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Makena - Meet Jerry



November 27, 2014
Onboard Makena, Lagoon 620 crossing the Atlantic

Position at noon
16° 41.4' N
48° 12.2' W

Thanksgiving Day aboard Makena felt like a family affair. We have come to depend and rely on each other, building trust, help each other and living in (relatively) close quarters.

During the day, we spotted the same whale, species anyway, that we had seen several days earlier. Very curious behavior as it surfed behind us, came alongside at just a few meters from the boat, a couple of meters deep and turned on its side, exposing that white underbelly and white pectoral fins. In the 30 minutes or so that the whale stuck around, we only saw her take a couple of breaths. We would lose it in the deep blue of the ocean, then spotting the dark outline streaming ahead or behind us. Spectacular showing and certainly added another excitement factor to the day. We will have a look at photos and GoPro footage to see if we can get a better ID on the whale.

As we were making the final preparations for our Thanksgiving dinner, we had the first boat we had seen in several days pop up on radar and AIS. Cap Glen, sailing a deep course passed less that a quarter mile ahead of us. We hailed on VHF16 and did not get an answer. Perhaps they were making their final dinner preparations, as well.

We did not have any squalls today and that is a welcome change. The crew is able to make most of the day with few sail changes. Our daily run came in at 192 miles sailed and we now have only 755 miles left to sail.

Thanksgiving dinner was amazing. Sarah presented the opening act with Vol au Vent, in French Bouche a la Reine. The individual serving puff pastry is filled with a Marsala soaked mushroom and cream sauce. Great way to start the meal, perfect weather and for the first time everybody was wearing a shirt at the table (a couple of fancy ones, too.)

We settled in, uncorked a couple more bottles of Rioja and readied ourselves for the feast that was coming. I need to stop for a moment and mention that we had really set the table nicely and even pulled out the real silver silverware. Sailing on a Lagoon 620 with Luc and Sarah is a real treat.

Roasted Pork Tenderloin was the closest we could come to turkey for the main course. Perfectly cooked and surrounded by our home made stuffing with bits of sausage and apricots and apple. Asparagus, mashed sweet potato and mashed yucca (yes, we are starting to run out of stuff. No more potatoes) rounded out the meal. During the meal we had a great discussion on the origin of Thanksgiving, realizing we miss wikipedia to fill in a few details. Having finished the main course, we settle deeper into our chairs and rested for a few minutes to make room for the pumpkin pie that had recently come out of the oven. Personally, I make it a point to eat Pumpkin Pie on Thanksgiving (and as frequently as possible on other days). It was worth it to me to plan ahead and bring all of the ingredients from home to whip up this dessert.

Crew of the day: Meet Jerry
Jerry Winter, or as I call him, Dad, is 84 years old and, upon arrival in Las Palmas, we found out that he is the oldest participant in the ARC. He has sailed for many years, taught me to sail, allowed me virtually unlimited use of his boats as I was growing up. He has owned a range of boats from the venerable Catalina 27 to the Sparkman and Stevens designed Lacoste 42. Over the years we have logged thousands of miles together and he is an avid sailor, to say the least. Jerry has competed in two Transpacs on multihulls, two races from LA to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, dozens of Newport to Ensenada races and countless races around the buoys. Some of my fondest memories are Wednesday night racing with Dad on his LaCoste 42. He has cruised his own boat from Southern California down the length of Mexico and back. OPBs (other peoples boats) have taken him to a myriad of other destinations. When I became a professional captain and was offered deliveries or had to reposition my charter boats, Dad was my first call for crew. He sailed with me from Tahiti to New Zealand, via Tonga, from Venezuela to Martinique and we spent 10 days in Belize last year.

The Belize trip rekindled a sailing flame inside Jerry. He wanted to get more sailing in, take advantage of his good health. Unfortunately, I invited him on this trip by phone. I would have love to have been with him in person to see his eyes light up, when he shouted “Hell, Yes” into my ear. I could imagine a little kid at Christmas, bursting with excitement. Thousands of miles in the Pacific, none in the Atlantic. Yes, it was and the preparations began.

When not dreaming about sailing, Jerry is a committed husband, father of three and has seven wonderful grandchildren. He was able to build a small company into an international electronics component business with offices in California and Mexico, employing over 450 workers, whom he cared for deeply. Retired many years ago, he still manages real estate, commercial and residential from his home office in Coronado, where he has a majestic view of downtown San Diego, Coronado Bay Bridge and the Navy base with Point Loma in the background.

As a kid, he worked as a ranch hand on Rancho Jamul. He has always loved getting his hands dirty and many people are surprised to find that he takes a very hands on approach to managing his avocado orchard and tending to his grape vines. Every year he sets aside some of the grapes and produces about 30 cases of wine.

Back home, he is not capable of sitting around without some activity. He is involved in some remarkable projects, mostly through his Rotary Club. He mentioned to me that he finds himself as relaxed as he has ever been since his arrival onboard.

My grandfather took me a long way down the road in my love for the ocean, luring me into his adventures in exotic locales as an officer in the Navy in the 30's, 40's, 50's and 60's. Jacques Cousteau opened the underwater world to me, prompting me to start SCUBA diving at the age of 13. For sailing, I owe everything to Dad. Thank you!


112714 Jerry

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