Watching the ARC, Profile of Silver Curl

by Nancy Knudsen on 14 Nov 2006 When Gerhard Schmisch was 11 he was good at athletics. When the family moved to a new town, his father took him to join the Athletics Club. But it was closed that day, and the next-door sailing club was open, so he joined the sailing club. This tiny piece of serendipity has led to his crossing the Atlantic in the ARC with his wife and son on their Lagoon 410, and maybe on to a full world circumnavigation.

As one of 33 German entries in the ARC, I catch up with Gerhard and his family in the marina at Las Palmas, Canary Islands, on the Opening Day of the Pre-Rally Festivities for Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) which is to depart in two weeks. Around us as we sit in the large comfortalbe cockpit of Silver Curl, hundreds of flags are already flying, and the atmosphere is festive:

CREW FOR THE ARC:
Gerhard Schmisch and his wife Gisela Schmisch, their son Robert, and student friend Christian Arjes.

HOME PORT: Moenkeberg, near Kiel in far northern Germany, on the east side of the Fjord of Kiel.

TELL US ABOUT THE BOAT:
Gerhard: We bought her new in 2003, after I took early retirement. She is a Lagoon 410. We like her very much – in a heavy sea, the movement is like rocking in a train – very pleasant. Also, we have one hull just for my wife and I, and the other hull is for crew or guests - excellent.
..AND THE NAME?
Gisela: Well, in German the expression ‘Silver Curl’ refers to the time of your life after you are retired your curls have turned to silver.

YOU ARE BOTH RETIRED VERY EARLY– WHAT DID YOU DO IN YOUR FORMER LIVES?
Gisela: I was a tax consultant, with a tax consultancy business – I sold that business in 2005

Gerhard: I too ran my own business and sold it – in 2001. I am a chartered accountant.

AND YOU TWO BOYS? – WHAT DO YOU DO AT HOME?
Robert: Christian and I are students, studying to be Naval Architects in Hamburg

WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO JOIN THE ARC?
Gerhard: Well, it is the first big long distance crossing that we have made, and we thought that it would enable us to get a lot of information from the ARC organisation about the crossing – also it would offer the chance to talk to others and share their thoughts. The event programme will be both enjoyable and useful.

Gisela: Then if we enjoy crossing the Atlantic, we will do some more – maybe the circumnavigation – we’ll wait and see. The longest journey we have done is four nights at sea. I am not sure about going on and being away for very long stretches of time, as we both have mothers at home in their eighties, and that’s a concern. We also have two sons, Robert here who is 23 and is joining us for the Atlantic crossing, and at home a younger son, Willem, who is 22.

WHAT IS YOUR BACKGROUND IN SAILING?
Gerhard: Well, you know, I started sailing when I was eleven, and loved it immediately. It was dinghy sailing – during my young life I sailed many dinghies of different types, first the Pirat, then later the Hansajolle, and I raced a moth for a while, winning quite a few championships. However, when I stopped studying, I stopped racing and sailed bigger boats for cruising.

Gisela: I started sailing when I met Gerhard. We have sailed a great deal in the Danish South Sea – you can sail there from May to September – sometimes we would go for six weeks travelling from Fjord to Fjord.

Robert: Well, I have sailed since I was two with the family. When I was a child it wasn’t so good you know. Then, when all my friends were playing football or something else, every weekend the whole of THIS family had to go sailing. However, now it’s okay and I enjoy it very much

HOW HAVE YOU PREPARED FOR THIS CROSSING:
Gerhard: Well, we purchased the boat in 2003, and have sailed it around the Mediterranean ever since, spending a lot of time in Croatia, which we loved. Since 2005, when Gisela sold her business to retire, we have sailed to many corners of the Mediterranean.

WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHLIGHTS?
Gerhard: Really, being able to sail in the warmer weather was the real highlight, with less rain!
Gisela: Yes, and also in Croatia, we had many friends come to visit, and that was excellent.
Gerhard: I guess you could say that Croatia was the highlight of our sailing so far on this boat – although we like all the islands – Malta, Sicily etc – not so much the mainland. The Spanish coast was a bit disappointing for us.

HAVE YOU HAD ANY BAD EXPERIENCES?
Gisela: Yes, one time last year the passage from Tunisia to Spain was not good at all.

Gerhard: In Tunisia, a charlatan sold us diesel fuel with 25% water in it, and blended together with an additive so that we were unable to discern the difference. This meant that both engines failed, one after the other – or at least couldn’t work at any more than 1500rpm.

Robert: Yes, and then we had 35-40 knots on the nose, and neither of the engines working.

Gisela: I remember the sandstorm too at the same time. It was blowing so hard in our faces that it stung and you couldn’t look forwards from the boat.

Robert: I had my girlfriend with us too, and she was seasick all the time.

Gerhard: Then for the last 18 hours, we were becalmed in very high seas whipped up by the storm, and with both engines going, could not do any more than 4 knots.

Gisela: If we had many more journeys like that we wouldn’t be doing a circumnavigation

APART FROM WONDERING ABOUT A CIRCUMNAVIGATION AFTER THE ARC, WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS?
Gerhard: Well, I want very much to do the circumnavigation. I could do it by myself, and take a crew, but I really want Gisela and I to do it together. After the ARC, the plan is to sail around the Caribbean a little – maybe Trinidad and the Bahamas, then up to Chesapeake Bay and then do some land touring of the USA. The next year we could sail south again through the inland waterway back down to the Caribbean, then via Cuba to the Panama Canal, which we would go through in 2008.

In addition, I have to say that I am pleased that we are doing this journey as a family - it makes all the difference.

Well, at Sail-World Cruising we shall try to follow the story of Gerhard and Gisela - will they go on to circumnavigate? Or will Gerhard do it alone with a crew? We'll ask them again after the ARC...