Jerry & Marion Solom

Indian Summer: a Sailing Adventure Jerry & Marion Solom

In many ways this is a very unlikely story. Even now after being involved for over 28 years, I still find it hard to believe it was actually done. The main idea was done plus a host of other adventures. That is not to say there weren't any problems, but one way or another we got over them and continued on. A lot can happen in 28 years. This sailing dream came out of thin air, and it required spending money and time I really didn't think I had. And, of course, how would I convince my wife of 19 years to believe I could do this? I didn't even try do that. This project I knew had to include three main points. The first point required building a steel boat from scratch and then sailing it to Norway, the birthplace of my roots. The second point was to use this boat to visit other countries before and after my visit to Norway. I was not going to do this as some kind of stunt but as a means to travel about. Thirdly, I didn't want any sponsors as they would have an agenda, and I had mine. I wanted to go where I wanted and stop when I felt like stopping. When I finally got into building and reading about boat voyaging, my heroes became Joshua Slocum, Harry Pigeon, Dwight Long, Eric & Susan Hiscocks and H. W. Tilman. They all did extensive traveling on small boats, and their adventures were so interesting to me as they took the time to stop and get to know people on their travels. Before I got started, I owned only a 15-foot canoe and knew nothing of sailing or navigation, but I did have a love for the water and adventure.