Wen and Sil are two Argentinean ocean sailors, passionate about the sea and adventure, and about 6 years ago, they decided to make a big change in their lives.
They gave up the stability and security provided by their jobs in Argentina, pooled their savings to buy a sailboat, and began their great adventure.
Since then, the protagonists of “Sailing the Globe” have crossed part of South America and the Caribbean, crossed the Atlantic under sail and, on their boat and on different sailboats, have traveled to multiple islands and destinations in the Mediterranean, including the canals of Holland, Belgium and France, and other places in the world. And the adventure continues!
We thank Wen and Sil for sharing with us in this interview, their experiences of life on board and the projects they have ahead of them.
How did your relationship with the sea and your first sailings begin?
W : When we were studying at the National University of La Plata, I saw a poster advertising the helmsman course at the Ensenada Club (a town located next to La Plata, in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina) dictated as an extracurricular activity of the University, and although I had not yet had any experience or person of our close environment related to the life of the sea, This new activity aroused a lot of interest in me, although at the beginning it was not easy since there was limited space in the enrollment, the first two years I was not able to be enrolled, the third year was the last one, giving the beginning to the projects that we have today.
S: I approached the nautical life by Wen, and my first navigations were by the Rio de La Plata and later the Argentinean Sea, being my first navigation in open waters, my baptism was in one of the famous meteorological phenomena of this Zone called Pampero, with storm of strong winds and big waves. But even so, faced with this first experience, I chose life at sea.
What motivated you to leave your stable life in Argentina and embark on this adventure, and what was the most difficult part of taking this important step?
S: In my case, it was more difficult for me to leave my family and friends, and that is the part that is more difficult for me, having my loved ones far away, but it is compensated by living a free life and getting to know different cultures, landscapes and incredible people. As far as work is concerned, I had to reinvent myself by working remotely and adjusting my profession to the life I chose. In my case I am a lawyer and I work remotely with the digital firm and remote hearings, even so I have a partner in Argentina.
W: Initially we had diagrammed a plan to invest in a couple of rentals, contracting them ourselves with the money we could gather from working at our jobs, Silvi as a lawyer as she counted and me as an engineer, all the money earned was to buy the materials with which we built outside our working hours a couple of cabins in our town (Veronica, Province of Buenos Aires), We hoped that, with what we earned from renting them, we would be able to pay for the adventure of sailing, but just a year after finishing them and starting the trip, the macroeconomic situation in Argentina deteriorated a lot and what we received for those rents became insignificant, so we had to reinvent the way we earned our income on more than one occasion.
What is your boat like, what qualities or defects would you highlight, what equipment do you think is essential to have on a boat for ocean sailing?
We start with the last question, in our consideration and in order of priority, always taking into account an economic criterion, what gives us more peace of mind is the InReach and the life raft in order, followed by an Epirb if possible, the rigging in good condition plays a fundamental role obviously, the regulatory safety elements, also currently is being a good companion the Starlink satellite internet to have more accessible information of the predictions and communication with colleagues.
Initially we had a ’76’ 31′ Tornado, a one cabin forward cabin with a bathroom, with little more than a reliable engine, rigging in good condition, and sails that required stitching from time to time, a very modest but sturdy boat. After a couple of good jobs we moved on to a 79′ Jouet 37, a much faster boat, and with more comforts to be able to take people on board and share the experience, doing nautical clinics, it had two comfortable cabins and a central bathroom. Currently, with the sale of the Jouet, we recently bought a Voyage 40 catamaran of 86′, with much to remodel and update, for the moment it already has AIS transmitter receiver which we visualize in Navionics, and the tridata.
How did your first ocean sailing, the Atlantic crossing, turn out, any anecdotes?
It was a great challenge for us to work as captains of a crew of 8 people, in which we had to manage from the purchase of food for an ocean crossing, the administration of the same, the distribution of tasks, and all the details involved in an ocean crossing, as well as the proper operation and maintenance of the boat, in this case a Lagoon 400 of 2011, and as we sailed with crew change dates in the Canary Islands first, We had to face strong winds, especially in the departure from Gibraltar, where it reached 50 knots and waves of 3 meters that broke, for which a Lagoon is perhaps not the most seaworthy boat for these conditions, but even so, with little rag we could run the storms and then resume the route and meet almost unchanged with the dates, always protecting the well being of the boat and crew. The conditions did not improve much thereafter, due to the development of one of the famous low pressure centers that usually hit the area of Florida and the Caribbean, which meant that the North Atlantic had many waves and behaved out of the ordinary for those dates.
Anecdote! For us, I think we agreed that the most amazing thing to remember for the rest of our lives was to have been able to swim with a fin whale, which kept looking at us for a few seconds face to face after having walked around the boat for more than 10 minutes.
You have sailed in the Mediterranean, the Caribbean and many other destinations, what has been your favorite place?
S: Menorca and Sardinia, I saw them with more nature conservation and not so overcrowded with boats and tourism.
W: San Blas, Panama, Sicily and Ionian Islands of Greece, three very different places but that leave an indelible mark in your mind when you experience them.
What has been the most special moment at sea and the hardest?
It sounds cliché, but we think it’s the starry nights from horizon to horizon, the full moons, sunsets! And those little moments of interaction with the animals, like the birds that rest on the rigging, the octopuses that are found in the smallest hiding places, the story we told above about the whale, the dolphins that never tire of accompanying us!
The hardest moment, for Silvi, the storm that baptized her when crossing from Mar del Plata to Uruguay, that famous Pampero. And for me perhaps that night of 50 knots in Gibraltar with the waves hitting the stern of the Catamaran.
You often sail alone or in company with other crew members. How does it work on board a sailboat? What qualities should a good sailboat crew member have?
Most of the time we sail with new crew members, since we provide life experiences on board and it is our main source of income at the moment. In general we have had good experiences and most of them are now good friends, we believe that good communication, clear rules and trust in the team are the basic pillars for a good coexistence, especially when it is on a small sailboat, respect is key.
You share your sailing experiences on social networks, how can we follow you?
On Youtube, instagram and facebook we are like: navegandoporelglobo.
We believe that this is an area that needs a new perspective, different from the beliefs that exist today about the world of sailing, where it is often believed that it is only for a certain social group.
What projects do you have ahead of you? Which navigations are you preparing?
In the short term, in the remainder of this year, finish crossing the French channels to reach the Mediterranean and deliver the boat we are moving. Then in August to take our catamaran from Cape Verde to Valencia, passing through the Canary Islands, Morocco and the Balearic Islands. And finally move a sailboat from Greece to Valencia. In all these sections we add guests who want to live the experience with us.
Next year, we are looking forward to cross the Pacific, from California to Hawaii and from there to Polynesia to finish in Australia.
Finally, what advice would you give to a couple thinking of embarking on an adventure like yours?
We would advise you not to wait for everything to be perfect, the truth is that you need less things than the system sells us, the important thing is the desire to venture, to be willing to change plans if the weather so decides, to be flexible, to be open to enjoy, it is worth it!
In the following video from the Youtube channel of “Navegando por el globo” Wen and Sil tell us (in spanish language) about their project:
You can follow the navigations and adventures of “Navegando por el globo” in the following links to their social networks:
From “Navegantes Oceánicos” we thank Wen and Sil for their collaboration with this exciting interview, which can serve as an inspiration for many young sailors, and we wish them the best of luck in their project “Navegando por el globo (Sailing the globe)”.
Fear winds and following seas in your next adventures !
We will follow you on the networks and stay in touch !
