Rice lake Chronotype, Issue 23, February 6, 2002
| Anchors aweigh for Rice Lake couple |
| An incredible
journey started for Wayne and Edie Spangler as they flew out of the
United States on Sunday, Feb. 3. They are bound for their sailboat, the
Stormy Duchess, which will take them from Lagos, Portugal, across the
Atlantic Ocean to ports in the Caribbean Sea. The initial itinerary consists of flying to New York and then on to Lisbon, which takes about 12 hours. The next flight takes the Spanglers to Faro, Portugal, where they catch a train that takes the travelers the last 30 miles to Lagos. “Our boat is about 100 feet from where the train stops,” said Spangler. He has had the boat berthed in the same port since 1987. Kevin McClone of Rice Lake will meet the Spanglers in Portugal and sail about 500 miles to Madeira with them. They will cruise another 300 miles to sail around the Canary Islands. Spangler thought this would take about a month, after which Edie will fly home. Kurt Beckman of Rice Lake will then join Spangler and McClone, and they will sail through the trade winds. Beckman will disembark in St. Marten, but Spangler and McClone will continue sailing to Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. Arriving there, they will leave the Stormy Duchess berthed in port. The boat is a 40-foot cutter with one main sail and two jibs; one Yankee and one staysail. Manufactured in 1980 by Baba, the boat has a canoe stern and a 65 horse Volvo diesel engine. It’s equipped with most of the provisions that the crew will need, although they do stop for extras. “We always pack extra sails,” said Spangler. “And we have radar, a VHF radio, a ham radio, three GPS navigating systems and autopilot.” Spangler said that even with all of the equipment, someone is always on watch, even throughout the night. “We all take turns at that, and we switch every 2 hours.” The weather conditions are relayed to the crew periodically from weather forecaster David Jones, whose specialty is forecasting the weather in the Caribbean Sea and surrounding areas. Jones sends the Spanglers a detailed personal 5-day forecast complete with listings of any possible bad weather conditions, which include hurricanes and tsunamis. “We’re hoping to see a lot of wildlife this year on our way across the Atlantic,” said Spangler. “In the past, we’ve seen pods of about 50-100 dolphins splashing and smiling all around us. And we’ve witnessed a full-size whale jump at least 15 feet out of the water.” Last year Spangler made an almost reverse trip with his son, Jonathan, and Kevin McClone. They traveled about 900 miles from the Virgin Islands to Bermuda, then onto Azores, where they picked up two passengers, Dan and Dave Charron, formerly of Rice Lake and now living in Las Vegas. They continued to Lagos, Portugal, and berthed the boat. Grant, another of Spanglers sons, flew from California, where he resides, and met the crew. They continued their adventure by touring Spain for 2 weeks. Spangler said that one of his favorite memories was having the chance to view buildings designed by Antonin Gaudi, whom he considers one of the greatest architects. Spangler has lived in Rice Lake for about 40 years and is a retired architect. Sailing became a hobby he learned through his own experiences, with a little help from his friends. Spangler briefly considered traveling around the world recently, but many of the countries that he would pass along the way are not friendly nations after the tragedies of Sept. 11. This year, as last, Spangler will relay information about the voyage to his son, Jon, who then passes it along to friends. They continue to update a Web site that tracks the location of the Stormy Duchess. Exact locations are shown on a map of where the boat is sailing. Quotes and comments from the crew are posted, along with pictures, as the trip progresses. The voyage and adventures of the Spanglers and their crew can be followed by logging on to http://www.stormyduchess.com by Valerie Leair Chronotype staff |