My Mission

Let me tell you about my Morgenlandfahrt mission, which hopefully will be a sailing voyage to the Orient. 

Three years ago I found myself at the old age of 76 , coming out of Covid closures and a very bad depression where I was ready to jump from a very high bridge! 

Elle and I were at our simple secluded beach home with little to do. I had  been trying to find a business partner to restore my old catamaran Namaste. Which I had it hauled out some time ago (with destroyed interiors and broken mast) on "our" beach. It had not worked out.

I felt better now, even though my legs were not working properly, and I started some work on the boat with my trusted all round worker Sawsaw from Burma.

One day, by pure chance, I found a request for help on the internet: a paraplegic guy from Croatia was traveling SEAsia and needed transport from Krabi to the Khao Sok National Park. We had the right vehicle ( a Toyota 4x4 pickup) and plenty of time. I offered my assistance and, together with Elle we went to pick him up in Krabi. Slaven is a young man who some years ago had a terrible accident while playing in the sea with friends. He jumped from a rock and fell upon a friend in the water. His friend was ok but Slaven broke his neck and is now almost completely paralyzed. As soon as he got out of the  hospital and started rehabilitation, he incredibly decided that his handicap would not hinder his lust for exotic travels! He was now traveling around Asia with a kind strong lady companion who was taking care of him and also taking pictures to document the adventure. Yes, a real adventure it was, as the complexity of it all was so much more than what I had ever experienced in my travels. So we took the two in our pickup and shoved them around and since we were getting along fine, we invited them to stay with us for a few days. We became good friends and have now met many times here and in Europe. In the meantime Slaven has traveled to South America, North Africa and beyond and is becoming famous in his home country, Croatia. Take a look at his Blog (https://slavenskrobot.com/). 

The fact that somebody much worse off physically than me could travel like this triggered my fantasy and the repair/rebuild of my catamaran suddenly became a mission rather than a hobby. I decided that it would become a opportunity for old and handicapped people like me and Slaven to see the world from the water. For this, I had to make many changes to my boat and I used the rainy monsoon season to make construction plans. I had some experience, not only in boat building but specifically to adapt a boat to the needs of a handicapped person. 20 years ago I had adapted a catamaran to the needs of Tristan Jones, a famous writer and sailor who had lost both his legs. That is a story for another time but here is a link to his story (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tristan_Jones),

The problem was that it would cost a lot of money implementing my ideas in a boatyard and also that I had little confidence but a lot prior experience, with the reliability of local workers and boatyards.

Again, a lucky click on the internet came to my help: I discovered workaway (https://www.workaway.info/en/host/818842252641)!

Since then we have had many young and older volunteers who are helping me realize my dream!

So, if all goes well, by the time I'll be 80 I'll have an easier boat to sail, with many additional safety features, even for old and/or differently handicapped people. My aim is then to sail further East, to Borneo, the Philippines and Rajah Ampat which looks like Paradise... and if health enough and money allows me, the Pacific Islands are there...

My Morgenlandfahrt... Hopefully to finish better than Hesse's novel!