"Tin Can" circumnavigation

[Lucky Dawg]

David Vann and his $25,000 homemade trimaran. Follow this 4 month (...so planned) adventure at http://www.esquire.com/the-side/blog/tincan#
Plans to shove off in 2 weeks-ish.

Here's the backstory - http://www.esquire.com/features/sail...?click=main_sr

His route:

[ebb]

At first it's totally hairbrained!
The boat is gaunt and emaciated. And looks so amateur - as if every effort was made to avoid a curve because bending was too difficult. And there's Vann saying he's using cheap Home Depot tools.
Yeah, well, Rigid tools are pretty solid and a good buy! Now if he said Harbor Freight....

But here's the minimalist kick in the pants:
The trimaran's designer is one of the most respected, talented yacht designers of our age. He's designed every kind, has a great rep for happily designing specifically for individuals. And Vann is a young experienced ocean sailor. Hence the TinCan. Vann. Tanton.

Still it looks like a couple of jury-rigged stringers and a keel that lost the rest of the ship. There's an absolute minimum of surface area, volume and buoyancy. If you think of a skateboard as transportation, then TinCan is a yacht.
"Built for battle, not built for comfort."
WHY? It's already a hard ship.

Man, this greyhound going to be noisy inside, or what!!!
And moldy.

Looks like it'll be a bear to steer in troubled water, wonder if it'll lie ahulls with a sea-anchor.

[Lucky Dawg]

He titles the article "I do not have a death wish" but you have to wonder. Gotta give it to him though - lots of people dream and far fewer do... It'll be a hell of a story if he pulls it off.
If I measured right, that's about 8800 miles at the 56th - that is a lot of enormous-seas ocean in a literal tin can. Yikes.

[commanderpete]

I think it's great for people to pursue their dream. But, a few things about this guy bother me.

First, his last adventure resulted in the boat sinking, leaving a trail of bilked investors.

He did write a bestselling book about it, without bothering to pay his debts.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...csp_1?v=glance

Now he apparantly only has $25,000 left, and needs to write another book. A dramatic rescue would be the best thing to happen to him (hence 2 EPIRBS).

Disaster is pretty much guaranteed, with an unproven design, no shake-down cruise--not even a test sail.

This is really nothing more than a publicity stunt.

Seems to be quite a few people blogging about their plans for a grand adventure with a quirky twist, seeking attention and donations. I'd rather read about it after they've got a few thousand miles into the trip. Better yet, maybe they could write about it after they get home and have actually accomplished something.

[CapnK]

Interesting points, C'pete.

And the Esquire connection... First time I've heard of a sailor using *Esquire* as a blog/media outlet. lol

[Lucky Dawg]

...leaving a trail of bilked investors. He did write a bestselling book about it, without bothering to pay his debts.

You know more about him than I do. How do you?? I didn't read his book, but did he detail his bilking? That is pretty ballsey (a-hole-ish) if so. Maybe it is common sailing-community knowledge - to which I am not privvy.

Does one receive a bill for being rescued on the high seas? Costs you a pretty penny to have US Tow (or whatever they're called) bail you out and tow in a disabled boat... I know there is accepted high seas etiquette for an SOS, but it seems a premeditated "tragedy" at sea deserves a pricetag. ...a beatdown... or...?

[Lucky Dawg]

now Shackleford's story... ride those seas in a life or death voyage in makeshift canoe!!! I presume that passes non-publicity-stunt muster!

...even though Esquire had him blogging the whole way.

[ebb]

This AM saw that a visitor was viewing our thread here.
Took a few minutes to try to find out what actually happened to the circumnavigation of the ungainly and dangerous construction.
Believe media attention began in Feb of 2008.

The Tin Can: a cautionary tale / S/V Moksha
http://sv-moksha.com/the-tin-can-a-cautionary-tale/

A short commentary on David Vann, undated, but probably from last year: 2010.
It has leads to other articles and even David Vann's web site
where his resume' equals that of Jacques Cousteau's

-but there is no mention of his media darling: The Tin Can.
(Imco, even the name is a hoax. Tin Cans were WWII destroyers.
Vann's creation was a waste of aluminum)