The Plan
We love sailing, warm weather, travelling and meeting new people. What would be more logical than combining these passions in a year-long sailing trip to the Caribbean? The idea popped into our heads many years ago, never to leave again. After a year of preparations, the voyage has finally begun! First goal: Rebuilding our stunning, fourty-two year old sailing boat up to the point that she is seaworthy enough for us to feel both comfortable and safe on board. We hope to depart from the current location in Maryland (USA) before November and make it to the Bahamas by Christmas. From there, all directions lead to exotic islands...
The Vessel
The Buena Onda is a glass-fibre Columbia 36, meaning she is 36 feet long (for all us logical metric-people, this is 11 metres). First named Raven, she was built in 1968 and spent the beginning of her life in the American great-lakes area. In the mid nineties, she was bought by a couple from North Carolina and sailed down the St. Lawrence River to her new home, the Chesapeake Bay. At 42 years, she will now start her third life as Buena Onda, hopefully taking her further into the wide world than ever before. Before departure, we worked on her 7 days a week for 2 months to get her in shape for this voyage. We worked both on structural issues and on the inventory, resulting in a modernized cruising vessel with GPS-plotter, emergency life raft and sturdy dinghy for the frequent beach landings.
The Captains
The Buena Onda has two captains, but no worries, we take turns commanding the boat. We first met as classmates in 1993 in Amersfoort (The Netherlands) and have sailed together for many years.
Maarten Gnirrep, 29 years old: Maarten grew up in Amersfoort, studied Mechanical Engineering in Enschede and has worked as an engineer for Texas Instruments and Mammoet. His father taught him the art of sailing on his steel yacht Corsaire and cruising the Dutch lakes in various smaller boats.
Adriaan Ruijmschoot, 29 years old: Adriaan moved around a lot, growing up in Friesland, Lesotho (Africa) and Amersfoort. He studied Water Management Engineering in Enschede and worked as a Water Manangement Trainee for Jelmer B.V. He learnt sailing from his parents in their small open sloop Jojaelpa and from Maarten on the Corsaire.
Maarten Gnirrep, 29 years old: Maarten grew up in Amersfoort, studied Mechanical Engineering in Enschede and has worked as an engineer for Texas Instruments and Mammoet. His father taught him the art of sailing on his steel yacht Corsaire and cruising the Dutch lakes in various smaller boats.
Adriaan Ruijmschoot, 29 years old: Adriaan moved around a lot, growing up in Friesland, Lesotho (Africa) and Amersfoort. He studied Water Management Engineering in Enschede and worked as a Water Manangement Trainee for Jelmer B.V. He learnt sailing from his parents in their small open sloop Jojaelpa and from Maarten on the Corsaire.