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Donna is okay!!! She has sailed the crazy seas all day putting her about 50 miles from her Bermuda waypoint. She has contacted Bermuda Operations Authorities with her current coordinates and is setting herself up for some rest. They have suggested that she does not attempt any approach until daylight. So it looks like the timing will work out for a safe morning arrival in Bermuda
Donna Lange the Musician, the Sailor. Essentially she is a mature woman who sailed singlehanded around the world in a Southern Cross 28 to expiate a trauma.
She was about 400 from the finish when she lost her sea anchor and windvane in a bad storm and had to head off to Bermuda.
She started from Rhode Island, and is due back there shortly. She was also one of the sailors who survived the storms that Ken Barnes had to get rescued from. Given that her boat was considerably smaller, 28' vs. 44', one has to question how well prepared Ken really was.
In fact, Ken sent her an e-mail, which I thought was hilarious... what a schmuck!
[FONT=arial, verdana, sans-serif]Donna,
you are the most experienced person available to help you now.
Just wait it out in Bermuda, you know it will change in your favor.
Love,
Ken Barnes.[/FONT]
She started from Rhode Island, and is due back there shortly. She was also one of the sailors who survived the storms that Ken Barnes had to get rescued from. Given that her boat was considerably smaller, 28' vs. 44', one has to question how well prepared Ken really was.
In fact, Ken sent her an e-mail, which I thought was hilarious... what a schmuck!
There is a side of me that agrees with your assessment of Barnes, but in the context of him offering her moral support, I wouldn't come down too hard on him.
As to his past issues, sure, as Monday morning QBs we can find a lot of fault, but I can also sympathize with his failures. Sure, he might not have prepared as well as you would have, and maybe he was a little more hungry for attention than you would have been, but with a little better fortune he might have avoided such large-scale embarassment and failure. I'm not advocating the kind of irresponsibilty that he may have shown but I also feel bad for the guy.
I've been reading Donna's daily logs ever since Ken Barns rolled his boat. She actually turned around to try to help him but she was way too far away and another storm was on it's way.
There is a side of me that agrees with your assessment of Barnes, but in the context of him offering her moral support, I wouldn't come down too hard on him.
As to his past issues, sure, as Monday morning QBs we can find a lot of fault, but I can also sympathize with his failures. Sure, he might not have prepared as well as you would have, and maybe he was a little more hungry for attention than you would have been, but with a little better fortune he might have avoided such large-scale embarassment and failure. I'm not advocating the kind of irresponsibilty that he may have shown but I also feel bad for the guy.
So, if he'd just been lucky he might have made it??? I don't want to go back into the KB saga, but he alone is responsible for his own "embarassment and failure" and everything that follows.
I feel bad for anyone that loses a dream, but dreams are realized or lost at the descretion of the dreamer. Donna Lang is realizing hers.
Not to discredit Donna in any way...she has sailed more than i ever will, but she wasn't any more prepared than Ken when she left. Infact, i think she had less sailing experience than he did...according to her website. Both Donna and Pat Henry, who circumnavigated in a sc31 said the thing to do is to just go. I have also heard the same thing from many other cruisers! Ken's biggest problem was the fact that he had cut the Bilge Keels off of his boat. He was told that this would not be a problem, or affect stability, but that is not true! He was sailing a crippled boat from the start.
SC31...that is just wrong. She had extensive short trips to shake down and refit her boat after problems arose and sailed up to Newport from the Caribe as well as preparation o her first ocean crossing. She didn't have a lifetime of sailing...but was completely familiar with her boat and tested her own skills in discrete steps which Barnes did not do.
In July of 2005, I knew that Donna and her boat were berthed at my marina in Porstmouth, RI - where they hauled her out for repairs. Since we were away sailing to our southern coastal islands during that time, I didn't get a chance to meet her.
I was surprised to find this photo on her web site though. True Blue's empty slip is seen directly across from her boat:
SC31...that is just wrong. She had extensive short trips to shake down and refit her boat after problems arose and sailed up to Newport from the Caribe as well as preparation o her first ocean crossing. She didn't have a lifetime of sailing...but was completely familiar with her boat and tested her own skills in discrete steps which Barnes did not do.
Well said Cam. I would add that she seems to have a much better idea of what her boat's limitations were, and I bet she's far more inventive if it came to making temporary jury-rig repairs than Ken was... Also, I don't believe that Donna was ever trying to substitute technology for skills, knowledge and preparation.
She also seems to be a far more resilient and resourceful sailor than KB was.
Cam, I think you might want to read her story again. She set off in a partially unseaworthy boat w/o any other sailing experience, except for a tall ship. Ken Barnes had been sailing for years prior to leaving! I don't see how sailing to South America for a first voyage is a discrete trip? If you just go read both of their stories you will see i am right. Ken's boat was unseaworthy as well...someone told him it was okay to cut off the bilge keels!!!!!! That was the main issue here that cannot be overlooked. If he had not removed them his boat would have been much more stable!!!! I think you just have issues with Ken I bet if KB had finished his trip like Donna, you guys would be writing about how cool HE is!!!
SC31... She set off in a partially unseaworthy boat w/o any other sailing experience, except for a tall ship. Ken Barnes had been sailing for years prior to leaving! I don't see how sailing to South America for a first voyage is a discrete trip? Yes...she worked as a cook on a tall ship and at least had been ocean sailing on it. Ken had years of sailing experience but ZERO on the ocean. She bought her "particularly unseaworthy" boat in 2000 and worked on it 18 months to make it seaworthy. She then set sail FROM THE BVI'S to south america and Trinidad. Look at the island chain from the BVI's to South America (Venezuela and Trinidad). There is no need to EVER make a passage of more than 24 hours and there is generally land within 12 hours from anywhere. THAT is what I would call a DISCRETE trip to test her boat. She found lots more problems and decided the boat needed a complete refit. After that the went offshore with the wind at her back from the BVI's to Newport...lost her SSB and prop but made it thorugh 2 gales and into Naragannsett under sail. A nice blue-water second step that preapared her to cross an ocean.
Donna has not been perfect in her judgement but she did approach her journey in a series of discrete steps and was well tested both at the equipment and the personal level before she set out on her circumnavigation. I think you just have issues with Ken... Your right! and I would have issues with Donna if she had conducted herself in a similar manner...but she didn't. What distinguishes her in my book is not just the preparation but her fighting spirit in contrast to Ken's passivity when faced with adversity. you guys would be writing about how cool HE is!!! Not me...I put him in he same class as the Bumfuzzlers. They were just more lucky than he...but I don't think they are cool either. I do give them good marks for a positive attitude and a spirit of adventure and a willingness to carry on in adversity.
Ken's boat was unseaworthy as well...someone told him it was okay to cut off the bilge keels!!!!!! That someone was ROBERT PERRY who he paid for an analysis of his boat.
There is NO evidence that the bilge PLATES had any impact on the boat AND let it be remembered that the boat was still happily floating along until Ken sank her. Cam, I think you might want to read her story again..
Au contraire...I think it is YOUR reading comprehension skills that need improvement!
True Blue,
Are you at Brewer's Sakonnet? (That's where Inspired Insanity is shown in the pic - aisle F/G). There used to be a Nauticat like yours in G8, but I think it was called "Grace".
BTW, there is a Donna Lange event at the Herreschoff Museum today.
Cam, i just noticed your tagline says ex-moderator. You missed being part of the crowd didn't you Man I love to get you guys riled up. Obviously i think Donna is a better sailor...she does have an Southern Cross after all! I don't agree that the bilge keels don't add stability though. My reading comprehension skills are just fine...so far 24 1/2 books for the year...mostly about sailing I have read in several places that the bilge keels DO add stability and balast...just look at a hull design with them. Two large heavy steel plates hanging almost vertically off of the bottom of the hull will inevitably add stability to any boat design. If they are part of the original design, removing them would skew the design #'s and decrease the stability and capsize ratio.
SC...and I reiterate...they were NOT bilge keels in the traditional sense of a 2 keel boat...the boat had a standard keel and the bilge plates were used to GROUND the boat rather than for sailing performance stability as traditional bilge keels are. The boat did not capsize. In ken's own words.. She was originally designed as what is known as a bilge keel boat with a full keel and 16 s.f. plates on each side of the keel to allow her to stay upright when the tide ebbs. I had these cut off after talking with designer, Robert Perry who agreed they were 400 lbs. each with a lot of wetted surface and useless for my plans.
Somehow I think I'll trust what Robert Perry says...after all he did ok with my boat and the Valiants and Sagas etc. ...and yes...it is fun getting into the thick of things again you ass full of crap! (G)
P.S...you're reading too much!! (G)
Does sailnet NOT allow you to express and opinion as a moderator, even if it is YOUR opinion, and NOT sailnets? This does not seem right. What you just said, should be and "IS" you opinion of the two sailers ways of doing things. Your job as moderator, should only be to remove bad words, posts, transfer to other forums that are more appropriate etc. At least that is my job at another forum I am at. I can say my opionion, altho I will not say whom is an ass and full of crap, as that is not me anyway of saying I do not agree!
Well Cam, i guess 2, 400 pound plates of steel measuring 4ft by 4ft wouldn't add any stability right.....i think you are being blind to the obvious here. I never stated it was a twin keel boat... I prefer to read so i can learn more about sailboat design and history. Any boat with 32 sq feet of "wetted" keel surface and 800 pounds removed from the bottom of the hull will become less stable!
By the way Ken Barnes grw up sailing in southern California...on the ocean, and his boat did roll from being hit by a wave.... and I would rather read than type. Cherio old buddy I'm off to the crappah
True Blue,
Are you at Brewer's Sakonnet? (That's where Inspired Insanity is shown in the pic - aisle F/G). There used to be a Nauticat like yours in G8, but I think it was called "Grace".
BTW, there is a Donna Lange event at the Herreschoff Museum today.
Driver,
Are sure of this? Either your geography is a bit off, or I'm mistaken about her dockage at NEB for repair. As I said, I wasn't at the marina during the layover, but the photo I posted sure looks more like my marina than Brewers . . . which is much smalller.
Here's an aerial of just the north end of the lagoon at NEB showing my dock, with the travelift to the northeast, and 400 dock beyond to the south . . . where I believed her boat to be docked in July of 2005, although, she could have been at the 300 dock - next one south.
Does sailnet NOT allow you to express and opinion as a moderator, even if it is YOUR opinion, and NOT sailnets? This does not seem right. What you just said, should be and "IS" you opinion of the two sailers ways of doing things. Your job as moderator, should only be to remove bad words, posts, transfer to other forums that are more appropriate etc. At least that is my job at another forum I am at. I can say my opionion, altho I will not say whom is an ass and full of crap, as that is not me anyway of saying I do not agree!
Dawg...he was commenting on my coomment that NOW I can mix it up a bit more since I am no longer moderating.
Blt2ski.... Actually...Sailnet never told me to temper any opinions I had or objected to anything I said..so kudos to them. Nevertheless, when I strapped the moderator title on...I felt that my conduct and words would reflect on them either favorably or unfavorably in many people's minds and so sometimes I just shut up rather than get into a fight or chose kinder gentler words than i might otherwise use and tried to be a "moderating" force in some arguments as opposed to actively taking sides. I don't think I ever left any doubt about where I stood on issues that were important to me. So yes... I think I am a bit freer now in my own mind to say exactly what I think. Perhaps the moderator role should be anonymous and we should keep our own screen names independently. Hope that's clear and I don't know you well enough to call you an ass full of crap so I will leave that for another time! (G)
SC31...well I guess we are gonna continue to disagree on the bilge keels. Actually Bob Perry is a regular on another board and I will pose the question over there in hopes of an answer & let you know what he says about it. All best on the crappah!!
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