Ten years ago I started my sailing adventure.  An interesting story lies behind this.  

After finding a crew opportunity on the crew seeker website, I ended up in Cabadelo, northeastern coast of Brasil, to join Jonny Rotten on his Carter 39, BattleAxe.

Note:(A 55 yr old Englishman, fluent in French, Spanish, Portuguese and German; lived and sailed around the world and spent seven years in brazil from 1985 to 1992, finally sailed back there last year with his OWN yacht.)

Marina Jacaré in Cabadelo - owned by a French man - is the first basic yacht center that is well know for cruising yachts crossing the Atlantic.

So end of December 2010, I get there to join BattleAxe and this is the welcome committee.  Two gentlemen already well into their daily caipirinha and beer.  Without a working fridge the one on the left, had to walk 6km to a convenience store for his more affordable and cold beer quota. ( sometimes twice a day lol). 

I did some research on this boat, the Carter 39 and the pictures looked good. Expectations were high, reality hit hard.  The boat was a mess, fully contaminated with mold, disassembled fridge on the navigation table, tied up with ropes ( not sheets).  Looked like a horder’s boat.  Instant reality hit me. “I can’t join this boat or crew”. 

So, there I am, looking really depressed, sitting in the cockpit and wondering what’s next?  

I hear a voice with a British accent coming from the yacht moored beside us. “You really look desperate in this boat.  Do you want to join me and my husband for a G&T.”

This is the moment I have joined Caroline and Lars on the Dawnbreaker adventure around the world, after they took pity in my situation.  From drinks to dinner I ended moving to the cabin with my own loo and a bathtub.  Lars set one condition .... “ All your gear stays on deck until to shed the smell of mold”.

So I have been onboard since then except when I was recovering from an accident and these COVID conditions. 

Dawnbreaker is now back to this exact spot also completing it’s circumnavigation crossing her path.  

There is more to my decision to skip boat. Some juice aspects to it and the characters in special the New Years party at the Marina.

This might give you a hint.