An insight into inspiration (free books!)
When I first bought Winchelsea over three years ago, I'll admit it was on kind of an impulse. I knew my roommates were terrible and I hated my job, the sailboat was my ticket out of both. I had been reading about the lifestyle of cruising and voyaging since I had broken my knee the July previous (this was the summer of '09, I was still driving the desk at the engineering firm), which all started with Slocum's iconic Sailing Alone Around the World. I read a lot of how-to books covering the technical aspects of sailing and the life aquatic aboard a boat, but they would only sometimes touch on the "why", outside of picturesque sunsets and pina coladas.
Bernard Moitessier was my first inspiration outside the realm of conventional cruisers (which is obvious to anyone who knows me well). He starts voyaging to escape the chaos of Indochina during World War II, and in his later works he starts to develop his "why" as a spiritual quest dealing with some demons from his past. I enjoyed this angle of looking at sailing as a place for calm, meditation and reflection, but it was not my own "why"; I had to dig deeper.
After selling Winchelsea I started to piece together what I thought my perfect boat would be. In my search I came across the Good Old Boats List on a website called Atom Voyages run by a circumnavigator by the name of James Baldwin. The Allied Seawind 30 is on there, but digging through the rest of the site, I came across a book he had written and published online. I don't want to put much of my own two cents in there, but allow you to read the first chapter yourself. This is what I had been searching for. A little less spiritual and more practical. His quote from Sterling Hayden headed me in that direction next and I read Wanderer cover to cover after my engagement went south, excellent timing.
I also came across Sailing the Farm, another great book that inspires simplistic living and shows you how to do it. Recently, I've (since high school) rediscovered the joy of Henry David Thoreau and his books and essays, especially Walden. It is amazing to read his accounts of mindless consumption, superfluous luxuries that are more shackles than anything else.
All of these works have one thing in common: a rejection of the so-called "luxuries" of a modern society to search for a simpler, more sustainable (in both economy and environment) lifestyle. This is something I strive to achieve on Soveraine every day and with every project I take on.
Bernard Moitessier was my first inspiration outside the realm of conventional cruisers (which is obvious to anyone who knows me well). He starts voyaging to escape the chaos of Indochina during World War II, and in his later works he starts to develop his "why" as a spiritual quest dealing with some demons from his past. I enjoyed this angle of looking at sailing as a place for calm, meditation and reflection, but it was not my own "why"; I had to dig deeper.
After selling Winchelsea I started to piece together what I thought my perfect boat would be. In my search I came across the Good Old Boats List on a website called Atom Voyages run by a circumnavigator by the name of James Baldwin. The Allied Seawind 30 is on there, but digging through the rest of the site, I came across a book he had written and published online. I don't want to put much of my own two cents in there, but allow you to read the first chapter yourself. This is what I had been searching for. A little less spiritual and more practical. His quote from Sterling Hayden headed me in that direction next and I read Wanderer cover to cover after my engagement went south, excellent timing.
I also came across Sailing the Farm, another great book that inspires simplistic living and shows you how to do it. Recently, I've (since high school) rediscovered the joy of Henry David Thoreau and his books and essays, especially Walden. It is amazing to read his accounts of mindless consumption, superfluous luxuries that are more shackles than anything else.
All of these works have one thing in common: a rejection of the so-called "luxuries" of a modern society to search for a simpler, more sustainable (in both economy and environment) lifestyle. This is something I strive to achieve on Soveraine every day and with every project I take on.
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