My friend, Ludger, enthusiastically invited us to his pirate event in Red Hook Brooklyn. I told him we didn’t really mean for our schooner to end out looking like a pirate ship. She just turned out that way after spending so many days on the high seas. I wasn’t sure if we’d fit in. Ludger, who was dressed like a pirate himself, jumped off of his custom pirate chopped up leather covered motorcycle and said,

Pirates help lift the veil and reveal the foolish nature of the power elite. They mock the rich and their gluttonous and power hungry structures. It was not the son and daughter of a king or an emperor who holds one of the world’s greatest achievements. It was you and Soanya who achieved glory on the sea beyond comprehension. This is something that is beyond their reach in purchasing power and even authority. We pirates know that we are truly bigger than they. This is global maritime history, fantasy entertainment, a family fun program, old theatrical entertainment to help children dream again. Dreams foster innovators, inventors, explorers, builders, and healers.

Soanya and I looked at each other. How could we say no to such a character? We agreed to bring the schooner and some pirate friends.

Soanya’s View:

We were invited to take part in the Brooklyn Pirate Festival this past weekend. The schooner Anne was a fine rendition of a pirate ship being that it was the only boat that looked traditional with its wooden masts in a bay lined with huge freighter ships, work barges, and tugboats to service them. Reid, Darshen, and I put on pirate costumes and walked around checking out the scene. There were all kinds of pirates, but the most popular by far were Jack Sparrow look-alikes. He seemed to have replaced the usual Blackbeard and Captain Hooks of yesterday.

What is it about pirates that have captured the imagination of the masses? Is it their lawlessness? Mockery of society? Their cursing and bad grammar? Their tattered costumes complete with an assortment of blades carried with a “black heart”? We romanticize characters who thumb their nose at the establishment when they are on TV and in our virtual world, but pirates in the real world cause people real fear because they are infamous for their violent acts and often get away with them. During the 1000 Days voyage, we received many emails from concerned fans asking whether we saw pirates and were we afraid of running into them. We never went anywhere near pirate territories and never saw them even in the distance. However, Reid did have a run-in with pirates on the Amazon over thirty years ago which he survived. So they do exist in this day and age. The question we might ask is if the real characters are so despicable why do we love the pretenders so much?

Soanya's View:

Reid was going through some old writings he had kept from as far back as the 70s. In addition to hundreds of pages of his yogic experiences, he also wrote about life at sea with a crew and some of what he had learned as a captain of his own vessel. I found it to be useful even today and applicable to family life and human interaction in general. Here is an excerpt from his notes in 1993 that never became a full-fledged essay using human psychology to draw parallels between space travel and seafaring:

In the olden days, the captain was master under God of the ship and the cargo. Does this apply to space age sailing?

The masculine macho captain might not affect the best balance of efficiency on a long duration voyage with a space age crew. The masculine macho drive to power is based in archaic patriarchal myth. The aim of this drive is domination which, according to the myth, allows men to transcend their human vulnerabilities and limitations. However, domination creates isolation, fear, and paranoia with little satisfaction for the dominator or dominated, bringing more anxiety than pleasure. This traditional type of captainship might work for the military for normal lengths of time, but will not work for a long duration Space Age voyage at sea.

The essence of the captain’s method is not to tell or command, but to show.

A good captain in many circumstances waits for others to comment first so they will feel the responsibility of taking initiative and not leave the whole job up to him.

A captain who consistently gives the most of himself is given full support.

An enlightened captain creates a community of the spiritually aspiring who can live together without needing direction from institutional authority.

Each week we will check up on the progress we are making and ask ourselves what mistakes we have made, discuss possible improvements and what lessons we have learned for the future.

In the complex and unknown social order that the crew family of the 1000 days non-stop at sea expedition plans to live in, perhaps space should be allowed for dissent and rebellion. Since success depends on facing and overcoming a whole range of human emotion and experiences, all reactions should not only be permitted but tacitly encouraged. Impulses to dissent will arise and being expressed under these conditions they will be less harmful and not threaten overall order and harmony.

It is important for the whole crew family to cultivate the habit of giving honest and sincere appreciation to their fellow mates. The crew family’s faith in their fellow expedition members is realistic if it is counterbalanced by an awareness that sometimes people slip, misrepresent themselves, and go under when the pressure becomes unbearable. Forgiveness, sharing, caring, and understanding that we are all in the same boat should be kept ever present.

If a fellow crew member advances an idea or opinion different from our own, we can listen to it. We can occasionally let strong emotions stand without direct contradiction. We may also advance our own notions without pointing out that they differ from someone else’s.

We try not to impress our opinions and pressure our fellow crew members so we ourselves will not attract the same in return.

On our voyage we will encounter things about people we cannot stand but we are in a situation such that we must stand them. We must be able to excuse faults in our fellow crew members or we will not be able to exist in this long duration, isolated, high performance mini-society.

Each crew member works to develop the best in their fellow mates by appreciation and encouragement.

It gives the greatest pleasure to everyone to have their labors noticed each and every day. Everyone, including the captain desires to be appreciated.

Each crew member who can put themselves in the place of the next crew member can better understand the makings of the mind.

We recognize that we have made an effort to surround ourselves with the best people we can.

A year ago, our little family posed for a picture on the bow of the schooner. Now we take another photo and not much has changed except we are all a year older. Much of life is imagined and unseen to our normal eyes. Many people see us as "green runners" because we reach out into the unknown and discover new territory for the plant of humanity to grow. Most of the plant of humanity is made of roots and a trunk, solid and responsible. We liken ourselves to the new shoots of a giant plant or vine. Branches and leaves wave and bring in the energy of the sun and send the most digestible  juices out to new shoots so that we can grow fast and reach out to new places for the humanity plant to grow.

However, it is dangerous because we are tender and fragile and easily eaten by animals or broken by the upheavals of man and nature. Most of the plant doesn't want to take that chance or doesn't know that the opportunity to reach out and break away is possible. Other leaves think it is irresponsible not to follow the rules and conform to the strucure of stability. Many of the leaves are busy in their own world and not even aware that the green runners are out there exploring and feeling out new places for the whole plant to spread into. But the consciousness of the plant understands this is a vital role for its ultimate survival.

Though we, long endurance sailors, received some exposure we are mostly invisible as we strive and thrive and take chances following fantasy leads into the unknown. Where would the plant of humanity grow without vision and spiritual explorers who roam and make pilgrammages to sacred heights and return to share the mysteries of life?

I use a lot of different materials in my art. I paint on my old sails adorned with grommets, tears, stitches, and stains. I paint on my old charts which are made of very good paper and given character with coffee spills, finger prints and lots of thoughts and emotions impregnated in them. I use all kinds of paints, thick and thin, and glues to glue on more canvases and charts. I have a lot of different collage materials that I use which include every kind of fragment from the schooner. Each piece shows wear and tear and has its own history, a life story complete with storm scars, strife and chafe. Bits of leather, wood, brass, bronze, canvas, burlap, and manila all retain the charisma of their heritage.
The mixture of all these elements creates an alchemical brew that affects our physiology.

I’ve always used aggregates in my painting, but in 1987 when I realized I was going to depart the touch of terra firma longer than any human had, I started to use earth in earnest in all of my paintings. So bags of earth, sand, and sawdust of various colors and consistencies from many places became a standard part of my cargo aboard the schooner. I also use bits and pieces of my old paintings. Some were in an accidental welding fire onboard and they have burn marks on them. Some were under drips and have holes from rot and others have rust stains. Yet all of them have character from the exciting demanding life they have been through.

I collage parts of my life into the paintings. There are pieces of press from magazines and newspapers with illustrations and stories about the life of an adventurer. I use my old photos, proposals, brochures, and out of date promo materials. I use my crew lists, clearance papers, ships papers, weather charts, and inventory diagrams. I recycle the paperwork and records of my life. All of these elements in the paintings create a vibratory rate that has dimension, body, and life that extends off the paintings in all directions.

All of the treasures and junk incorporated into the art are imbued with the hopes, anguish, and love of their own intentions. They were all supposed to have done something to help the missions on the sea succeed. Many of them did help. Some in ways I can’t explain. Others had high hopes but never made it off the schooner to promote the voyage or fulfill their prophesies. The paintings are full of my words and the hands of other writers describing the fantastic art inspired voyages to sea.

From a distance, my art looks abstract. A closer look will show an old sailing course across a worn and torn chart or the minute details of where hundreds of items are stored. As often happens, finished paintings of the moment live a life and then they are used in another creation, on another adventure. All the materials of daily life on a sailboat find a place in my paintings.

When spring arrived we called our friends and took everyone sailing. For financial reasons we have not been able to begin rebuilding the schooner after her historic sail of over three years non-stop at sea. The difficulty of rallying help after sailing the longest non-stop without re-supply sea voyage has been quite a surprise for us. But on the other hand, we are lucky that our little family is together, healthy, happy and that we are continuing the epic voyage of life. It is simply amazing that the mighty schooner keeps sailing through timeless mythical realms exciting and reviving the spirits of the greatest sailing adventurers from story books and in real life. Yoga, painting, and sculptures have kept us in a magical space through these trying times. Even without the necessary rebuild on the physical level, the schooner Anne still sails on and on.

 A few warm hints of spring and we are inspired to unfold our ancient sails and lash them to our veteran masts. Here in NYC we had one warm day and were able to eat outside and do yoga in the evening on the yoga platform. Then the cold north wind blew and we lit our fire once again. Putting on our wounded and stitched sails is like raising a war-scarred battle flag. It means inspite of all our travails we are ready to sail and to not give up. It is the only set of sails we have anyway. We would rather be discrete and put on new sails than draw such attention to ourselves by putting up sails with such soul.

Our sails are recognizable from far away. People might not know what we have been through or what we face, but they will be inspired and outraged because where else can such sails be seen? Sails like these can only been seen in the dreams inspired by the old classics and mythology. Imagine what the sails of Ulysseys looked like and what they had seen. Our sails are the same way and we'll wear them until the lucky day we can create new ones. Then I'll paint the old one with many of our affirmations like, "Somehow, Yes!"

It’s spring fever here on the Schooner Anne. With warming temperatures and longer sunny days, Reid and I can’t help but feel it is time for renewed action and boat planning, maintenance, and fixing. This winter I learned a lot about what kinds of plants we should and shouldn’t have on this boat. For instance, I had an umbrella and snake plant in the galley, as well as an aloe and two geranium plants. We hadn’t repaired the built-in planters since they got drenched in sea water during the voyage, but that’s on the “to do” list for April. We kept our plants in pots through the winter. I admit I might have neglected them for a bit in the beginning of winter by not going back there or watering them since I knew they did get dripped on from the ceiling every time it rained or snowed. Around January, I thought it was getting too cold in the galley, so I moved the umbrella and snake plants to the slightly warmer pilothouse thinking I was doing them a favor. But it was too late. They had already frozen and were just barely surviving. When the umbrella planted warmed up, it lost all its leaves except two, but the main stem was still green so I was hopeful. The snake plant just fell over pitifully and I thought for sure it was a goner.

Now with the majority of daily temperatures above freezing, the umbrella plant has many new green shoots and according to the internet, the snake plant just might come back after all. I’ll keep you posted on that. The aloe plant survived with ease and I moved it only recently so that it could dry out a bit the way aloes usually like their soil. The geraniums, still in the galley, were green all winter and are growing happily now (who knew they were that tough)!

I decided I wanted a few more plants onboard, but I had to think it out a bit more. Bulbs are great because they actually like a little freezing weather before they begin growing and having gone through their bloom cycle, they can be stored away easily when we start sailing the boat this summer. Thus, the sweet smell of hyacinths and cheery yellow of daffodils permeate our pilothouse this year and azaleas are making a good show too. I know azaleas can take freezing weather just fine. I think we might put them in the built-in planters so they can spread as they like and not be in the way. This is already plenty of vegetation for a boat, but a few small pots with tasty herbs won’t take up much more room and I love cooking with fresh spices in addition to their feel-good green appearances. Spring is a great time of year!

Perched like an ocean bird on the bow of my schooner sailing on the wild seas, I ponder the wonder of life. I feel like an ancient and timeless spirit. At the same time, I have to acknowledge that a certain amount of modern technology made our three years non-stop voyage possible. Take the sails for example. I think traditional canvas sails would have been too heavy for one man to manage and way too much work for one man to keep under repair. I now have more ideas of how to make sails last a little longer at sea, but my sail-makers at Doyle Sails here in NYC did a great job designing, making and supplying us with sails for the voyage. Although I had to start repairing them fairly early on in the voyage, the sails had already seen seven years of sailing, some of the time in stormy weather. I sailed with these sails until they were really worn out, but in their defense, let’s look at some numbers.

I put an estimated 20,000 hours of sea time on my sails after they were already seven years old. An average boat might take 20 day sails. At eight hours a day that’s 160 hours. Then add 480 hours for a Bermuda race every year for three years and add the days together and you get almost 2,000 hours on your sails. Sails need a little repair every year and they get blown out losing their competitive edge making it time for a new set of sails. That will show you how well made my sails were and the amount of repair I had to do was not outrageous. Any sailor will tell you that your sails will wear out much faster at sea because of the movement of the boat in the waves and that one mistake can damage the sail overnight.

I learned to love my sails and repair them because I knew they were my ticket to freedom. Day after day, they drove me across the seas or held me steady in the relentless waves. I spent many hours perched in different locations viewing my sails from all angles and running my focused vision along every seam and stitch. Inevitably, they took me beyond the known to my home on the eternal seas.

Today we organized and shifted our inventory of food under the floor in the cargo hold. It made us wonder about people the world over who practice survivalist food strategies. I first heard about this as a kid during the Cold War. We were told that if atom bombs went off we would have to survive closed up in the basement for a long time. People are still buying food and stocking up for a potential disaster they believe is impending.

Being a lifelong voyager across the seas, I have been packing up for longer and longer voyages until I stocked up for our recently completed “1000 Days Non-Stop at Sea” expedition. Over the many years I worked on this expedition, I learned about what healthy food consists of, which ones will remain good over time and how to store them. One of the interesting aspects of how I learned this was the fact that we never had any money to buy the food. We had to reach out and find companies, pitch the project hoping that they would find it a worthy enough cause and donate food. One must be prepared to be ignored and rejected, but it can lead to rewarding relationships. Luckily, we succeeded so all the companies that did help us got advertised and received satisfaction knowing they helped make the longest non-stop sea voyage in history happen.

We started packing food for years before we left and keeping track of everything that gets shifted around on a boat which is preparing for a sea voyage was a lot of time consuming work that we couldn’t keep up with. We wrapped everything with three layers of plastic and sealed it with tape. It was an effective way of protecting the food and keeping it fresh for years. The only thing that really suffered after four years as far as we could tell was our highly valued sprouting seeds and beans no longer sprouted very well.

 We opened boxes of powdered goat’s milk, tomato sauce, coffee, peanut butter, cashews, olive oil, oats, and toilet paper. Perhaps we will organize all of our notes and write a book about how to stock up for four years. After going into our stores and moving things back into the galley, we put the floors back in place, pulled the carpet over and swept up. In the meantime, the schooner is getting lighter and lighter as we eat and eat.