An oddball boat on a passage to paradise transforms a quest for destinations into the joy of the voyage itself.
“It’s a freak show,” mutters Russell Brown as dock strollers gawk at his 36-foot proa. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” says one. “I wouldn’t be caught dead sailing in that thing,” intones another. “What happened to the other outrigger?” queries a confounded sailor who thinks JZERRO is a deformed trimaran born with two heads and just one ama (float or outrigger) stretching out from the vaka (main hull).
Nautical Fusion
JZERRO is no sideshow horror, though. Her lineage spans millennia. The critics, unbelievers, and merely befuddled forget that centuries before European sailors stopped hugging coastlines to keep from falling off the edge of the earth, South Sea islanders had explored nd settled the entire Pacific Basin sailing double-hulled canoes (catamarans) and proas.
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Graham Cox says:
Having earlier read Steve’s Cruising World article, it was great to revisit this voyage in greater detail. I met Russell and Jzerro in Townsville, Australia, in 2002. Jzerro, to my eye, is one of the most beautiful boats ever designed and built, so it was a thrill to cross tacks. I’ve long had a soft spot for proas, and have a deep appreciation of the traditional voyaging canoes of Oceania. I was friends with David Lewis since I was 14, and treasure my copy of We the Navigators that he gave me shortly before sailing Ice Bird to Antarctica. Icebergs are not my cup of tea, but the intuitive relationship with the sea that Polynesians developed is, in my opinion, one of the greatest achievements of humankind. Russell’s fusion of this philosophy with western composite building techniques fascinates me. I often look at Madness, the CLC proa that Russell consulted on, and dream of taking one cruising in my home waters of Australia’s Great Barrier Reefs. reading this piece stokes the fire!
Hugh MacRae says:
Superb reading . Brings back find memories of sailing in Delaware.
Julian Kuffler says:
A pleasure to read. Steves well crafted words take me back 50 years when I sailed across the pacific. Thanks
andrew kepert says:
Great article. Gets you dreaming.
Steve Wolfer says:
Steve Callahan is an extraordinary writer – a real wordsmith. He is also a naval architect and a very experienced world-class sailor. I recommend his book, “Adrift,” about his 76 days adrift in a lifeboat. I had the pleasure of meeting him in England in the eighties where he was covering one of the major sailboat races for Sailing magazine. I so envy him that trip in the Pacific Proa.
michael herz says:
Having crossed part of that same ocean wondersea alone (in an S.F. to Kauai Singlehanded Transpac), Steve’s word magic time-traveled me 40 years back to my most memorable sailing & life passage. Many thanx, Steve & OCH!
Richard Greenway says:
Beautifully written and captures the essence of open water proa sailing. Reading i could not put it down much to my wife’s annoyance as breakfast was ready.
Have you ever considered the damage these articles can do to relationships?