Larry Jacobson - The Boy Behind the Gate: How His Dream of Sailing Around the World Became a Six-Year Odyssey of Adventure, Fear, Discovery and Love

How His Dream of Sailing Around the World
Became a Six-Year Odyssey of Adventure, Fear,
Discovery, and Love

LARRY JACOBSON

2011 Larry Jacobson

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

For more photos, products and information about the author and journey:

www.larryjacobsonauthor.com

The author welcomes comments and questions at:

larry@larryjacobsonauthor.com

Published by:

Buoy Press

Emeryville, California
www.buoypress.com
sales@buoypress.com

Ordering information:

Orders by U.S. trade bookstores and wholesalers, please contact:

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ISBN: 978-0-9828-787-9-8

Library of Congress Control Number: 2010913404

Book design and production by Joel Friedlander

www.TheBookDesigner.com

World map by Rachel Arends

Printed in the United States of America

Dedication

To my mother, Julia. Through demonstration, she has given
me the courage and strength to fulfill my dreams.

To my father, Abe. If only you could see me now with a
wrench in my hand.

And to Al Joyce, who gave the best advice of all:
Go, man! Go!

Many people assisted in helping make this book a reality. Id like to thank those people here.

Bill Claypool, for tirelessly reading the manuscript and giving feedback in such a way that kept me buoyed, rather than sinking.

Jake Jacobson, for his expert legal advice.

Bob Joyce, for helping me through the struggles of publishing a book and for motivating me to keep going through my moments of doubt.

Bill McDonald, for his continued interest in my adventures and for his support and encouragement of the book.

Ken Smith, for sticking by me while living with a writer who sometimes seemed to be going cuckoo and for recognizing that talking to myself was part of the process. For his tireless tutoring of Word and keeping my computer up and running.

John van Duyl, for editing and rescuing the manuscript, encouraging me to let go, and for raising my writing standards.

Patrik, John, Lynette, Brad, Laura, Biagio, Clark, Dan, Karen, Mike, and our other cruising friends, for reminding me of events that may have slipped through the cracks.

And to the countless friends who kept up the encouragement with expressions, such as Cant wait to read it! and When is that damn book coming out?!

I have stood at the edge

Of the oceans.

I have stared in awe

At the power before me,

That pulled and tugged,

Until there was only the sea.

I left my life behind

To become a wanderer.

To explore, to live on the edge,

To search for something.

For that one thing that could satisfy

The urge that comes over me,

To keep moving, to wonder, to see.

I have circled the globe,

Sailed the seas,

Stared into deaths eye.

Yet still my thirst remains unquenched.

Now I stand on the edge again

Staring at the wind blown waters,

Wondering where I belong.

Do I go or do I stay.

I ask it of myself

Each and every day.

Larry Jacobson, 2009

This book is based on a variety of sources. They include emails to and from friends and family, radio calls, the ships logs, phone calls, and my personal journal. Its also supplemented with contemporaneous writings that hopefully fill in the gaps left when piecing all of the above together. Specifics include:

Personal Journal entries, ships log and emails: Youre reading them as they were written, with the addition of some narrative and accurate dialog additions to emphasize certain moments. The grammar has been corrected, and definitions of nautical terms are included for the nautical novice.

New copy, written post-voyage, that fills in the gaps of information, is in italics.

Some names have been changed.

All latitude and longitude positions are accurate from logs. All course directions, wind speeds, wave heights, weather conditions, and other facts and figures are all taken directly from the ships logs. Radio conversations are taken from radio logs. Many conversations are taken from meticulous journals. Some have even been transcribed from video onboard.

A note on time: All times onboard are based on a 24-hour clock. For those unfamiliar, heres the simple trick: If the time noted is 1259 or less, then you need not calculate anything. For example 1000 is 10 am. If the time noted is higher than 1259, say 1300, simply subtract 12 and you get the time of 1. You know its pm because its past 1259. 1 am would be 0100. Once again: If its 0900, thats 9 am. If its 2200, subtract 12 and get the answer of 10 pm.

Times used ashore are am and pm.

Unless otherwise indicated, all monetary amounts are in U.S. dollars.

Regarding measurements: Sea heights are commonly measured in meters or feet; I use feet for your ease of recognizing the size of the seas.

Regarding speeds: They are measured in knots, the common nautical language. A knot is approximately .13 percent faster than a mile per hour. Occasionally, I translate this 10 percent difference for you.

Latitude and longitude positions are given at points of interest to sailors and for those wishing to follow our specific route.

Told through email updates sent to friends, ships log entries, and my personal journal, I reveal my most intimate thoughts and experiences including my hopes, fears, joys, sadness, and, ultimately, changes. In some places, I have an email and a personal journal entry for the same event or day, which show how sometimes, what we say, is different than what we are thinking.

Sail Forthsteer for the deep waters only. Reckless O soul, exploring. I with thee and thou with me. For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared go. And we will risk the ship, ourselves, and all.

W ALT W HITMAN

I cant help it. Its not my turn to be on watch, and this time, I am so tired Im almost out before my head hits the pillow. I drift in and out of sleep for a couple of hours, but at 0300 wake up and call out the hatch to Ken, Hows it going up there? No reply. Hey, are you sleeping? Youre supposed to be watching. Silence. Ken? I leap out of the bunk and race naked up the ladder to an empty cockpit. Ken. Ken! This isnt funny! Where are you? I sprint back below and search every cabin, then fly back up on deck and look over both sides to see if he is dragging alongside.