Interview with a Cruiser: Dina Helena

Henk and Marja left the Netherlands in May, 2017.  Since then, they’ve sailed through the Atlantic coast and islands of southern Europe, south to Africa, and across to South America.  We caught up with them in the clubhouse at Marina Estancilla and enjoyed the conversation over a bottle of Chilean carmenere.

You can learn more about Henk and Marja at their website, Zeilend de Wereld Rond. (Hint for non-Dutch speakers: use a browser that supports translation…)

For a taste of the conversation, click play:

 

How did you start sailing?

Marja: I started sailing with my two teenagers.  That was not always easy, but that’s how I started.  With my kids, we would go on sailing holidays.  We didn’t have very much money, but sailing is very cheap if you already have the boat.  We could bike to the boat in half an hour.  We’d stop at the supermarket on the way for food, and sometimes friends would join.  It was great!

My sister got me started with owning a boat.  When we decided to buy one together, we looked on the internet and in half an hour found a red boat and a blue boat.  So we bought the red one.  It was 23’ with room for 4 people to sleep, but it was so small we had to do everything outside.

Henk: I started sailing when I was 11 or 12 years old.  I was a member of the Scouts as a little boy, and the next level was Sea Scouts.  So it wasn’t that I really wanted to sail, it’s just that it was the next step.  I learned sailing there, and from the beginning I was thinking about a sailing trip around the world, even when I was 12.  We have small lakes and channels, but it would be very misty and you couldn’t see the other side – I liked that.

Tell us about your boat.

Henk: It’s not a very interesting boat.  It’s a Jeanneau Voyage from 1989, and it’s 41′ long.  It’s had a lot of owners; I know that the former owners already crossed the Atlantic, a family with kids.  It’s really a strong boat, but it’s not a special boat.

I didn’t look that long for the boat, which is too bad because I didn’t really check everything.   It was maybe the third or fourth boat I saw, and I really liked the space inside and the headroom.  (Editor’s note: Henk is 6′ 7″ or an even 2m tall.) If I had to do it again, I would pick another one.  I don’t know what I would pick, but something else.

Marja: It’s a boat that was a dream boat for a lot of people when it was built.  It’s one of the first boats with three cabins, and it’s very famous for the French.  Some of the previous owners were not that kind to the boat, so there’s some damage.  It’s not perfect, but it’s cozy.

How did you come up with the boat’s name?

Henk: Dina Helena is the name of my first wife – I bought the boat with the life insurance.  I think we both have angels looking after us – for Marja it’s her grandmother, and for me it’s Dina Helena on my shoulder.

Two months after she died, I was walking through my village feeling sorry for myself and thinking what will I do with my life.  I was 52 years old and still with three kids at home, although they were all around 20 years old.  And then in one moment it came to me – Henk, you are going to make a sail trip; you have to do this.  And in half a minute, the whole plan was there – it was like the sun was shining after rain.

Marja: I think also that his first wife would have been happy that he is doing this trip, that he is making this out of his life.  He went through a hard period, even if he didn’t recognize it.

What did you do for work before you left on this trip?

Henk: I worked for an oil company – I managed the geological and geophysical data you get via boring and seismic exploration.  I was responsible for archiving the data.  In the Netherlands it’s a little bit gone, but once we had the biggest gas field in the world.  I worked for the company for more than 30 years.

Marja: I was an interior designer, and I helped to arrange stores.  After my divorce in 2000, I also did a lot of sales.  I’ve done a lot of work where you need visualization.  I also worked three years in the technical part of a lubricants manufacturer.  In my time, it was not common for a woman to go to a technical school, and it’s a pity because I think I have a good mind for technical things.  Which is not bad for the boat!

What do you miss from living on land?

Marja: I miss my kids and my family.  We have good communication at least, so that helps.

And I miss to speak Dutch!  When we started the trip my English was OK but I didn’t really feel comfortable with it.  And when we got to Brazil, there were no more Dutch people around so I had to learn English.

What is it about cruising that you enjoy?

Henk: Until a few weeks ago, I enjoyed the freedom.  It’s really a pity that right now we can’t hire a car and go visit the mountains and see Argentina.  I really have a problem with that. Don’t take my freedom away.

And the way of traveling, step by step to come into other cultures and other countries.

Marja: Henk had the idea when he started to do a lot of sailing, and that has also changed.

Henk: The sailing is awful.  I’m always worried about the boat.  The leaving and the arriving are great, but in between not really.  I hope it will be different in the Pacific with the trade winds.

Marja: My idea was to meet people and experience cultures.  It’s not the sailing – the sailing is OK, but it’s really the traveling.  For me it’s not necessary to go all the way around the world, but Henk really wants to circumnavigate.

What has been your favorite place along the way so far?

Marja: The whole of South America is really nice.  The people are so great – they have their hearts and their arms open, and they want to take care of you.  That was not what I expected when we started the trip.

Henk: For me it’s Gambia, Rio de Janeiro, Isla de Estados, and the glaciers of Patagonia.  Gambia is a completely different world, and the people are so great.

Marja: If you go by airplane for a week and stay in a hotel by the sea, you don’t really see Gambia.   But by traveling by boat up the river, the longer we stayed the more welcomed by the people we were.

Henk: And the river was great – so quiet and so … Africa.  There were hippos!

Is there anything that we haven’t asked you that you would like to say?

Henk: We have a very nice text on board, and it says that if you have a dream to do something in your life, do it and don’t just keep dreaming.  Not for everyone, but for most people it’s possible to make your dream happen.  Whether it’s a trip by foot, or by a sailing boat.

Marja: We have never lived together in a house!  And now we are living together in this very small space.  In February we were married, so this is like our honeymoon.