Two Arrivals

Alessandro was towed into harbor, his engine disabled for the record attempt.

Ebullience!

Alessandro looks happy to be home!

Plastiki in Sydney Harbor with the iconic Opera Hall in the background

David de Rothschild

Plastiki crew, seemingly also ebullient.

the escort

my apologies to the photographers whose images are represented here for my failure to credit

Two arrivals, two goals accomplished. I'd like to congratulate each of these dreamer/doers.

First, Alessandro di Benedetto completed his circumnavigation, smallest boat around nonstop and unassisted, recognized by the powers that be of such things. An impressive, possibly amazing achievement, aboard his Mini 6.50. Dismasted during his initial attempt at Cape Horn, and expected by all watchers to retire, Alessandro persevered, jury rigged, and got on round.
Time taken by Alessandro Di Benedetto to make his trip around the world in the Mini 6.50 sailboat: 268 days 19 hours 36 minutes and 12 seconds. Applaud. He returned to Les Sable d' Olonne to fanfare, with his mom Anne Marie Di Benedetto there on the docks for his arrival. Anne Marie handled much of the logistics for the attempt, and was the email liaison which allowed me, and others, to communicate with Alessandro in the midst of his journey. See my initial post here.
Alessandro made it back to Les Sables on 7/22/2010. My personal congrats to Alessandro and Anne Marie

Brad Hampton of Yacht Pals wrote about the journey, here's an excerpt from after the dismasting:

On April 2, after receiving word from his team, YachtPals reported that Alessandro would have to make for land in Chile. And then a few hours later, we had to retract that statement. Alessandro had notified shore support that he was going to try to jury rig his boat, AND SAIL AROUND CAPE HORN! We double- and triple-checked. Was he serious? Was he crazy? Cape Horn is the nastiest patch of water on the planet, and most sailors wouldn't round it on a perfectly sound boat. Yes, he was serious, and maybe crazy too! But ever-so-slowly, Di Benedetto approached and then rounded Cape Horn, after which he pointed his bow for home.



The final trip across the Atlantic was slow, and held many challenges, but Alessandro crept along, persistently making headway while many YachtPals members watched his progress via his route tracker, fingers crossed for his success. We are now happy to report that Alessandro Di Benedetto has arrived back at his starting point after nearly nine months at sea. Pending WSSRC ratification, he will hold the official world record for a non-stop circumnavigation aboard the smallest boat in history. Bravo Alessandro! When sailors tuck their children into bed at night, they will tell your story, using words like bravery, persistence, and hero.

by Brad Hampton for YachtPals.com

David de Rothschild had a very different dream, and project. He set out to raise awareness of our degredation of the oceans, to see and document the almost mythical swirl of detritus forming an 'island' in the Pacific, and to do this with a boat built almost entirely of recycled material. To sail across the Pacific from the US to Australia. He managed the crossing, despite some harsh weather, and judging from the media attention to his landfall in Sydney, he'll certainly achieve his goal of consciousness raising. Whether it will have any real impact on how we treat our oceans is impossible to judge today, one can only hope. His catamaran, Plastiki, incorporated tens of thousands of plastic bottles built into the hull as structural and flotation elements. The boat has many other environmentally friendly adaptations, to wit, in the words of her creator:

"The Plastiki was nothing if not ambitious. We wanted bicycles that would generate electricity, a hydroponic garden, water stills, vacuum de-salinators, a composting toilet, solar panels, wind turbines, regenerative electric propulsion, satellite communications and pretty much anything else that constituted an innovative sustainable “system”. She was to be a floating showroom of non-emitting futurist ideas that were simple, elegant and wholly attainable."

Plastiki arrived in Sydney harbor on the 26th of July to great fanfare and media attention. Hopefully David will be able to leverage his success into increased awareness and eventual action. It's really nice to see someone who knows how to use wealth, bravo David, we expect to hear more from you.

Now where's that plastic bag?

More on Ahmad Bin Majid, Creed O'Hanlon's Tiki 38

This from Warren Matthews, a New Zealander building a sister ship to Creed's Tiki, also with the same builder. Warren withdrew his boat in January, 09. Link to his website for more and context.

Tuesday
18Aug2009

Would my boat have met the same fate as Creed O'Hanlon's??

It would seem so. Whether it would be for the same reasons I can not be certain as I did not have an opportunity to examine where the failure occurred on Creed's boat and the builder did not send me the photos that he promised in a separate email to the one I published.
Let me explain why I think that my boat would have met a similar fate.
In an earlier posting entitled 'The bad' I explained how some of the beam troughs were out of square. Well things have got even worse...much worse.
I now find that the beam troughs are lacking totally in any of the supporting structure and apart from one piece of wood on the aft most beam trough which sits on top of the Nida core deck there is NO reinforcing timber at all...period. So there is nothing to tie the beams into the hulls to ensure structural integrity.
To say I was flabbergasted is an understatement. I wouldn't had thought that such an important thing would have been ignored but a little voice inside of me said 'check it out'.
I wrote to the builder yesterday expecting a reply today but none came so I thought that I may as well publish the email to him which explains my concerns. This is copied below.
I will now engage a marine surveyor to check out the rest of the hulls and take core samples to ensure that it is seaworthy.
Although this puts back my program by a couple of weeks it was better to find out now because if we had not picked it up I doubt that it would even have survived the sea trials. Also, there is no way I would have got a Cat 1 certificate which is required by all New Zealand boats leaving the country under their own propulsion. This survey is very tough because the NZ government got tired of foreign yachts visiting NZ after having sailed around the world in the tropics and then having to be rescued in NZ offshore waters because the vessels were not properly equipped for the rough conditions that are common around here.


Tuesday
18Aug2009

The builder responds to my letter...but I still have TOTAL faith in the Wharram designs!

As expected, by publishing the letter on the blog it solicited an immediate response from Raoul. Whether he would have responded eventually to my email I don’t know but that is irrelevant now.
The outcome was as expected...no cooperation but a threat. Nonetheless I thought that it was fair to ask him the relevant questions particularly about the modification of the beams. As he is not prepared to cooperate on helping with this but instead chooses to threaten me I guess that we will just have to assess the beams ourselves and decide whether to build new ones.
As I said in the heading, I have total confidence in the Wharram designs and I would rather go to sea in a well built Wharram than a modern cat of the same size PROVIDED the key structural areas are built as per the spec’s.
I have posted Raouls replies, unedited, and my response which will be the end of this matter as I am obviously wasting my time seeking any support from the builder. I will now just get on and fix it and post the progress on this blog.

First response from Raoul received at 10.31pm Tuesday Aug 19th New Zealand time.

Dear Warren ,
As I said once , Wharram cats are not designed and don’t comply to any international recognized standard , such as ISO or similar .
It is then impossible to properly perform a Survey of these vessels , as there are no reference points .
As I said once , the construction with beams , ropes and locating pins , is not foreseen by any internationally recognized Notified Body or standard .
No Class is applicable either .
These boats are floating and sailing around the world , based on empirical experience .
We tried to build as good as we could , without data , and based on experience .
A normal RB boat can be surveyed and surely will pass , as the structure is built accordingly to the ISO 12215 for small boats or other rules .
You decided to remove the Tiki 38 before the completion and to make void the boatbuilding agreement . Your choice , and about the losses that you had to suffer , unfortunately are a consequence of that choice .
I don’t believe the Tiki 38 is a right choice for you ; I don’t think can carry the weight you are planning to load aboard ; I don’t trust hinges in rope as they are absurd in the modern world where the bronze and stainless are commonly available , I don’t think a sailing plan without booms will be efficient on a cat , I don’t think the Tiki 38 rig made in aluminium pipes makes any sense in the modern world where aluminium masts are commonly available .
My suggestion is to complete the boat ( if your new Builder can hold the pressure ) and perform some tests , then modify , adding reinforces here and there , in order to have a working boat ; time will say if your boat is reliable ;
Step to step , sail around the gulf and don’t expect to cross an ocean on that boat the first day . Slowly slowly build up some experience and listen to somebody ( this is the hardest part ) more experienced and as I said , after few attempts eventually will work .
If you don’t like , find a more reliable design and build another vessel .

Regards

Raoul


Second response received at 10.38pm Tuesday Aug 19th New Zealand time.

Dear Warren

I think mr Allan answered to you already .
Your boat and the first Tiki 38 are built , in my opinion , properly , considering that these boats cannot be certified , as the design is not following any recognized rule , as far as I know .
You picked up the boat from RB yard , in condition of " where is as it is "
And you agreed and requested the delivery . You signed an agreement indicating that you would not have done any bad promotion , and you are doing or trying to do this right now , trying to black mail me in change of money .
If I read one more word in your blog containing defamations and an attempt of extortion , I will report to the Police and your next trip to Thailand will be an unforgettable one .

Regards,

Raoul


My emailed response to Raoul.

Raoul,
I have not heard from Allan
The reason I contacted you was to bring to your attention serious deficiencies due to not building critical components of my boat as per spec. These deficiencies would have made it unseaworthy. I asked you two very simple questions.
One was for the details of the changes you made to the beams from the specifications and two if you are prepared to meet the cost of rectifying the deficiencies.
Instead of providing the information which I requested and answering if you are prepared to meet the cost of bringing that part of the boat back to spec you respond with a serious threat. A request like this is hardly extortion. I did not make any threat to you or attempt to extort you. All I wanted was a yes or no. If you had answered yes, then well and good. If your answer was no, then it would be up to me if I wanted to consider legal action.
That is the way normal business people go about their business.
Never mind, you have said no, so that’s fine.
I do not appreciate your threat. You are welcome to do what you want to do. I feel quite comfortable as I have some significant influence in Bangkok at the highest levels.
I have done nothing but publish truthful things. I am well aware of Thai law and I have not breached it.
Just for the record Raoul, in New Zealand we don’t have a nice little calm gulf like you do. And, when it comes to open ocean time I have more than my share of experience having been a commercial fishing boat operator off the coast of New Zealand for many years. Also in other parts of the world.
Anyway, you have made it clear that you are not prepared to cooperate in this matter so I do not intend wasting my time communicating with you any further. I will get on with the completion of ‘Natural High’, I will sail it to Tahiti and enjoy many days exploring the islands.
I am not going to address your comments about certifications etc, etc. I think that Wharram cats have well proven their sea-worthiness over some decades. If you feel otherwise maybe you could do an article about this on your blog and compare the Wharrams with any successful ocean crossings that may have been completed by your RB35. (Real ocean crossings at higher latitudes)
If you read my other blog on health you will know that I never wish anyone ill will even if I feel they have wronged me. The same applies to you Raoul. I hope that the time will come for the benefit of both you and others that you will contemplate the way that you treat others and perhaps make some life changes.

Good luck,

Warren

A (stuck ) Tiki in Thailand

All photos RB Boatworks

Creed O'hanlon recently emerged from his self imposed silence. Very unlike him, silence. I hadn't heard from him for some time, and his blog, 'A Tiki in Thailand' had shut down. I was concerned. Indeed as it turns out, Mr. O'Hanlon had some medical issues but report's he's on the mend. In the meantime I saw other sources on the web saying Creed was dismayed with the final issue of his Tiki and had refused delivery of the boat. Creed confirmed this, said he'd lawyered up, and that's about all. Except that he would like to issue a cautionary note to anyone contemplating a build in Southeast Asia, unless you can be onsite to watch the progress and quality of work. He is remaining mum due to pending litigation. The builder, Raoul Bianchetti of RB Boatworks, has recently published a suite of photos (see above) of the Tiki in question. She looks great, but apparently what cannot be seen are flaws deep enough to dissuade Creed from accepting the build.

You can read more about this 'situation' here. And take a look at Creed's new weblog "A Sea in Solitude". Creed, I wish you a speedy recovery and a happy outcome.

postscript: anyone who's had or is having a similiar experience with long distance builds, please let us know about it.