this boat til the right guy comes along. This boat is meant to sail…and to keep moving. I am too. And I can’t sail off with someone only to sail off…it has to be the right person who is a phenomenal sailor.

If anyone has huge interest in buying my precious home, let me know. I may be talked in to it, with time. Or if you have tons of experience crossing oceans and think we may get along…then give me a shout…rebecca.childress at yahoo.

Practical Sailor Article

Valiant 40 Sailboat Tour (#3) Down Below Part 2. Water Tank Repair, Chain Locker, Marine Toilet, Electronics

Communication Evolution on Brick House : Iridium GO! Predictwind!

 

 

 

 

Predictwind & The Stormy Weather of Cape of Good Hope/Cape Aghullas!