Sailing

Buff Love from the North Pole

Anonymous — Fri, 18 May 2018 18:58:52 +0000

Buff Love from the North Pole Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 05/18/2018 - 12:58

Amanda Clark

“If all goes well, I’ll be sending Buff love just shy of the North Pole this August!” wrote Neil Almy (Fin’10), who is now on a year-long sailing expedition with the goal of sailing farther north than any other vessel in history, through the Northwest Passage to the very edge of the Polar Ice Cap. The mission, called the Infinity Exhibition, includes a team of 22 from 10 countries and is being filmed as a follow-up documentary to Sea Gypsies: The Far Side of the World. In April, the Coloradan asked Neil a few questions before he took off.

Tell me a little bit about your trip. Where will you be traveling and for how long?

In about a week we will be leaving our current location, Majuro, Marshall Islands, to head north to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, through some of the most dangerous seas in the world. From Dutch Harbor we will wrap around the Alaskan Coast and through the many islands in the northern Canadian territories. We'll mostly be following the fabled Northwest Passage west to east, ending at the bottom of Greenland in October 2018. However, we will be deviating from the traditional route when we reach the coast of Greenland. Instead of transiting directly south we'll head north in an effort to evade oncoming ice flows as we attempt to reach Alert, Canada, the northernmost permanently inhabited place in the world, at a latitude of 82 degrees north.

Ice breakers have traveled farther north, but there still hasn't been a sailing vessel to reach this far. We'll keep pushing around the western and northern coasts of Greenland as long as conditions are in our favor. As fall approaches, we'll turn south as we finish the trip sailing down the western coast of Greenland. Our crew of 22 hailing from 10 countries are provisioned to winter over in the event we get sidelined by an early ice pack.

How long have you been sailing? What draws you to it?

Prior to joining the S/V Infinity in October 2017, I only sailed a few days with friends. The freedom of being propelled by the wind paired with memorable experiences living and working on a commercial fishing boat in Alaska during summer breaks while attending �鶹��Ѱ��called me back to the ocean. Nico Edwards' award-winning adventure documentary Sea Gypsies: The Far Side of the World is what ultimately drew me to this trip and the S/V Infinity.

What have you been up to since you graduated from CU?

I've lived in Boulder and Denver since graduating in 2010, working as a small business finance and accounting consultant and then as a chief financial officer for a couple of regional businesses. Now I live on the S/V Infinity. I met the boat in Tonga last October and we've sailed north from there to Fiji, Vanuatu, Tikopia and the Marshall Islands. We've been in the Marshalls since the first of the year repairing and refitting the boat. We'll see where the wind takes me, but I've been missing the mountains far too much to not end up there next.

Anything else you would like people to know?

This trip is being filmed as a follow-up to Sea Gypsies. We are going on this trip for the thrill of adventure, to attempt to accomplish what no other team has been able to, while bringing awareness that our success is directly related to the negative impacts of climate change.

People often marvel at me uprooting from a conventional life path. Over the years, the inspiration of my peers taking risks to do something that spoke to them finally resonated with me. I don't think it’s necessary for people to go on adventures to feel a sense of fulfillment, but stepping outside of one's comfort zone to pursue a path that speaks to oneself is often very rewarding. Having a degree from the University of Colorado makes taking risks feel much more freeing. The education I received from �鶹��Ѱ��has proven to open doors in my past, and I know that whatever I do next, it will prove as a valuable resource.

Photo courtesy of Neil Almy

“If all goes well, I’ll be sending Buff love just shy of the North Pole this August!” writes Neil Almy, who is on a year-long sailing expedition with the goal of sailing farther north than any other vessel in history, through the Northwest Passage to the very edge of the Polar Ice Cap.

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Left at Hiva Oa

Anonymous — Tue, 15 May 2018 16:35:47 +0000

Left at Hiva Oa Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 05/15/2018 - 10:35

By Malia Bohlin (Jour’93)

(CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 230 pages; 2017)

Buy the Book

The captivating book, Left at Hiva Oa, written by Malia Bohlin (Jour’93), takes place on the open ocean as America evolves from the conservative 1950s to the free-loving 1960s. Two proud Merchant Marine Academy graduates leave their promising careers to follow a dream of sailing the world on the 40’ schooner, the Gracias. Even with careful planning and abundant enthusiasm, things go drastically awry. After the crew, and eventually the course of the Gracias, change unexpectedly, one member of the crew is left to cross the Pacific alone. In a frantic battle for his life, he relies on his wit and his memories to face the challenges of the sea, and those within his own mind. Left at Hiva Oa is an incredible story of determination: the determination to dream; to stand by your principles; and to stay alive, when all you have is yourself, writes Maila.

The captivating book, Left at Hiva Oa, written by Malia Bohlin’s (Jour’93), takes place on the open ocean as America evolves from the conservative 1950s to the free-loving 1960s. Two proud Merchant Marine Academy graduates leave their promising careers to follow a dream of sailing the world on the 40’ schooner, the Gracias.

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Anchors Aweigh

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Jun 2017 15:36:00 +0000

Anchors Aweigh Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 06/01/2017 - 09:36

Jennifer Osieczanek

Ryan Davis (AeroEngr’19) of Sugar Land, Texas, has skippered the resurrection of CU’s dormant sailing club. New boats are on the way, and regattas at the Boulder Reservoir are on the horizon.

What’s your favorite part about sailing?

It’s a big mix of just being out in the sun, being on the water, just the wind in your face, you’re making this boat go fast. It’s pretty cool. To make it really, really go fast, it takes some skill.

What’s the most intense sailing experience that you’ve ever had?

I’ve had times when I didn’t think I’d be able to get the boat back in. I was out on a Sunfish, which is a smaller one-person boat, almost like a learner boat. It’s got a big sail, so when the wind really starts to blow and you’re going downwind, there’s not a good way to slow yourself down, so you have to go downwind to get back home and you’re just going to haul doing it. I actually pitchpoled the Sunfish, which is where you drive the bow into the water because the wind is coming from behind you.

So, you flipped it?

I didn’t flip it all the way over . Boats capsize a lot. That’s kind of what they do when you’re in heavy wind. And when it goes over the front, it’s just a scary feeling. It kind of stopped, threw me forward and the boat went over. I didn’t know if I’d be able to get it back up — the sail ended up getting wrapped around the mast. It was a whole storm of problems.

When you got back on dry land, did you decide you needed a break?

Exactly. I was like, ‘Yep, not doing that again for a while.’

How did you hear about the �鶹��Ѱ��sailing team?

I did a lot of research and ended up finding an old Facebook page. I showed up at a meeting, and I was like, ‘Cool, all right, let’s do this.’

Do you have people on the team who have never sailed before?

Yes. It’s a lot of fun. We have one person who had been to one practice before he went to a regatta and we raced with him. It’s really cool how quick you can pick it up.

Tell me about the crowdfunding campaign you did with the university.

Our goal was $17,000, which included new boats from Old Dominion University and Virginia — well, they’re used boats, but new to us — new sails, some miscellaneous fixing costs, just some new rigging and small parts and shipping. We raised $12,650 and so that put us at enough to buy the boats and to cover most of the shipping costs. So, we hit the real goal. We aren’t going to buy new sails just yet and we aren’t going to be able to fix up all the things, but we’ll have better, sailable boats here that are all going to be standard so we can host regattas and races.

What kind of boats are you getting?

They’re called 420s and they’re called that because they’re 4.2 meters long. So, it’s a two-man dinghy with a main sail and a jib.

What does it mean for you to get these new boats?

It means we’ll be able to establish a valid program. Colorado hasn’t been active since 2011 or 2012 in the Southeast
Region, which is the competitive region we’re a part of. A lot of people know that we’re starting up again but don’t really take the Colorado sailing program seriously because we’re just really new, not too organized and we’re also not very good. If we get these new boats here, we can really get organized — I believe we can recruit a lot more, we’ll be able to host our own races, get people on the water, gain the respect of the rest of the region.

Are there any totally unrealistic sailing scenes in movies that make you cringe?

Pirates of the Caribbean. Those boats turn very slowly. And you can't go whichever way you want. You have to go with the wind. It's a lot harder than people might think.

Condensed and edited by Jennifer Osieczanek.

Photo by Glenn Asakawa

Ryan Davis of Sugar Land, Texas, has skippered the resurrection of CU’s dormant sailing club.

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Pacific Crossing

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Jun 2017 10:00:00 +0000

Pacific Crossing Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 06/01/2017 - 04:00

Beebe Bahrami

It was the nights that most unnerved Dan Mackin (ElEngrCompEngr’08).

“Staring off into the blackness is really an unsettling feeling,” he said.

The sensation was most acute in the middle of the Pacific, as the 34-year-old IT executive, his father and two shipmates sailed from Hawaii to California on a 38-foot Lagoon Catamaran “the size of a studio apartment that you can’t leave.”

The voyage, last July, was his father’s idea. Tim Mackin, a retired civil engineer in Parker, Colo., had been sailing for nearly five decades and still nursed an ambition.

“An ocean crossing has been on my bucket list. I just wanted to do one before the end of my days,” Tim, 60, said in a short YouTube film about the voyage, Trans Pacific Crossing, filmed by Dan and edited by his brother-in-law, Jeremy Dubs.

For Dan, of Lafayette, Colo., the main appeal was having a grand adventure with his father. This was the man who’d taught him to sail — on lakes near Keller, Texas, where they’d lived, and on trips in Belize, the Bahamas, Virgin Islands and Sea of Cortez. But they’d never lost sight of land for more than a day.

With two other crewmembers contributing mechanical and nautical skills and good cheer, the team set sail from Oahu and arrived in Oxnard 22 days later — about a week late due to rough waters.

“I went into it with a plan,” said Dan, who loves plans. “Immediately, it was useless.”

Being in control and having a plan are great traits for the chief operating officer of the Boulder IT security consulting firm AppliedTrust. Out on the open ocean, plans reveal what they are: Mere intentions.

They encountered days of strong waves and high winds with intermittent lake-smooth days offering brief respite.

After each churning of the sea, they picked off marine life that had washed aboard. Some creatures found their way into crannies. Stench haunted the boat. Sometimes it exuded from Dan, who found showering futile given the constant damp. Then one of the toilets broke. A few times they had to troubleshoot and repair technical issues amid tossing seas. They slept in three-hour shifts.

An anomaly in the high pressure system pushed them 600 miles north of course, taking them nearer Alaska than California.

But then there were the sublime moments — calm, moonlit nights, long father-son chats, insight amid isolation.

“It made me realize how small we are as individuals,” said Dan.

When they reached California, father and son agreed that arriving was the trip’s high point.

As so often is the case, it was the journey itself that provided lasting lessons. Dan reflected amid that vastness on what mattered most to him: relationships, communication, being a better person, a better husband, making the world a better place.

“I also realized,” he said, “that maybe I’m not as much of a sailor as I thought I was.”

Photo courtesy Dan Mackin

It was the nights that most unnerved Dan Mackin.

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Sailing

Buff Love from the North Pole

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Left at Hiva Oa

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Anchors Aweigh

What’s your favorite part about sailing?

What’s the most intense sailing experience that you’ve ever had?

So, you flipped it?

When you got back on dry land, did you decide you needed a break?

How did you hear about the �鶹��Ѱ�����sailing team?

Do you have people on the team who have never sailed before?

Tell me about the crowdfunding campaign you did with the university.

What kind of boats are you getting?

What does it mean for you to get these new boats?

Are there any totally unrealistic sailing scenes in movies that make you cringe?

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Pacific Crossing

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How did you hear about the �鶹��Ѱ��sailing team?