Spirit of a Dream

Growing up on the southern shores of Lake Michigan, Dave Rearick learned to sail at age 12. From those first sails off the beach, his dream has taken him around the world. When he's on the ocean, he claims, "the world is my playground!"

His impassioned storytelling, sometimes humorous, other times poignant, belies an underlying calm emanating from a soul that finds peace on the water. He has written for many sailing publications and with his first book, Spirit of a Dream, takes you on a thrilling adventure around the world alone, privately sharing his deep, passionate feelings for the spirit and waters of the planet.


Over his 40-year sailing career, much of which he sailed singlehanded, Dave won many prestigious races, including the Chicago Race to Mackinac and The Atlantic Cup. He was presented the Mike Silverthorne award by the Great Lakes Singlehanded Society in 2003 and serves as an ambassador for 11th Hour Racing, a program of the prestigious Schmidt Family Foundation.

With all that behind him, Dave still claims his most significant accomplishment in life, other than wearing out hundreds of t-shirts, hats, and sailing shoes, is that of sharing sailing and the water with so many kids and adults over the years. He continues to live on the Southern Shore of Lake Michigan, a stone's throw from where he began his sailing and he'll be the first to tell you, with a wink, he never got very far in life.

table of contents

Acknowledgments

If by Rudyard Kipling

Sailing Singlehanded is Raw and Honest......................................1

Outward Bound.........................................................................6

Adjusting to Being Offshore......................................................10

Bermuda.................................................................................14

The Struggle for Momentum......................................................19

On the Fine Edge of Life..........................................................27

Inky Dark Nights, Similarly Deep Thoughts..............................34

Crossing the Equator.................................................................37

The Great Races......................................................................41

Endless Miles to the Turn.........................................................43

Destination Cape Town.............................................................47

Thanksgiving at Sea.................................................................51

Electronic Wizardry.................................................................55

Losing Otto.............................................................................59

Balancing Act..........................................................................64

Hard on the Nose to Cape Town................................................68

Cape Town Tourist...................................................................79

Breaking Free from Cape Town’s Seduction................................91

Eastward to the Southern Ocean.................................................98

Holiday Depression................................................................106

“A Cyclone is Headed Right at You”........................................118

iivv

Strange Lights in the Night.....................................................129

The Feather...........................................................................135

“Call Mom, She Needs to Hear Your Voice..............................138

Decisions...............................................................................159

New Zealand Tourist.............................................................162

Pushing off from Welly...........................................................175

Passing the Dateline and Passing Time...................................182

Galapagos in Sight.................................................................197

Touring the Galapagos............................................................201

Sailing for Panama................................................................210

Transiting the Canal...............................................................214