CAPE HORN IN A 19 FOOT BOAT

1976 I started to build a 19 foot aluminum boat in Sweden. 1978 the boat was ready for some trails. Here she is in the Göteborg archipelago in 50 knots wind. She behaved well, she was ready for Cape Horn.


1979 with an Italian girl I sailed south passing an uninhabited island. We did not stop.



The picture below shows my mate having caught an Dorado. She was an excellent fisherman and cook. I was happy days. Please note that I do not have an cockpit. I think it is much better to have a big nice aft deck were you can stretch out. Furthermore it extends the boats range of vanishing stability and gives a lot of room inside. On this boat I used it for a nice aft salon with a superb vieuw.


Below is a picture of my boat under construction. My beloved aft cabin is facing the camera.


photo Birger Lallo


In Brazil my mate left to continue her studies in philosophy at the University of Milan. I continued singlehanded to Mar del Plata in Argentina. Unfortunately during the crossing I had developed an hernia and had to have an operation. When I was back in shape It was already May but there was a lot of corrosion eating on the aluminum hull so I did not feel like waiting another year for the warmer and not so dark season.
Below is a map of my track and dates. It was 1980 and my sole means of navigation offshore was sextant and compass. Astro navigation in the winter was difficult as the sun did not raise to more than about ten degrees at noon and the azimuth was pretty much the same at sunrise and sunset. Also I only caught glimpses of the sun even on the best days. Yeas navigation was my biggest problem although it was very cold in the southern winter in an aluminum boat without heating. I think ordinary people have a hard time to understand the problems of a small boat single hander rounding the Horn in the winter against wind and current so I will not go into more details.









After succesfully rounding the horn and taking a few picture of her turned around and sailed east to the Falklands wich I reached on midwinters eve. I was satisfied having rounded the Horn and I wanted to go back to Sweden and build a new boat in a new material. Below is a page from my Swedish book "MED BRIS MOT KAP HORN" the top picture is of Cape Horn the bottom is from my boat tied up to a local boat in Port Stanley in the Falklands.



One day, to my great surprise, I got a letter from the Royal Cruising Club England. They informed me that I had recieved their Medal of Seamanship. The letter came on their one hundred anniversary. I and my mouther became very proud as the 13 previus recievers included names like Chichester Moitessier and Knox Johnston. I was also proud that they finished by stating that I clearly had been in absolute contro all the time during my expedition.

The below text is from Royal Cruising Club Journal 1980
page 245 and Rules 1979 page 13click on it to make it larger

BOATS I DID NOT GET FAR IN

The story of these boats can be found in "MY LIFE TEXTS"




This is the fishing boat I bought in 1960, hoping to have her as a permanent home. She was sorry to say rotten beyond repair.



This is the Baltic trader I and my brother in law bought, she was even more rotten. We added the superstructure above the cargo room, which can be seen on the picture, to get more space.



This is the boat that sank.




Here I am reading about my own rescue, the headlines in the background.



Not having had enough, the next year may be 1966, I built this experimental proa. She did not sink but capsized. Lessen learnt at great cost. Later boats were more succesful.

MESSING ABOUT MANY YEARS AGO

Here are some pictures from my early life.



My grandfather and father went to see as young men, grandfather at the age of thirteen. They rounded Cape Horn many times in square riggers. Here is one of the ships my grandfather sailed.



As a young man I never had my own boat, but this rowing boat I borrowed daily from a neighbor. With it I went shopping to Styrsö, the nearest island, helping out a bit.



Here I am with my sister on our neighbors powerboat.



I learned, the hard way, to scull.





My mother owned a kayak which she let me use, but it was a bit big for me.



I always dreamed of my own boat. I did build plenty of rafts. Here I am on one of the more sucesful ones, giving my sister a short ride before it capsized.



This wreck floated ashore one day giving me hope of my own boat, but alas she was to far gone for me to fix her up.

DUGA A WRECK

TO MAKE THE PICTURES BIGGER CLICK ON THEM ONE AND TWO TIMES


1968 I had sailed to England from Sweden in a 14 feet boat. In almost every port I put down my anchor people told me that I would get happier in a bigger boat. People belive that the more you own the happier you are.
In November back in Sweden I thought I do like old Slocum, buy an old wreck and fix her up. (see more detailed text under text in menue).





The previus owner had taken these pictures in the summer.


They were included in the deal.



Now however it was winter and freezing cold.




When the deck was on we thought we had done real progress. Inside it was warmer too.



Here are the two companions who told every visitor that to the summer they be sailing the tropics.



To every ones surprise the boat was in the water in June.



In August we test sailed her for a few days. Then hurried south to wormer latitudes.



Here in October she is making good speed across the bay of Biscay.




In the Canary Islands my freind jumped ship. Luckily I soon found anouther mate.



She steered for me.



She cooked for me.



She was a good mate, but the bigger boat did not make me happier.

YRVINDAREN, A SMALL BOAT, TO SMALL FOR LONG VOYAGES IN COLD WATER.

A few years ago when I lived on Tjörn island on the west coast I buildt this boat. She was a trhee quarter scale model of a 5.4 meter boat Matt Layden had helped me to draw. As work progressed and circumstances changed I planned to do a long voyage in her, but sailing her in Sweden, in October and November with plenty of clothes made me realise that she was to small and I to bulky.
When building her I had many bright ideas like having a jib-spar to take upp compression that let me have the shrouds forevard of the mast so that I could let out the boom about 120 degrees running downwind. It was also good training to make a compact boat. Experience like these and outhers helps me with my present boat.






Here I am in the lee of an island. From the cockpit I easily
propell her with the in the ever present yuloh.


Photo Owe Tollesby

Here she sails with her toppmast up. The bottom mast is five feet ( 1.5 meter) tall. The ever present yuloh can be seen on the port side sticking out behind the boat.

BRIS PART II

Una cascara de nuss con amor was the headlines of a newspaper in Mar del Plata. Below qurius people are watching Bris.



We left Mar del Plata in the beginning of 1974. But we did mot get far before a gale capsized the boat. A week later in hurricane force winds she was pitchpooled despite being under bare pooles and riding to an improwized seeanchor (see text under menu for details)
Instead of rounding the Horn I like Capten Bligh decided to head east. On the pilot chart I had found a little dot out on the big Southern Ocean, named Tristan da Cuhna. I was not shore if it was inhabited but I thought we might get some shelter and find water. After two months we reached the island.









We vere lucky to arrive on a rare calm day.









As there is no shelterd harbour Bris was lifted out of the water and placed on shore were I lived in her for four months.



It was an rugged shore.



Sometimes waves of enormous force broke against the shore. To show the scale I stand as close to the breaking sea as I dare while my girlfriend took some pictures. Here is one of them. When a sea hit the rock it was trembling.





and the vulcano was still smoking.







But the houses was snugly embedded in high flax. There was no trees on the island.



except the odd one in a garden.



Here are two Islander on a sunday walk.



Here im sitting between the priest wife and daughter.



The longboats was the islanders pride and livlihood.




They were originally built of mailbags and driftwood. As there is no harbour they had to be light enough too be lifted ashore.



During the winter work was done on them.




But when spring came the islanders went with them to Nightinggale for penguin eggs, in summer the collected guano for their potato feilds. In the autumn the took Sheerwater birds for food.







This is the famous potato stamp: One penny or local value four potatoes. When I left I had the mail with me.




In the middle of the winter I left for St Helena. My girl freind had taken the opportunity to leave with a research vessel. The stormy passages had been a bit much for her.




I arravied in St Helena after one month with the mailbag. That made the harbourmaster give me a free stay.



Bris can bee seen among the lokal craft. There was no outher cruising boats as i had arrived in August wich was not the season.





Here after three months I put Bris ashore for antifouling in preparaton for a voyage to Martinique.


After five in Martinique where I learned French from the French yachtsmen i continued to Newport USA. One day a man standing on the dock and presumingly admiring my boat seeing the Swedish flag asked in surprise "Did this little boat cross the Atlantic on her own keel". I confirmed, adding "She did not take the shortest route" Then I told him a few of my adventures.
He told me he knew a person on a yachting magazine and the would surely like to have my story published and would pay top money.
Regrettably I had to admit that I had been a problem child and that writing was not my strong point.
To my surprise he told me that if I only wrote my story like a letter to my mother there was an editor that would take care of the writing. My teachers had made sure that the fact that there in the real world existed such thing as editors was a well kept secret. Cruising world like my writing and published it for twenty years. Now they are more into bigger well equipped boats.



I meat Dick Newick the famous trimaran designer and sailed to Martas Vineyard where I worked with him on several interesting projects. Learning about light construction, epoxy kevlar and carbon fiber. This was 1975 and 76 Carter was being elected as President.

I lived in my boat. In a thrift shop I had found a toaster which with the help af 11o volts kept me warm. The yellow cord can be seen in the picture.



In March I left the US. Sailed to the Acores and back to Sweden where I arrived August 1976.

BRIS A 20 FEET OCEAN GOING DUBBLE ENDER.

1971 I started to build a 20 feet dubble ender in my mothers back yard. True to Swedish tradition it did not take long before the town planner was there and asks me to take down what i had put up.
"I will only build a small boat to sail to Brazil in" I said
"What will happen if every one builds a small boat" he said angrily.
"What will happen if every one becomes a town planner" I answered.
That made him only more angry. I had to take down everything.
When mother heard what had happend she said
"Clean out the basement, drive the junk to the dump and build the boat there"




There was not a lot of space.



Despite what many peaople said we had just calculated it right. She got out of the door.



It was an experiment. She was rigged as a cat schooner with lug sails. She had a homebuildt windvane a centerboard and an outboard.




I did not get far. The centerboard leaked, the mast was to heavy and the outboard broke down.





After a winter in Holland, pondering my situation, with little money left I decided to take her back to Sweden on a trailer and rebuild her.

Out went the outboard, the windvane, the centerboard. I bermudarigged her, put on a three feet keel with 300 pounds of lead.


In May 1973 I left Sweden for a secound time, by way of Norway and out between Shetland and Orkney North of Scotland west of Ireland I finally made a landfall in Madira after 45 days at see. I did experience much rugh weather. Gales drove me nearly up to Iceland before i finally could make my way south.



Here Bris is at the Harbour of Madeira with anouther small boat from Scotland. Today there is plenty of boats out sailing and Madeira has an Marina. Then back in 1973 we where only two boats and we where at anchor. Times has changed.



My boat had well survived the hardship.





I had lost a lot of weight and was very fit.




Two girls found me attractive and came with me to Canary Island. The blond girls family got were upset when a letter reach them saying she was bound for Brazil in a boat built in a Swedish basement.

1. The other girl came along for more adventure. Here we are in the trades.
   

After 47 days we arrive in Rio and decides to continue to the Pacific via Cape Horn.



After another passage we arrive in Mar del Plata Argentina



to be continued...

IN 1989 I SAILED 15 FOOT BRIS FROM FRANCE TO NEWFOUNDLAND

In 1989 I and a young girl sailed my homebuildt boat from France to Newfoundland via Ireland. I had buildt her of two inch thick Divinycell and NM-Epoxi so she was very strong well insulated insubmergible and snug. It was an experimental boat with a bow centerboard and a ten feet short mast onto wich I could atach a varity of different rigs.




Here she is sailing rigged as a Bermudan sloop in strong winds.




Hera as the wind has moderated I have put up an spritsail, increasing her sail area and making her more weatherly.




In light wind I put up an topsail.





In no wind I scull her. She is very versatile.



Her beuty even atracted a young girl to come sailing with me. Here we are in La Trinite France


Here on the beach with the tide out in Baltimore Ireland.




There was plenty of room inside her for us and for food.




After 47 days against the prevailing westerlis we arrived in St Johns Newfoundland where the customs promptly siized her. They said the waves were to big for her.We had to escape to the US in a U-haul truck.




In Newport RI I exhibeted her on the boatshow gaining a few dollars by selling postcards of her. Back to Sweden she went in a container.


Here I tow her away from the Gothenburg containerport on her own wheels attatched to the bumper of my mothers car.



She is now on exhibition on the Swedish National Maritime Museum in Stockholm next to the Wasa. Two young persons ponder her seaworthiness.

BLEKINGSEKAN AND BRIS

The above picture is Bris in the Saragosso sea oan her last voayge 1983 to the Museum of Yachting Newport RI where she since then has been permanent exhibited. I took the picture during my noon swim with my waterproof Nikonos camera.

The Pictures belov is of Blekingsekan. The were taken in August 1962 after a summers cruise on the Swedish west coast by my sister. The day is important because its the departure on my first long cruise with no set distination and with the boat as my permanent home.

ANNA 1967 SAILING WITH HER BERMUDA MAIN

ANNA 1968 IN ELBE RIVER GERMANY

ANNA 1967 1968

SAM MY TEACHER AT MARSTRÖM

1962 I started my cruising life. This is the day of departure