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"He is a sailor just like myself except he is not sailing"
May 11, 2004 19: 06 EST
Well guess what. We make a news piece on Mike Horn for ThePoles.com and then decide to check up on Henk De Velde up in Siberia for TheOceans.net.
We scroll down to the images of his boat Campina stuck in the deep freeze of the Siberian ice. That's when a familiar figure emerges, towing a sled! "Who the xx is that?!" we shout around the office in steaming Manhattan. Turns out, it's Mike Horn paying Henk a visit! We said it before, and we say it again - it's a small world out there!
This is what Mike had to say about the encounter last week:
"Surprisingly for the inhabitants of Tiksi, we were not the only foreigners in town. In september of 2003, a friendly Dutch man, Henk de Velde, sailed into the port on a 17 meter steel reinforced sailboat, called Campina. Henk wintered his boat at this small village and now, 9 months later, is getting ready for the ice melt. Once freed from its icy grasp, he will continue to sail his boat around the world via the northern seaway, then south to Cape Horn and Antarctica before he returns home."
And this is what Henk wrote:
"The day after Mike left, there was a blizzard. He is all alone out there in the whiteout. The temperature falls to -11 to -25 in the wind. My nose, lips and eyelashes freeze as I work for three hours to rid Campina of the snowdrift. The wind makes the cold feel infernally cold. In addition my stove refuses to light up. The snow mounts behind the boat. I can't see out the windows. I can't imagine how Mike is doing. My god, what a journey."
So we surfed over to Mike to check out what he had to say:
"It's been two days now that I have been stuck in my tent somewhere out on the Lena Delta. I am unable to move due to a big storm. Along with the very strong winds there is a lot of wind-blown snow. I need to get out of the tent frequently to get the snow off the tent. I'll soon be buried!! It's full moon tomorrow so I'm hoping the weather will change again and I'll be able to move. I am also hoping that the snow will stop. Deep snow makes my progression very difficult!"
And back to Henks closing words:
"In a sense, he is a sailor just like myself except he is not sailing. He is drawn to the impossible just like I am. But my boat gives me a sense of comfort. He has none of that. He must go and go, can never stand or sit to relax. Month after month.
He thinks like I do: The most beautiful day is the day of departure and the lowest day is the day of arrival, because then it's over. Then you must think of something new. To run with the life that remains. We make our bread by eternal travel, sailing indefinitely, farther and farther, always underway, always on our way."
P: Moscow + 20, Murmansk + 10, Yakutsk + 17, Tiksi -10
Henk de Vekde has previously sailed around the world four times, three times non-stop and solo. The first trip lasted between 1978 and 1985… so Henk is known to take his time when out exploring. The reason for traveling like this is to experience new things and enjoy life to the fullest. Now Henk is on "The Impossible Journey" - a sail around the world via the "impossible" Northern seaway along the North East Passage above and along Siberia, Alaska, then South to Cape Horn and Antarctica before returning home to the Netherlands.
Mike Horn, the South African who traveled around the equator in 2000, is back for another circular adventure. This time, however, Mike is going into colder climates; the Arctic Circle, an area he has little experience with. His plan is to travel around the Arctic, just within the Arctic Circle, by boat, kayak, ski sail and on foot. A supply team meets up with him at various points to provide chosen means of travel. Mike left in August of 2002 and is today about half-way from his starting point Nordkapp, Norway.
Image of Campina and Mike Horn courtesy of henkdevelde.nl
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