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A special thanks to Donna Lange. We wish her the best of luck on her journey. You can monitor her progress @ www.donnalange.com
Hello,
my name is Ken Barnes. I am 47 years old. I was born and raised in Southern
California and no, I am not crazy. I suppose the question I am asked most
after the “what” is understood -and believe me that takes a
few minutes to be understood- “Is why do you want to do this?”
I have tried to figure it out myself because when that question is posed so many times even I get to thinking there must be a deeper reason than “because I want to.”
When talking to people, I can see in their eyes many of them have dreams and desires that they never attempt because of stuff. Stuff like kids, wife, obligations, debts, responsibilities and career tracks. But mostly fear, not of what they want to do, but of what the consequences in their lives will be if they attempt it.
About 12 years ago, I faced the same question and started to direct my life to a point where on October 28th, 2006 hopefully I will be ready. I did not wake up one day and say “hey, everyone watch this.” For many years, probably from the age of 10, I have liked the solitude of sailing, the adventure, the adrenaline associated with the chance encounter of the unknown.
I have been actively preparing for this personally and financially for several years. My son, Dayne is 22 and 3 + years into a 5 year enlistment in the Navy as a master at arms. I also have twin daughters who are 21and are recent graduates of The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM).
My daughter, Teryn currently travels around the country helping set up motorcycle stunt events and hopes to pursue a career in her major, merchandise marketing after she has seen the country a bit. My daughter, Brittney recently started a job as a wardrobe stylist for a new show starring Bo Derek. The show is produced in San Diego.
I am divorced, nothing to do with this attempt, honest. So that poses no problems. I have over the years whittled my financial obligations down to-taxes. It took me years to be debt free, but I don’t believe in leaving someone else holding the bag for my dreams. That includes the boat and everything on it should things not go as planned.
As for career, well I did not really see my pool business as something that would shake financial markets around the world to their core if sold. So, over the past 20 years I built it up, let it pay my way and sold it.
The New KenSolo is Under Construction Thanks for checking back with us!! We are
in the architecture phase of the new web site which will allow all
adventurers the ability to file an adventure plan and profile, free
of charge. Our goal is to add capabilities for individual or team
assisted real time or latent adventure updates. Bon Voyage! - Ken |
"Due to the unusual effectiveness kensolo.com played in my recovery, the team that developed and updated this site so effectively, and I, have decided to develop kensolo.com into a FREE service to all who seek adventure on any level" More>>>
In Kens words. The final hours here>>>
More Updates >>>
My intention is to leave Long Beach Shoreline Marina on Saturday, October 28th around 12:00. Follow a course that will take me below San Clemente Island out to about 120’ longitude. Follow 120’ longitude to 45’ latitude and start the turn towards Cape Horn.
After rounding Cape Horn, come back up between 40’ and 45’ s. latitude to avoid the worst of the weather (remember this is not a race). I will need to head a little further south to round New Zealand then up through the South Pacific. Around the west side of the Hawaiian Islands over the pacific high and back down the coast to Long Beach.
I anticipate an average 24 hour run of between 100-150 miles per day so the total time of the trip should be no longer than 6-8 months. Arriving home sometime between April and June. My hope is to beat that time (always a racer at heart). More>>>
ABC News Phone interview with Ken after rescue >>
Photos of the Rescue - Courtesy of the Chilean Navy >>
Pictures of the disabled Privateer shot this morning from the 2nd Chilean P3 aircraft >>
Lectronic Latitude Update Dec 06
Five years ago I started looking for the right boat. Twice a day, every day, on every website around the world. I traveled up and down the west coast and to the east coast looking at boats. I talked to professional sailing and boat designers. I even gave some thought to building what I wanted because finding the right boat for all the conditions I would encounter was proving to be impossible. The way I saw it was to do this one of two ways. Very fast as in an Open 50, lots of carbon fiber, surf, stay on top of the water, be uncomfortable and get it over with. Or, very strong steel or aluminum, sturdy, something that could go through anything and survive because when your going that slow, you simply cannot avoid getting hit by fast moving storm systems.
My heart said fast (after all, I love to sail). However, my wallet said strong. When you compare the cost of carbon fiber to steel I simply could not afford fast. More>>>