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abuskerslife · 9 years

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A New Boat

I know, it has been more than a year ago that I last updated this blog. To make a long story short, I’ve stayed the last year in Portugal. As usual I have been busking fulltime, but besides that; not a whole lot of things that are interesting have happened. This is about to change. My sailing dream is more alive then ever before and I am gearing up to make this dream come true, so keep reading!

First a summary of the last few years.

As some of you might know, for a number of years I’ve worked for dutch television as a tape-operator and later on also as an EVS operator. Back then I already had difficulty explaining what it was exactly that I did, so I won’t go into much detail. It was a technical job where I was responsible for correctly recording television shows, I had to start the right videos at the right cue. Later on I started doing short live-highlight video edits for sport and amusement shows and also slowmotion pictures. The first few years I thought I had one of the most fun jobs in Holland, I felt privileged. A few things did start bothering me however; my life consisted mostly of working(crazy hours), I had almost no social life and the paychecks were low. There had to be more to life then just work. I had a strong feeling that something had to change drastically! One of the shows I did on a regular basis was “The Reunion”.

There I was part of a great crew and we made high quality television: You take a non famous dutch person with a special life story, then you gather one of the classes they were in when they were teenagers and it turns out that a lot of the classmates have led a life that is at least as special. The television presenter (back then Rob Kamphues) travels to these persons (quite often on the other side of the planet) and films a little video. Afterwards the whole class is gathered in the television studio where the reunion takes place. Al lot of these people said YES to their dreams and made them come true. One of these people was Huub (Humberto) van den Broek. He sold his business, bought himself a sailing boat and sailed to the Pacific. His story is the one that stuck with me the most!

You can watch the episode with Humberto in it here: (for the part with Humberto you have to skip to 39min40)

http://www.npo.nl/de-reunie/07-11-2010/KRO_1388247

A year later I quit my job and my apartment and with only a thousand euros in savings I started looking for a sailing boat to fix-up (I did freelance after quiting my job for about seven months). The internet, but mainly Facebook is bombarded with catchy quotes, well here is one: “Once you make decision, the universe conspires to make it happen” (Ralph Waldo Emerson). This certainly was the case for me because through a colleague the “Bella Vista II”, a dutch made “ waarschip 730” sailed into my life. It was the aunt of this colleague, her husband recently passed away and he loved that boat like it was his child. She was looking for the right person who wouldn’t just sail it 2 weeks out of a year. And she gave it to me!! So all of a sudden I had a beautiful floating and sailing home :)

The boat was a real beauty, but she was also made of plywood. And beneath the paint I did find some structural problems. One of which was dry-rot in the main structural keel beam (the “spine” of the boat so to speak). I fixed all the problems I could find and went sailing (mainly learning how to sail ).

The following years however I started finding more and more structural dry-rot problems. Epoxy can perform miracles, but the oh so important feeling that your boat will look after you in rough weather was greatly diminished. So I had a dilemma; I wanted to sail around the world and I had a boat, but with a questionable seaworthiness. It basically needed a complete refit/restauration and for that I needed money. Getting my old job back was not an option because I said goodbye to that way of living indefinitely. So I made a plan: I will sail with a lowered mast through the rivers and canals of Belgium and France to the Mediterranean Sea. Along the way I will earn money by playing music in the streets (busking) and with that money I will give the Bella Vista II the refit that it needs and make her into a boat ready for bluewater (ocean) sailing.

So wonderfully naïve and with only 38 euro’s and 40 cents in my pocket, a guitar and enough diesel fuel to barely reach Ghent, I set off and left Vlissingen. Once I reached the locks of Ghent I only had 40 cents left after having to pay the Belgium waterway taxes :) Well, first things first ; lets find a spot to moore the boat and stay the night. As we motored by an old classic looking building which seemed to be barricaded, my couchsurfer Emilie said : that must be a squat, lets ask for directions! indeed it was a squat and it is called “ ’t Landhuis” (https://tlandhuis.wordpress.com/fotos/).

Not only was it a squat, it was also a biological gardening allotment, free for the people of Ghent to use. The people living in the squat make sure the gardeners have enough tools, compost, etc at their disposal. Music concerts and parties were organized and once every two weeks there is a “peoples kitchen”. Anybody can pass by and have a wonderful vegan meal for a small voluntary contribution. Travellers are a common sight in squats, but for them it was a first time a sailing boat moored up. For me it was entering a new world altogether. Every prejudice feeling I might have had about squatters disappeared. I met a lot of amazing and warm people that are not only concerned about the less privileged, refugees and the environment, but they actively try to do something about it.

There I learned some necessary lessons of how to survive with little money. I learned how to “dumpster dive”, yes indeed : literally diving into for example supermarket dumpsters. I still find it incredible how much perfectly good edible food is being wasted everyday just because it reached the expiration date (I never got sick and we ate like kings!). But I also learned how to use drinking water sparsely. Rainwater is being collected for the dishes, once every two weeks we could collect fresh drinking water at the local ice-skating range. And there was an arrangement for us to pick up bread once a week at some bakeries wich would otherwise be thrown away.

But for the refit of the boat and the traveling I still needed money. I already was a musician, but in Ghent I learned the basics of how to be a street musician (busker).

After two months of earning money with my guitar I felt it was time to move on. By now I had a new couchsurfer on board. It was Joaco from Argentina. He was travelling around the world and we agreed that he would sail with me until Rheims. We never got further than the border of France because the engine broke down. With a little improvisation I got the old diesel engine sort of working again and I decided to limp back into Ghent to do repairs. For this I needed more cash.

But adventure was also calling and Joaco felt like hitchhiking. I never hitchhiked before and while friends were looking after the boat in Ghent, we hit the road with our thumbs up! After a week my friend Joaco went his own way and I continued hitching through a big part of Europe that summer with my backpack and guitar and had the time of my life! (of that trip alone I could write a book).

I discovered that not only I could survive by busking, I actually managed to save money! Eventually I ended up in the south of Portugal in September and in Lagos I discovered buskers paradise. In a short period of time I could make a significant amount of cash without the hassle of licences and police (in most cities in Europe they are trying to control any form of street art by issuing licenses and a lot if restrictions). By the end of October, the tourist season ended and I returned to my boat in Ghent where I busked until Christmas. I saved quite a bit if cash by now, but still not enough to give the boat the refit that it needed. From colleague buskers I learned that by selling CD’s, you can almost double your earnings. Well buskers like to exaggerate, but it was clear to me I had to record a CD. So I spent about a thousand euro’s of my savings to buy recording equipment. In 2002/2003 I did a 18 month sound engineering course at SAE Amsterdam (http://www.sae.edu/nld/nl ). Eventhough I ended up doing more with video in the television industry, right now this course was very useful. With a limited budget I was able to record and mix a good sounding demo/CD without hiring an expensive studio and engineer (although I had the mix mastered by Wim Bult at inline mastering, he did an amazing job! : www.inlinemastering.com ). The recordings and mix I did at “ ’t Landhuis ” I am deeply grateful this was possible. This instrumental piece, that is also on the CD, I recorded right after I heard my father passed away :

https://soundcloud.com/michel-de-vries-6/04-douwe-mp3

By now the Bella Vista and I moved to another part of Ghent where there are more “live aboards” on their boats. The winter had been hard on my beautiful boat, so it was time to earn the rest of the cash that was needed for the refit (although by now I already decided a few times to replace her, but every time I changed my mind again). So while livaboard neighbours and friends were looking after my boat (http://cultureark.org/brochure_epreuve_view.pdf) I returned to Lagos because the earnings in the previous year were quite good. What happened there, I already wrote in previous blog entries. I wrote that by now they had started checking on licences. But what I didn’t write was that I met my girlfriend there. Here name is Diana, she is English, very beautiful and sweet and she sells custom made jewelry and sea-shell mirrors in the streets of Lagos. We met while I was busking a lot in the street where she works. We were very much in love and we were even getting married. After a while we came to our senses and cancelled the wedding :) We are still happily together though. In the previous blog entry I mentioned that I hitchhiked a sailing boat from Sines to Lagos last year. I remember very well what the skipper Gerard said to me when he dropped me off after anchoring: Michel, don’t lose focus! I have to admit that the following winter I did lose focus a bit due to the butterflies in the belly. When we were just a few weeks together, we did go sailing with another sailing street musician: Bots with his boat “Malhalla”. Amazing human being and a great boat !(Trident Warrior). We met in Lagos while we were both busking there. He had just sailed into Lagos from Madeira. The bizarre coincidence is that he is friends with one of the people who were looking after my boat and he was on his way to there! (He has arrived by now). During the sailing trip with Bots I was anxious to know how Diana felt about sailing. She had never sailed before and it was blowing a force 5/6 Beaufort out there. Well, she didn’t get seasick and she had fun! For me it was again an affirmation that I belong on a sailing boat and at sea. I can still hear Bots saying : “wow, you look really happy, ha ha!”

A few weeks later, the tourist season had ended again. So for the next 6 months I couldn’t busk in Lagos. Diana is co-owner of a piece of land in the Algarve (together with another 60 British people). She is the only one who lives there permanently however. It is literally in the middle of nowhere with nothing but nature around. This is what she always wanted and she is living her dream :) . We spent the winter together there. The money I had saved by now was spent on living and on a car (you really need one there and it is a lot easier for carrying around gear and guitars). It is an old Mercedes diesel. It is also an estate car, so I can sleep in it if needed.

To pay for my stay on the land, I did maintenance and restauration work on two wooden houses on that land. By staying there last winter I learned that here dream is not mine. And eventhough I love here very much and we have many beautiful moments together and no matter how beautiful the nature there is: the sea is my home and I need to live on a sailing boat!

I honestly believe that things happen for a reason and by discovering what doesn’t work, you will end up on the right path again. I decided to replace the Bella Vista. The moment I made this very tough decision, I got a message from one of the people who were looking after my boat : somebody was interested in it. The Bella Vista II will become a river boat and get a well deserved second life.

Now I also know a lot better exactly what kind of boat I want to buy. It has to be a polyester boat between 20 and 27 ft (the Bella Vista is 24 ft). Safety is the most important aspect, so it has to be a type of boat that has proved itself on the oceans. I prefer either a long keeler or a bilge/triple keel with a transom hung rudder or a skeg hung rudder. I’d rather not have an inboard engine and no underwater toilet (I don’t like holes in my boat). But above all: it has to be junk rigged! This is a Chinese type of sail and all the benefits have been beautifully described in this article written by by Annie Hill : http://www.junkrigassociation.org/Resources/Documents/50%20Advantages%20of%20%20Junk%20Rig.pdf

Annie is an English sailor and writer. One of the books she has written is the “must have” book : “Voyaging on a small income”. This is here weblog : http://anniehill.blogspot.com

I made these demands for my next boat because I want to be financially able to maintain the boat (polyester, small, junk rig). And again the safety aspect : strongly built, junk rig (easy reefing & no boom knocking you overboard when gybing), K.I.S.S. (keep it simple stupid)

On the internet I discovered a few boats that match my wishes. But there is one boat in particular that I check a few times a day, to see if it isn’t sold yet and ofcourse to look at the pretty pictures of the boat :) (here lines are so beautiful!) The boat I am talking about is called “ Mariposa”. It is a contessa 26. With this type of boat quite a few people already circumnavigated the planet. The most famous one is Tania Aebi. Before Laura Dekker, Tania was the youngest person ever to circumnavigate the globe single handed.

Mariposa (butterfly in spanish) is a 26 ft long keeled polyester boat with a junk-rig and she is ready to go to sea!

It is basically my dreamboat! And although I haven’t seen the boat with my own eyes yet, the asking price seems like a good deal. The busking and saving money is coming along nicely, but regretfully the Mariposa is still out of my reach.

So I am going to start a crowdfunding campaign! Right now I am full on the job of preparing the campaign; I am making a little promo film. I am also brainstorming about what I can offer to the people who make a donation (perks). There are a few ideas; with a certain donation amount I can provide the download code for my CD, for a higher amount I could do a living room concert in your home and an with an even higher amount you will have bought yourself a five day sailing course/holiday!

Just before I start the campaign I will let everybody know (uncluding the target amount I will be going for). Making a donation so I’ll have a floating home again and that I can sail again, will be amazing! But if you can post the link to my campaign on your Facebook en even your website/blog, that will be a big help and much appreciated :)

But I can already hear the people think: what if Mariposa is sold before the end of the campaign? Or what if the target amount is not met? Well, there is a plan B, C and D.

Plan B: I discovered two other junk rigged boats that match my wishes/demands. Both are in the same price range. I prefer to buy Mariposa, but I am also realistic and flexible :)

Plan C: If the target amount is not met I will buy a trailer sailer to fix up between 500 and 1000 euro, I’ll tow it back to Portugal and spend the coming winter fixing it up and converting it into a junk rig. Type of boats for this option : corribee 21, alacrity 19, vivacity 20, kingfisher 20, hurley 20, hurley 22, achilles 24.

Plan D: here in the south of Portugal I discovered an old longkeeled wooden boat that needs fixing up. It is in reasonable shape but under the waterline it needs some serious attention. The carpentry and epoxy skills I acquired with my old boat will be useful then. And I know: again a wooden boat, pffff... If I end up going for this option, the entire hull will get a glassfibre/epoxy coat. But I really just want to sail as fast as possible and with “Mariposa” this is possible!

Well my sailing dream is more alive then ever before, thank you for reading this piece of text until the end and you all will soon be notified when my crowdfunding campaign will start!

#sailing #contessa 26 #junk rig #busking #crowdfunding

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abuskerslife · 10 years

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30-07-2014

Busking was a bit slow last week, I wasn’t really motivated. So I figured I needed a little break. In Lagos I met a very nice dutch travelling girl named Loren and she told me about a world-music festival in Sines. This is a small seaside city on the atlantic coast, a little below Lisbon. And during busking last week some portugese kids also told me I HAD to go there! So the next day I took the bus and indeed, the vibe was amazing. Hippies, street venders and buskers everywhere and some really good music (and a lot of stunningly beautiful portugese women, WOW :) )

During these two days I met a lot of good people, with these two german fellas I busked during the day.

While busking withe these two fine musicians, a few other people sat with us. One of them turned out to be a german fellow named Kai. I met him last year in Lagos, so I was surprised and happy to see him again. He has an interesting story. I think about five years ago at the age of 17 or 18 he drove with his Zundapp moped to Portugal from germany and he is still here. Now living and travelling in his campervan. He still has his Zundapp :)

But during all the time I was there I just couldn’t keep my eyes off this great looking sailing boat with a dutch flag laying at anchor here.

So I got to thinking: with the north-easterly prevailing winds in this region and considering the time of year, they will probably be heading south towards the Mediterranean Sea and thus passing Lagos. While I saw two people walking on deck, I decided to take a swim there and ask if they were by any chance going to Lagos and if yes : if I could sail with them. And they said yes!

I hadn’t sailed for more then a year, so one can imagine I was very happy!

Next day at 0800am the skipper Gerard picked me up with a dingy and off we went!

Gerard is 63 years old and has been at sea most of his life, first as a diver with the royal dutch navy and after that diving for commercial companies. Later in his seafaring career he worked as a chief mate in the merchant navy, ending his professional carreer as the captain of the sailing vessel ‘De Tukker’, sailing with troubled kids.

Now Gerard is heading for Greece/Turkey to sail there with his beautiful 52ft steel 33 ton, dutch made 'Noordkaper’ Sailing vessel 'Via Maris’, He will spend the winter months in holland, But the idea is to spend most of the coming years in the mediterranean sea. He is always looking for crew, this is his blog: http://viamarissailing.com/

The other crew member is Michel, a 71 year old friend of gerard, spending his summer vacations crewing sailing boats.

When we left the anchorage, there was almost no wind and blowing head on, so we motorred the first bit, but I was at sea again!!!

After a few hours the wind increased and changed direction so we could set sail. Shortly after that the most south-westerly point of Europe came in sight: Cabo St Vicente!

After rounding this cape we anchored in a nice sheltered bay near Sagres to head for Portimao the next day.

And wat I was hoping for during this trip happened the next day, Dolphins!!!

Okay, a bad picture, but they were really fast! We were sailing only 5 knts, so waaay to slow for them to hang around and play a little :)

Man, the last time I saw dolphins was during my navy days in the late nineties!

After a few hours Portimao came in sight. The wind was increasing but it was blowing on shore! But more ships lay at anchor in this anchorage and the 'via maris’ has very good anchor gear. Still I realize very much you took a risk at anchoring here and dropping me off Gerard! thank you for letting me sail with you! Now I am more motivated and focused then ever to busk my ass off to buy my next sailing boat :)

#sailing #martin guitar #sines #busking #townes van zandt #roland amp #portugal #michel de vries

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