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Crazy Horse - World ARC Rally, Part 1 How it all started?



It is always interesting how people end up being in certain predicaments.

So here we are on Crazy Horse, our Sundeer 60 sailboat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Our position is presently at 0605 S, 114 58W. We are 1500 miles from the Galapagos Islands and 1500 miles from Hiva Oa(Marquesas), our destination. We are in this 'position' because one day in June 2008, Jim Geddes from Annapolis called me at work inquiring about Sundeer sailboats.

I asked Jim what sailing plans were in his future. He responded by saying that he was sailing around the world in the World ARC Rally 2010-2011. He knew I owned a Sundeer having gotten my number from Steve Black of the Caribbean 1500/Atlantic Cup Rallies. That little spark of a phone call got me thinking . sailing around the world! Just one big problem, my wife Rosemary had to be convinced to joint up.

Jim was interested in a number of Sundeer boats for sail and wanted to go for a sail aboard Crazy Horse. In late August 2008, Jim and Ana showed up at Maryland Yacht Club for a typical no wind day on Chesapeake Bay in August. Rosemary and I liked them both from our initial meeting on the dock. Jim is a racing sailor and Ana (Jim's fiancée) was a spark for Rosemary. Ana is part of the reason Jim signed up, saying that she told Jim, "stop talking about going around the world, sign up and do it". He signed on early for the World ARC2010/2011 rally and has the shirt to prove it. We started out from the dock with no wind and waited off Rock Point shoal for an hour while we
drifted and talked. Then the wind picked up and Crazy Horse took off towards Rock Hall. On the return, we were greeted with a good old Chesapeake Bay thunderstorm to make the test ride complete. Jim was hooked on Sundeers.

We learned from Jim that World Cruising was having a breakfast seminar for would be ralliers during the Annapolis boat show. Rosemary agreed to go, but just for the information. There were probably twenty people at the seminar including Jim and Ana and some past 1500 ralliers.

Something clicked with Rosemary this day about the trip being possible and here is what cinched the deal. When we drove down to Annapolis that day, we brought our new kitten 'Karly' with us to drop off at the boat after the seminar and then return to the boat show. We were making small talk with Jim and Ana when Ana heard we had a cat. WOO! Jim and Ana said bring the cat over to the house and leave your car in the driveway, "you can walk the few blocks to the boat show and
the cat can stay in the house and we have kitty litter ready". They shuffled their cars around so we could park, and then showed 'Karly' the house. Next they showed us the hidden key so we could pick up 'Karly' when we finished the boat show. There are not many people who will take a kitten into their
house and let her roam around free after only two brief meetings.

Jim and Ana have become friends since that time but I sense that Rosemary decided if she was going to cave in about sailing around the world, then it would be fun to do it with nice people with the same kind of boat.

Towards the middle of November 2008 Jim bought a Sundeer 60 in Maine and brought it back to Annapolis. The day before Thanksgiving, Eric (my oldest son) and I took the sails off Crazy Horse and dropped them off at Quantum in Annapolis and decided to drive through Bert Jabins boat yard and look at boats on the hard. There was a Sundeer 60 on the hard. Jim's boat - Ocean Jasper. The day after Thanksgiving, Rosemary and I finished up lunch on Rock Creek and I told her about Ocean Jasper and did she want to ride down and have a look. She did and when we arrived there was Jim working away. He took time out to give us a tour. We compared boats and we were impressed.

Time was getting critical to make the commitment to the WorldARC. I worked diligently on Rosemary about doing the WorldARC and we discussed all the possible negatives. I am lucky; in the fact that she already had sailed the Caribbean 1500 Rally in 2007 and the Atlantic Rally in 2008. She enjoyed both experiences on the ocean and the people were great. It also helped that our youngest son Matt agreed to commit a year and half of his life in helping this dream come true for me.

We met at the Crazy Horse saloon in Georgetown, D.C. in 1968 when Rosemary turned 18 and I was in the Navy going to Nuclear Power School in Bainbridge, MD. This is where we got the name for the boat. It made a pretty significant change in both our lives. We got married in 1974 (after I got out of the Navy), and learned to sail on a 505 one design out of West River Sailing Club.

My relationship with Rosemary is one which supports the accomplishments or dreams of the other person no matter how hair-brained the idea appears in the beginning. Rosemary also felt I would not go unless she came along and she was correct. But she would also be facing some of her greatest fears of the open ocean. On the other hand, she would also have an opportunity to learn something about herself while meeting people and places around the world. How could a trip like this not make an impact on one's life?

In early Dec. 2008 we decided to go. I called Jim up to let him know he would have some company. He was excited and we started our preparations.

Meanwhile, Rosemary and I had a dinner date with our oldest son Eric and his fiancée Kerry. Little did we know that we each had important information to share? We told them we were sailing around the world. Eric told us they were setting a date to be married and wanted me to be the best man. The only problem was scheduling which proved to be somewhat of a nightmare. They kindly moved up the wedding from May 2010 to October 2009 so we could depart the last week in October for the beginning of this trip. It was all a bit hectic as you can imagine.

Eric also helped this dream come true by agreeing to take over our family business, Computerized Controls while we were busy sailing around the world. Lisa, our daughter, agreed to take care of the family home and pets which eased our responsibilities.

Making the decision to go is only step one in a long process. In our case, this was the most critical step as other people's lives are also affected.

Crazy Horse


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