Its funny, the thing I’m worried about most is getting this boat ready. I’ve never tried to get sponsored to do a trip before; in the past I just worked hard, saved my money, and did my trip. It took me nine months to get the money for my first trip, I was 20 and saving money to ride a bicycle alone through Loas, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. It took me nine months to save enough money to do a 3 1/2 month trip, with one third of my money going to the plane ticket. To call that trip low budget would be a understatement. I slept anywhere and everywhere. I spent 100 days biking through jungles, mud hut villages and big cities. You think traffic is bad on the Interbelt you should try rush hour in Siagon. My second trip took 5 years to prepare, as sailboat is a lot more expensive then a bike. Well that and I had to teach my self to sail. Never the less, I was able to take my Pearson 323 single-handed from Annapolis to Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, and back to Annapolis. Again, money was tight. In 15,500 nm I only stayed in one marina. It was Novemeber and I was sailing around the North Sea and I thought, this is crazy, So I found a cheap marina downtown Amsterdam and keep my boat there for the winter. I always anchored, I just couldn’t afford marinas at 35 euro($50) a night.
Sponsorship is a different story, in order to get a company or private individual to donate money you must be able to sell yourself and your idea. The skills a person needs to cross a ocean are quite different than the skills a person needs to convince other people that your goal is a worthy enough cause for them to part with there hard earned money. Its been a learning experience, but then again the second you stop learning is the second you stop living.
The Albin Vega 27 is coming along. The mast is out and new sails are being made. I ripped out the old bulkheads and took half the boat apart. Sometimes you have to tear a boat apart before you can put can put it back together properly. I still need a few more sponsors but all in all things are coming together. I feel confident that I will be able to leave by June 7th.
Matt
