CHANGES recount the history of their boat: January is hull #1 of five Jonmeris that were built, and was originally owned by a guy from Sweden. The boat was later purchased by the cousin of King Juan Carlos in Port Banus, Spain. Sadly, the king's cousin was suffering from dementia, so he would buy a 48-ft boat, forget he did, and go out and buy another and another. According to the blog, by the time the man's sons figured out what had happened, he'd purchased six 48-footers! Poor guy. The Jonmeri 48 was later sold to a guy who had her in St. Martin in the Eastern Caribbean for two seasons, then, in an unusual move, decided to have a sistership built, minus the pilothouse. The boat later made her way to the Northeast, and after that was trucked to Seattle, where she was eventually named after a month of the year. One of our favorite sailing blogs is being written by The Swiss Sailing Family Probst, which consists of Justin Loring, the dad, Kristina, the mom, and five kids who appear to be between the ages of about five and 14. The family, working
Kristina and Justin Probst. When you have more smarts and skills than money, you do it yourself.
with a tight budget, bought a 40-yearold Westsail 32 kit boat, on which no work had been done, and a bunch of parts. Despite the five kids, Mom and Dad have been working — and knocking out — projects at a furious pace at an unnamed tree-lined marina in the Delta. What they've accomplished so far in such a short period of time strikes us as amazing. It's because Justin seems to be one of those guys who is calmly confi-
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dent and competent in everything from engines to refrigeration, to fiberglassing, to rigging, and is being relentlessly helped by Kristina. How they find time to blog, let alone eat and sleep, is beyond us. Currently their biggest concern is whether there will be enough room for seven of them on Rad Mode. If they were French, it would be no problem, but they are Swiss. Anyway, based on their blog, the Probsts strike us as being the best of 'alternative style' cruisers. We wish them all the luck in the world, not that they are the kind to rely on luck. In closing this month, we'd like hail Jeanne Socrates, the charming 74-yearold who has set off with her Najad 38 Nereid in an attempt to become the oldest person to sail around the world solo and nonstop — something she's already done before. We drove Jeanne on a Costco run in Puerto Vallarta last year, then had her out sailing aboard Profligate, and haven't been so impressed with anyone in a long, long time. Look no further for a role model for women.
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