Someday in the not terribly distant future, I will realize a long-held dream: I will set sail, alone, in a boat I have built myself, on a west-to-east voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. The boat will be a version of a cat-yawl I’ve already built and sailed, with some important modifications: it will have a single square-rigged sail; it will not have a rudder; it will be 31″ long, with a 12″ beam. Me? I’ll lie snug below for the entire voyage, however long it may last. I’ll be dead, reduced to a few pounds of ashes, stowed below deck in the cabin.People weaken with age; dreams don’t. I’m 84 years old, in pretty good health, with enough marbles left to know that I shouldn’t make plans that extend too far into the future. No regrets; I’ve lived a full life, and it’s still an ongoing pleasure.When I started building boats as a pastime almost 30 years ago, I thought a solo transatlantic voyage in a home-built hull would be a nice project. I did my research: I admired Blue Moon—the Thomas Gillmer 23′ gaff-rigged yawl—enough to contact someone who had built one. But it would have been a bad choice; I would probably be still planking it today.
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Is is appropriate to wish “good luck” for something like this? I cannot say. Perhaps, then, “Fair winds and calm seas.”
I am entranced by this idea. It would be a real prvilege to cross paths with you somewhere. You better not be in a hurry because the yarn will take some time.
I’m all ears (for as long as they continue to function) to hear the yarn.
Thanks for the delicate phrasing and kind wishes. See you (maybe) on the other side
A wonderful read. And a fabulous musing on our mortality and how our remains may carry on. In the meantime I will launch my Surfski kayak and watch how those Mergansers on the other side of the channel are feeding.
Tim
Don’t waste a moment — this isn’t a rehearsal. Enjoy those mergansers while you can.
Drew,
I’m about to begin construction on cremation urns for my wife and me, and your story has inspired me to think beyond just a couple of wooden boxes. Thanks for sharing your future adventure plan with me.
Karl — Good luck with your project — I’d be delighted to see the results.
Well done, old son. I wish you all the best which ever way you go. Don’t dismiss the crows; that is almost beyond coincidence.
As you know, crows in several traditions can cross between the kingdoms of the living and the dead. Who knows what they’ve seen over there?
An article and story that grabbed me as my wife and I got back from our daily after dinner walk. I’ve been playing with boats; building and tinkering since I was around five when I would make the most horrendous looking scrap wood (or plastic, or whatever was around) “boats” to tow behind whatever sailboat we had at the time. My Dad would happily indulge me in this. The majority of my creations would invariably make better forward progress in an inverted orientation much to my repeated frustration.
As I start to enter a phase in life that I’ve heard others refer to as the youth of my senior years (turned 55 last week), the whisps of mortality’s longs arms become just a little more real each year.
I love this idea and despite being a heavy thinker and getting lost in the weeds of thought on far too many projects this never occurred to me. Thank you for such a well-shared build and plan.
Fair winds and following seas.
I think you should include a message for the finders of your little ship.
Where and when did you start from would be nice. Do you want to be planted with the boat? Made into a planter? Burned again with boat?
Etc., etc., etc. It would be the kind thing to do for The Finder.
Daniel — The journey’s begun; time to start overplanning. Best of luck.
Thank you for this wonderful story. Turning 78 this year it tells me to start building my probable last boat, a smaller version of my Chebacco. We might meet.
jan doddema
Jan — I look forward to our eventual conversation. Which version of Chebacco? Departing what port?
Thank you very much for your article. I too have thought of things like you discuss. I have told my family that they should just put me in one of my boats and tow it out to sea and release it. A burning boat with me dead in it also is an idea I have expressed. All in all, I like your solution best. I am 83 and have indicated on my driver’s license that I want all my organs donated to science. I believe my sons will get the cremated remains of what is left. I hope to follow in your path in a very small boat securely ensconced for a long voyage.
Thank you again,
dale
Dale — Where will you be sailing from, and what’s your hoped-for destination?
All best wishes
I live and sail in the Tampa Bay area. Departure would be well off shore from Tampa Bay. Hoped-for destination is “I do not care” maybe Mexico. I have sort of harbored a wish to sail there over the years.
If you could provide any more plans or details, I would appreciate it. I would be happy to pay for shipping costs. Hopefully, the Small Boats Nation folks would provide my email to you so we could communicate further.
Thank you for your best wishes. I wish you the same.
Such a fascinating idea. Your prose is as wonderful as your art. I hung on every line. The part about the crows certainly makes one think. It reminded me of a line from one of my favorite singer/songwriters, John Prine, “For so long, the raven at my window was only a crow.”
Gordon, many thanks for the kind words
What a great story. Personally, I think no satellite tracking, you should go beyond the horizon, to voyage to who knows where. It would be lovely to see a satellite track, but I think being tracked would kind of make letting go harder. Good sailing.
Thank you for the lovely contemplation / doing essay.
It’s a poetic idea, but imagine what happens to the joy of some child in say Ireland finding a lovely toy boat, then having to deal with someone’s remains.
I agree with Robert. It seems a bit macabre to me.
Thank you.
May I suggest including a little bottle of your fav brew so the finders can toast your memory, and boat. As a beekeeper, I’d include a stainless flask of mead, half filled so it floats if the boat is wrecked and with a brief explanation and maybe link to your website for further info if someone wanted.
Maybe an idea to make arrangements for your Facebook page and website too.
Happy travels,
Noel
Pushing 80 myself, and I have thought that I would like my body to be sewn into a cotton-canvas bag with a chunk of cement at the foot end, then taken out to sea. There it would be placed on a plank which itself would be laid on the bulwark of the vessel bearing my remains. When the proper location is reached, the end of the plank is lifted and I slide into the sea to become fish and crab food. I understand that cremation uses a ton of energy, and of what use would my ashes be to this planet?
I built a Micro many, many years ago….. your article makes me (re)appreciate the Micro design…. I’m 81 yrs old and live on a lake, so it would be silly for me to build another, and it was trailable, a process I didn’t enjoy. So cut to the chase… that photo really tugged at my heart strings and under different circumstances I’d be tempted to build another (full size).