Sailors Are Crazy, Humbled by the Sea, and Understand

Who would ever cross an ocean singlehanded? Or sail nonstop around the world? Or take young children on a multi-year offshore cruise? Though much of the world sees these adventures as crazy, Latitude 38 readers do these things regularly and understand others who do the same.

We believe the understanding comes from all sailors having moments when they’ve been humbled by the sea. Whether you’re Randall Reeves doing a singlehanded 40,000-mile figure-eight voyage around the world, or someone who, like us, has botched a landing at their marina slip, we know all sailors have faced moments when the sea has shown who’s boss. We’re constantly learning, adjusting, and facing moments when experience helps but doesn’t have all the answers.

When Donald Lang takes off on an almost one-year, 16,000-mile, nonstop solo voyage at sea just to “get away from it all,” most sailors understand it even if they’d never consider it. The same happens when Webb Chiles does a solo circumnavigation aboard a Moore 24 while in his 70s, or Kenichi Horie sails solo from San Francisco to Japan in a 20-ft boat at 83 years of age, or Liz Clark sets sail solo aboard a Cal 40 at 23 years of age. In Latitude 38‘s current issue, we have the story of 86-year-old Peter Hartmann, who recently sailed solo 7515 miles aboard his 52-ft sloop, from the Marshall Islands to Puerto Vallarta. Who of us can say what can and can’t be done?

These people are all certifiably insane, right? Yet Latitude readers “get it.” In contrast to the commentary you hear on much of today’s “unsocial media,” Latitude 38 readers are one of the most thoughtful and understanding communities we know. When presented with adventures like those above or with mothers who want to take their children across an ocean to explore the world, most Latitude 38 readers understand in a way the general populace never will.

As Webb Chiles noted in his recent video, “The single word that comes to mind is freedom …” as the reason for his numerous offshore adventures. Sailors have seen the stars and experienced nature in ways missed by far too many people. It’s the reason, we sense, comments on our website are generally very thoughtful and generous. Though most would never head off on any of these more extreme voyages, they understand the allure of being completely immersed in a sailing voyage where the wind, sea and sky are your only companions.

We do see the occasional harsh critique from armchair sailors who may not understand the decisions made in the midst of a crisis at sea. Or they may not understand why inexperienced sailors would head off in an ill-equipped boat or before having achieved their perception of “appropriate” experience, but most sailors know of endless numbers of successful yet improbable voyages completed by inexperienced sailors. Kenichi Horie is now a revered voyager, though when he left Japan without a passport, but with a bag of rice, in a 23-ft plywood boat at age 23 in 1962, many would have thought he’d never be heard from again.

Not all sailing voyages have happy endings. We’ve had to write our fair share of sad tales. Despite these misfortunes, most Latitude 38 readers understand the attraction of escaping controlled life ashore to attempt great adventures. They are slow to pass judgment. They know no amount of experience can keep every sailor safe, and bad luck, misfortune, accidents and simple mistakes can happen to anyone.

We were inspired to write these thoughts as we reviewed comments from our readers and saw the wisdom in their words. As an edited publication rather than a bulletin board of critique, we occasionally delete comments that we feel are out of line, but happily note that it is rare. Like everyone remotely judging the actions of others, we know there is ample room for disagreement, but we remain endlessly appreciative of the perspective gained by sailors on the sea. The sea humbles all of us, so many sailors have the wisdom to be thoughtful when judging the actions of others.

Sailors may appear crazy, but there’s a bond and understanding gained when they cast off from the shore.