Cruisers' Profile - Fantasy 1

by Cruising Editor on 14 Oct 2006 Working with refugees in Thailand, great experiences in Turkey, terrible sailing in the Med and the horror of being hit by lightning are just some of the experiences of Karl and Sandi on Fantasy 1

CREW: Karl and Sandi Fueloep, from Adelaide. Home Club before departure was the Royal South Australian Yacht Squadron.

NATIONALITY: Australian

BOAT NAME AND DESIGN: Fantasy 1, a Valiant 40, a Perry design. 'The yacht has done it before,' jokes Sandi. In fact, this is the same boat in which American Dan Byrne competed in the very first 1983/4 BOC round world single-handed challenge. 'I always wanted a Valiant,' says Karl. 'We actually set off in a Duncason 37 called Maru, but when we reached Mooloolabah, I fell in love with Fantasy, we swapped boats with Maru’s owner.'

WHEN DID YOU DEPART FROM HOME? We departed in January 1999, intending to go to the Louisiades. Circumstances dictated that we accompany a friend on his boat to Darwin, and then, well it was just easier to keep going.

WHAT ROUTE HAVE YOU TAKEN SO FAR? O a pretty usual route I guess. First up to Indonesia, then Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, then on to the Maldives, Oman, up the Red Sea and to the Med

WHAT IS YOUR SAILING BACKGROUND? Sandi started sailing as a child, but I was in my forties when I started sailing dinghies. Then we graduated to deepkeel boats, bought Maru, and we both had a dream to sail around the world. Then came the 10-year plan to retire from work early and be financial enough to fund the journey.

WHAT WERE YOUR CAREERS PREVIOUS TO LEAVING HOME? Sandi was a teacher and an education administrator, and I was a physicist, working in Solid State Laser and Landmine Detection.

WHAT HAS BEEN THE HIGHLIGHT OF YOUR JOURNEY SO FAR? Without a doubt, the highlight has been our experience of working with refugees on the border of Thailand and Burma, in Mai Hong Son. We worked as volunteers for the Jesuit Refugee Services, training new teachers.

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR WORST EXPERIENCE – THE LOWLIGHT?

DIFFICULT SAILING IN THE MED
There are two that come to mind. The first is the lack of wind, or wind from the wrong direction while sailing the Mediterranean. We expected contrary winds in the Red Sea and were prepared for them. But in the Med, somehow we were expecting to have an easier time. We probably spent somewhere between 50% and 70% of our time with the engine on.

BEING STRUCK BY LIGHTNING
The second experience was being hit by lightning. We were in Pula, in Croatia, asleep, when there was a loud crash and a blinding light. I knew immediately that we had been struck. I remember hearing some plaintive small beeps from some of the equipment. Strangely, the lights still worked. I went on deck to find the VHF antenna lying on the deck scorched. We lost most of our electronic equipment – the radar, two GPS’s, the HF tuner, the battery charger, solar regulators, the AM/FM radio among others.

PANTANEOUS, our insurance company, were EXCELLENT. They advised us to wait until we had found EVERY problem before claiming – they performed admirably!

HAS THE TRIP CHANGED YOU?
Yes, it has, in many ways. I feel we are more tolerant of differences between people, and we are now comfortable with all people, of any race or creed. In addition, the camaraderie among the sailing fraternity has been a wonderful experience, and our values, never very materialistic, are even less so. We feel we have moved away from the values that we still find at home in Adelaide. I call this 'My Second Life'

HAVE YOU LEFT FAMILY AT HOME? We both have mothers at home, so we spend about three months at home each year at Christmas time, sometimes more, depending on need.

WHEN DO YOU EXPECT TO REACH AUSTRALIA AGAIN:
Probably in about October 2007, we shall arrive home, but we really don’t know where we’ll live – probably not in Adelaide. We have a house in Queensland, and certainly the boat will stay there. From then on we shall perhaps sail the Pacific Ocean, and spend at least six months a year on the boat sailing. But we haven’t decided really…..