Annals Of Misadventure–Roslin Bails: When we last checked on her, Roslin Forrest (who was out to become the youngest woman to circumnavigate the globe solo and non-stop) was massively seasick and headed for San Francisco to consider her options. So it’s no surprise that on Friday she pulled the plug on her adventure. You can check out the entirety of her long message of explanation over at Explorer’s Web. But here’s the gist:

“…[T]his is perhaps one of the hardest decisions I will have ever had to ever make. I say the following with regret, but with my head held high and a smile behind my tears.

I was upset with my decision, or realization, that a solo circumnavigator is not for me.

The question that I was asked so many times and I hear repeatedly in my head; “Why is it you want to spend ten months, alone, sailing around the world?” If you ask most people they would shake their heads, perhaps make a face and say, “I don’t!” And that’s exactly it. It takes a certain kind of person to do such a sail; a person with a serious amount of grit.

There has, for many years been an English sailor, a few years older than me, whom I have always been jealous of and looked up to. (If you’re a sailor and don’t know of Ellen McArthur please look into this girl!) I think of Ellen now and all the amazing things she has accomplished and I feel no jealously. Like so many others I look up to her in admiration. I now know that I don’t share the same outstanding qualities that she does. It just isn’t me and that’s OK. I don’t need to put myself through months of misery to prove it to myself or to anyone else..”

It takes a lot of strength to be this honest. And, oddly, a lot of strength to give up and admit failure. One of solo sailing’s most notorious stories is the saga of Donald Crowhurst, who simply could not bring himself to admit to the world that he wasn’t up to the solo, non-stop Golden Globe race in 1968. Crowhurst ended up sailing in circles in the South Atlantic reporting false positions, afraid to head into the maelstrom of the Southern Ocean and too proud to admit defeat. When it became increasingly clear his deception would be discovered he went mad, and walked off the back of his boat. It’s a cautionary tale, so no one should be too hard on Ros. But at the same time you can’t head off to sea with so little experience, and so little preparation (she lamented the lack of a frying pan) and not expect to catch some flack when it all goes wrong. Click here, if you want to drop in on a discussion of her decision at Sailing Anarchy. Here’s a sample:

Sympathetic: “Just be thankful that she had the good sense to quit and that she didn’t have to be rescued by anyone. Hopefully this was a good learning experience for her and she’ll do some shakedowns and be better prepared in the future.”

Not so sympathetic: “…[G]etting seasick proved too large a challenge for her. Either that or not having a frying pan to puke in.”

My take: I have no problem with anyone who chooses to risk their own life with poor preparation. But I have a big problem when they risk someone else’s life by calling in the rescuers when trouble inevitably hits. Thankfully, Roslin didn’t ask anyone else to put their life on the line for her. But what if she had experienced her change of heart off Cape Horn? Here’s how Francis Chichester described his pioneering 1967 solo rounding of that godforsaken headland:

“The waves were tremendous. They varied each time, but all were like great sloping walls towering behind you. The kind I liked least was like a great bank of gray-green earth 50′ (15m) high and very steep. Image yourself at the bottom of one” he told Life readers..

“My cockpit was filled five times and once it took more than 15 minutes to drain….My wind-reading machine stopped recording at 60 knots. My self-steering could not cope with the buffeting….I had a feeling of helplessness.”

And Chichester was as experienced as they come. You made the right call, Roslin…



Chichester Battles Cape Horn: “I say, Roslin, dear girl, this isn’t the place for you…”