Hannes Lindemann
Encyclopedia
Hannes Lindemann is a German doctor, navigator and sailor. He made two solo transatlantic crossings, one in a sailing dugout canoe made while working in Liberia and the second in a seventeen-foot Klepper
Aerius II double folding kayak
, modified to carry two masts and an outrigger. His book Alone at Sea documents the trips, which were totally unassisted. He was motivated to make the trips by an interest in how the human body and mind respond to survival at sea, a theme which the Kon-Tiki
(1947) and Alain Bombard
(1952) explored in earlier ocean voyages.
His kayak was delivered to the Canary Islands
, before sailing to the Caribbean
. He very rarely paddled, though used a paddle when rudders broke. He carried 154 pounds of supplies, much of it canned comestibles some of which he ditched on setting out as the kayak was too heavy. He caught fish and gathered rainwater to supplement his rations. The 3000 mile crossing to St. Martin took him 72 days. Towards the end of that trip he encountered storms of "wind force 8, gusting to force 9" when he capsized twice during a period of hallucinations brought on by fatigue and sleep deprivation. At times he described what might be described as trantric or altered states - safe in the cocoon of his sodden kayak while storms raged around him for days. He was convinced that in a survival situation the mind gave up long before the body (or indeed the craft), and to help accomplish the second trip he trained himself in sleep deprivation as well as mentally, which he described at times as prayer, meditation, autogenic training
and ingraining his sub-conscious with affirmational mottos like 'I will make it' and 'Keep going west'.
Klepper
Klepper is surname of:* Frank B. Klepper , an U.S. Representative from Missouri* Jochen Klepper , a German writer, poet and journalist, aka Johannes Klepper , German tailor...
Aerius II double folding kayak
Folding kayak
A folding kayak is a direct descendant of the original Inuit kayak made of animal skins stretched over frames made from wood and bones. A modern folder has a collapsible frame made of some combination of wood, aluminium and plastic, and a skin made of a tough fabric with a waterproof coating...
, modified to carry two masts and an outrigger. His book Alone at Sea documents the trips, which were totally unassisted. He was motivated to make the trips by an interest in how the human body and mind respond to survival at sea, a theme which the Kon-Tiki
Kon-Tiki
Kon-Tiki was the raft used by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl in his 1947 expedition across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian islands. It was named after the Inca sun god, Viracocha, for whom "Kon-Tiki" was said to be an old name...
(1947) and Alain Bombard
Alain Bombard
Alain Bombard was a French biologist, physician and politician famous for sailing across the Atlantic Ocean in a small boat.Alain Bombard was born in Paris...
(1952) explored in earlier ocean voyages.
His kayak was delivered to the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
, before sailing to the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
. He very rarely paddled, though used a paddle when rudders broke. He carried 154 pounds of supplies, much of it canned comestibles some of which he ditched on setting out as the kayak was too heavy. He caught fish and gathered rainwater to supplement his rations. The 3000 mile crossing to St. Martin took him 72 days. Towards the end of that trip he encountered storms of "wind force 8, gusting to force 9" when he capsized twice during a period of hallucinations brought on by fatigue and sleep deprivation. At times he described what might be described as trantric or altered states - safe in the cocoon of his sodden kayak while storms raged around him for days. He was convinced that in a survival situation the mind gave up long before the body (or indeed the craft), and to help accomplish the second trip he trained himself in sleep deprivation as well as mentally, which he described at times as prayer, meditation, autogenic training
Autogenic training
Autogenic training is a relaxation technique developed by the German psychiatrist Johannes Heinrich Schultz and first published in 1932. The technique involves the daily practice of sessions that last around 15 minutes, usually in the morning, at lunch time, and in the evening. During each session,...
and ingraining his sub-conscious with affirmational mottos like 'I will make it' and 'Keep going west'.