Happy Friday Everyone!
In homage to all epic boating movies out there, we vow to bring you a “Scene of the Week” post every Friday. To kick off our new tradition, here is one of our favorite boating movies, and probably yours too, “Captain Ron”. Enjoy!
Whats your favorite boating movie? We want to hear from you!
Have a great weekend from Sarasota Yacht & Ship.
BBC continues to fascinate us with their newest series, “Human Planet” which travels to eighty of the most remote locations on Earth to uncover and share stories about man’s relationship with the natural world. Their findings are remarkable and completely awe-inspiring.
In January, “Human Planet” introduced the world to the Bajau tribe in South East Asia. The Bajau are nomadic, seafaring people, appropriately nicknamed the sea gypsies of Malaysia. They are dependent on the sea for survival and as such have adapted to become highly skilled free divers. Traditionally, they live in stilt houses above the ocean and are born, live and die at sea, only coming ashore to bury the deceased and build new boats.
Meet Sulbin. He is part of a Bajau village off the coast of Sabah, Borneo. Sulbin is a master freediver who can hold his breathe for up to 5 minutes at depths of over 65 ft. Watch the incredible footage of Sulbin spear fishing near his village.
Sulbin enters a trance-like state before the diving into the water:
I focus my mind on breathing. I only dive once I’m totally relaxed
Sulbin will continue fishing for the rest of the day until he has enough food to feed his family for dinner. This is a beautiful depiction of how man is interconnected with nature. Amazing!
16 year old Dutch sailor, Laura Dekker is on her way to becoming the youngest solo circumnavigator in history aboard her Jeanneau Ginfizz ketch named “Guppy”.
She has just arrived in Darwin, Australia after crossing the Pacific, her most difficult leg thus far. She arrived with a shredded sail and only 30 mins of sleep in the last 48 hours.
Her goal is to finish the journey three months younger than the current record holder. This puts her on an timeline with some crucial decisions to be made. Most importantly, whether or not to bypass the pirated waters of the Gulf of Aden. This would entail taking a much longer route around Africa. Authorities are advising her to take the longer route as sailing through the Red Sea, although much shorter, will be very risky.
Laura’s passion for sailing is derived from her childhood. She was born in New Zealand on a boat during her parents’ own circumnavigation. By the time she was six she mastered her Optimist dinghy and was criss-crossing lakes in the Netherlands.
Her parents where slightly skeptical when she revealed her dream of solo circumnavigating at such a young age. Her dad put her through rigorous navigation and safety lessons. Her final test came at age 13 when her dad proposed she sail from the Netherlands to England and back to prove her solo sailing capabilities. ‘So long on the open sea with wind, rain and waves – that will soon end any ideas of sailing the world,’ he recalls on his daughter’s website. But Laura came home with the opposite sentiments, even more determined to follow her dream.
After several obstacles the Dekker family endured with the police and social services in allowing Laura to do this, she left Gibraltar on the 21st August, 2010. Her hope is to return to the Mediterranean, completing her journey, by May 2012.
The public has become fascinated with Laura. She has received a celebrity status in some places for her inspiring endeavor. Follow her Twitter @Laura_and_Guppy or visit her website http://www.lauradekker.nl/.
We wish you fair winds and following seas Laura!
Yachting Prose 