Just how dependent we are on other people is illustrated, in full measure, by these two bald statements about the round the world solo race:
In a separate incident today:
This race is billed as a "solo" race but look at the support - radio contact, GPS, fellow sailors able to sail over to help, coastguard and anxious friends and family awaiting word. Plus the necessary money.
One thing I learned in Russia was that there is no survival without a support network because the government sure as hell is not going to do anything. So you create your own with assistance and in return, you must give back, otherwise that support fades away. There is no other way over there.
No man is an island, as much as he [or she] would like to be independent. At any moment, usually when things are going swimmingly, it can all suddenly change.
His Ecover 3 yacht had edged ahead of Frenchman Jean-Pierre Dick when winds of 55 knots caused his mast to break. "It basically went from being a near gale to a hurricane and the mast didn't like it," said Golding, 48.
In a separate incident today:
Elies is unable to move freely after [breaking his leg] when a large wave slammed his boat in the Southern Ocean. Elies, who is also complaining of chest pains and is confined to his bunk, is in radio contact with Guillemot and his condition is described as stable.
Race organisers asked ... two competitors to divert to offer Elies psychological support. They will receive time credits for making the diversion. 33-year-old Smantha Davies ... said: "It's only when you see that for real that you realise how, how much of a Russian roulette it is out here."
This race is billed as a "solo" race but look at the support - radio contact, GPS, fellow sailors able to sail over to help, coastguard and anxious friends and family awaiting word. Plus the necessary money.
One thing I learned in Russia was that there is no survival without a support network because the government sure as hell is not going to do anything. So you create your own with assistance and in return, you must give back, otherwise that support fades away. There is no other way over there.
No man is an island, as much as he [or she] would like to be independent. At any moment, usually when things are going swimmingly, it can all suddenly change.
So true and it is when you get hit by that personal hurricane that you find out the mettle of your friends. I feel so privileged that they are not found wanting.
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