A lot of good correspondence often comes with an interesting listing, and in working with the well-proven and incredibly well-travelled Henk Tingen 46ft yawl ENDEAVOR’s owner, Candy Masters, it became clear early on that she has a way with words – and was a hard taskmaster when it came to our presentation’s proof reading! We asked Candy if she would contribute some blog posts; here is her first. David is Candy’s late husband; the couple’s voyages are legendary. In 2018, the Seven Seas Cruising Association awarded the Masters their prestigious Seven Seas Award. Previous holders include such ocean cruising luminaries as Irving and Electa Johnson (YANKEE), Eric and Susan Hiscock (WANDERER V), Miles and Beryl Smeeton (TZU HANG), and Lin and Larry Pardey (TALEISIN). The Seven Seas Award signifies the highest international recognition to a cruising sailor whose experiences on the sea demonstrate a deep commitment to good seamanship and an understanding their ship and environment. Selection is on a worldwide basis and is not restricted to SSCA members. During SSCA’s almost 70 years of existence, this honor has been awarded in only about one-third of those years. Over to Candy…
A Little Boy’s Question
We were newly arrived in Norway during the summer of 2017 and I was polishing the ‘stainless’ up forward when I noticed a Mum and a little boy had paused by the gate of our boat. They were respectfully standing a few feet from the edge of the pontoon, but it was obvious that they wanted to ask David a question. He was picking up his tools in the cockpit after doing some routine maintenance task and as the weather was fine he was taking his time. He looked up and with a friendly smile said “Good Morning” to the pair. The Mum stated that her son had noticed our American flag which fluttered from our Mizzen Topping lift and went on to say that he would like to ask a question, whereupon she looked at the boy and encouraged him to go ahead and ask. Changing his gaze from his mother to David, the boy asked clearly in perfect English, “Have you sailed this boat all the way from America?”
Now David, who had worked as a teacher in his early career loved to answer questions about nearly any subject but this inquiry has always stood out in my memory and the perfect combination of curiosity and awe. I smiled to myself and went back to my polishing but continued to eves-drop on David’s conversation with the small-tall couple.
Explaining that we had not only come from America, we had begun our trip many years earlier in Seattle, which is on the WEST coast of the continent, so on the way to Norway we had first gone all the way around South America. “Really?” said the Mom, joining the conversation. “We spent two years in Patagonia, Have you heard of Cape Horn? It is at the very bottom of South America.” The boy looked at his Mum again as she translated some of David’s words to Norwegian. David ploughed on with more details on what we found there about the whales and porpoises, amazing forests, the glaciers and ICE! Thinking of another question the boy asked how long it took to make such a long passage and they laughed heartily at our answer, “Thirteen Years”!
The boy and his Mother wandered off after another few minutes, having exhausted their English capability, but I kept thinking about how remarkable it is to have made this trip with my husband. After all, we had crossed the Pacific from North to South and the Atlantic from South to North, when most cruisers who start-off where we come from, concentrate on going west; island to island in the company of hundreds of other boats and dreaming of “crossing their outbound track” as their ultimate goal, which only a few achieve. For David and Me, we wanted to sail where others weren’t. We wanted to explore some unspoiled, empty anchorages. We didn’t really care to have an end in mind, but to explore the present, have room in the schedule to savor the bits we liked and breathe in the experiences which few had ever sought out since the Age of Sail had passed into the history books. For this adventure, a very special vessel would be needed and we found it in our ENDEAVOR.
Full particulars for ENDEAVOR can be found here
