Yesterday was an awesome day. Scott Truesdell and I took the ferry over to Port Townsend to visit both The Duracell Project (Matt & Yanneke, see https://youtube.com/@TheDuracellProject), and legendary builder, sailor, craftsman, and visionary Russell Brown of PT Watercraft (see https://youtube.com/@ptwatercraft).
Wow... I'm not sure where to even start! But I'm pleased to say that Matt is every bit as crazy as I am; the Duracell Project is as far reaching as Project Improbable, if not more so. It is similar in many ways, an amazing boat with immortal bones and incredible history. I never did get to meet Mike Plant, the original builder and legendary sailor. But obviously I followed in his footsteps to the Vendee Globe. And the boat was one of the very few that my dad would acknowledge as being nearly as cool as his beloved Improbable. Matt & Yanneke (SP?) Have a great setup, with the boat right next to their garage/shop and their house. It's far more efficient than my commute from Maine to Anacortes... And their video logging of the project is superior to my funky Android phone raw unedited bits.
But hey, I'm doing what I can...and stay tuned for some cool Ocean Planet adventure flashbacks soon...
In contrast to the Duracell and Improbable projects, which push the limits of of our resources, sensibilities, and time, there is Russell Brown...who has already built many progressive, innovative, and beautiful craft. Lightweight rockets like the proa that Ryan Finn sailed around Cape Horn, and his PT Watercraft biz sells kits for several brilliant small boats. He casually creates works of functional sailing art that are droolingly beautiful while being featherweight and fast. You should see the new 29ft folding tri he's building for himself right now...designed by the brilliant Paul Bieker. I'm dreaming of having one of Russell's "nesting" PT-11 sailing skiffs as the tender for Improbable someday.
Anyhow, it was a great day of show & tell, trading stories, and some amazing chili. I was pleased to find that there are many parallel stories and connections between all of us. I really look forward to keeping track of Matt's progress, and getting both him and Russell over to Anacortes to check out Project Improbable. They'll laugh, but that's ok.
With all of the negative stuff going on in the world today, it's so reassuring to go to a place like Port Townsend were creative people are doing amazing things out in the woods. I really really want to get Improbable to Port Townsend for the wooden boat show someday. There's a long way to go, but that vision is a pretty powerful one for me.