Newsletter

"The gratification that I get from coaching and teaching these guys and then finishing a Bermuda race is just knowing that I facilitated getting these guys from sort of point A to point Z... look at what these guys have accomplished, and I've helped facilitate that."

"The more technology we add, the more likely we are to get ourselves into a situation where that stuff absolutely must work, and the less likely it is that we will be able to manage safely without it."

"It's called wayfinding, princess. It's not just sails and knots. It's seeing where you're going in your mind. Knowing where you are, by knowing where you've been."

"Decision is the hardest part — execution is easy." Robin's consistent philosophy across every venture, from the Golden Globe to the Clipper Race, is that once the decision is made, the obstacles largely dissolve. He doesn't agonize; he acts. "The thinking about it is the hard part. It's much easier to make the decision and get on with it."

"I'm in the Northwest Passage, I'm cold, I'm wet a lot, I'm hungry, I'm sleep deprived, like properly sleep deprivation at times. I had every right and reason to be miserable, right? Cold, wet, tired, hungry, and miserable. But being miserable was not going to give me sleep. It's not going to give me a warm meal. It wasn't gonna give me a hot shower. It wasn't gonna give me any of those things. So you might as well enjoy the moment, you know?"

"You'll be bothered from time to time by storms, fog, snow. When you are, think of those who went through it before you, and say to yourself, 'What they can do, I can do.'"

"What did we do all the time on this uneventful passage? Nothing, absolutely nothing, except live in communion with our boat, which was sailing happily towards the Marquesas, the Tuamotus, Tahiti, with plenty of wind, wind, wind. One must have sailed far away from any land to know how full and rewarding a day at sea can be without anything happening. It is so different from coastal sailing where one is always a little apprehensive, tense, prepared for anything. Out there, in the open sea, we were prepared simply to live."

"A lot of risk comes from trying to speed things up. A lack of patience changes the outcome."

"The least advertised tragedy is the fear or dislike of sailing that can be instilled in your prospective sailing partners when your lack of skill leads to a few incidents that could have been avoided if you'd spent a little more time practicing sailing skills."

"The tough part is making departures, shedding the shackles of society's expectations, kicking the addiction of electronic connections, subverting the guilt of our own obligations, and pushing off the dock physically and metaphorically."

"I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas and land on barbarous coasts."

"That's how you succeed doing crazy stuff, right? You gotta be conservative in your day-to-day, even though the overall plan is not conservative, it's kind of crazy. But stay in the middle, man."

"The 3 most important things are attitude, attitude, and attitude. Because if the attitude is right, you survive and you learn everything you don't need to learn."

"The single most important thing you can do, by far and bar none, to become a safe and happy offshore cruiser is to go to sea as crew with an experienced skipper on a good boat. No amount of inshore sailing or reading replaces this vital step on the road to becoming a competent offshore sailor."

"While I supposed myself to be looking as salt as Neptune himself, I was, no doubt, known for a landsman by everyone onboard as soon as I give in sight. A sailor has a peculiar cut to his clothes, and a way of wearing them which a green hand can never get."

"There are few events filled with as much promise as the prospect of stepping ashore after a long passage."

"I rarely remember my dreams ashore but almost always do at sea. Something about sleeping in a washing machine allows better access to the subconscious."

"The one place I know I belong is on the ocean. There is no question about that. You know, I have never felt like I belonged anywhere as much as I feel like I belong on the ocean."

"Sail training continues to become more valuable because it is an opportunity to help people unplug from society and experience nature, the environment, and each other in a way that is irreplaceable."

"It must be remembered that on long offshore passages a well-built and well-equipped boat will stand up to much more rough weather than will the crew."