Nick Jaffe
Sailor, writer, photographer, traveller & maker.
“You published your book ‘the years thunder by’ in April. Could you tell our readers a little about the book?”
“The Years Thunder By is a personal story about sailing a small sailing boat alone, from Europe to Australia. With little experience, a lot of energy and tremendous support from friends and strangers, I pursued a dream to sail home from Europe in a 26ft boat named Constellation, a voyage which would end up taking four years, from inception in Berlin, to my arrival in Sydney. The book took many years to write, weaving personal history, stories from faraway places and what it means to risk everything to follow a dream. I was able to finish the second draft in southern France last year, working with my editor in Brisbane on alternating time zones. When the pandemic hit, final touches were made in self-quarantine and the book was finally published!”
”In the book you talk about a pattern of thinking (expecting things to be a certain way). What strategies have you developed that have helped you on your most arduous adventures?”
“Sailing alone has a significant number of challenges, not the least which are all the mental struggles of quite simply keeping it together. In my book as well as the documentary on this voyage, I always made a special point to be brutally honest and open. I've always felt a lot of people doing similar activities like to paint their actions with a brush of heroism. There was nothing heroic about my adventure, it was simply an act of creation and a way to create myself. I've always considered true adventure to be no different than art - to create something genuine, original and thought provoking - to express oneself. On any path of exploration there often will be that pesky sense of expectation. We want things to be a certain way - we want to feel things - we want to see things - quite simply we want.
Solo adventures open up a lot of thinking time, which can sometimes provide a negative space as well as a positive space: The two are intertwined and necessary. I have never come across a mental model or method to eliminate expectation, yet I've developed methods to identify it. Sometimes the artistry of managing the mind is not to force it into thinking something else: It is simply to recognise what it is doing. A lot of adventure is about project & risk management, which is in effect playing out events and scenarios into the future. This can lead into expectations about what the future might hold, which is of course the root of much heartache. So I suppose my strategy, if I had to put it that way, would be to simply recognise and separate what is emotionally lead expectation and what is necessary planning and risk analysis. It's essentially about self-awareness and also self-honesty.
When sailing you get a lot of time to read - What are the top three books you read on your voyage and why?
The most beautiful book I read on my voyage is called Seven Tenths: The sea and its thresholds by James Hamilton-Paterson. It's a journey through science, oceans, poetry, literature, pirates and beauty. Another book I spent a lot of time reading is called World Cruising Routes by Jimmy Cornell - as the title suggests it is a factual book on sailing routes throughout the world. If you ever wanted to know how to sail from San Francisco to French Polynesia, you can simply look up the route and associated sailing notes, covering weather, timing and anchorages. I'd often just read this book and routes I had no intention of sailing, but rather just to dream. There are so many books I loved, but the third one that comes to mind is The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa. I read many passages from this book as I sailed the coast of Portugal, Pessoa being a native of Lisbon. I don't know how to describe the book really, but it's sort of autobiographical, full of poetic fragments of life and beauty.
Brewing is all about smells and tastes. What food do you miss the most on your journey and what smells most ingrained themselves in your memory?
I missed all of the foods! I sailed without refrigeration, cooking from a tiny alcohol stove. Whenever I landed anywhere, the first thing after formalities would be to gorge myself on food. At sea, one more or less doesn't smell anything. The most memorable smells were those of tiny Pacific islands, which one could smell from many miles out to sea: They would smell of earth, smoke and fruit.
I believe your latest adventure was driving across Africa. What made you choose Africa and how is it going?
Yes, so in 2018 I decided it was time for a new adventure. I pondered buying another sailing boat and continuing my circumnavigation around the world back to Europe, but decided I wanted to try something new. Looking at some maps, I planned a new adventure: To drive from the most southern road in Australia (southern Tasmania), to the most northern road in Europe (above the arctic circle in Norway). I bought an old ex-military Land Rover I named Penny, and prepared for the expedition. In July of 2019, I departed Tasmania, drove around Australia, across the Simpson Desert and along the western seaboard to Perth. In Fremantle, Penny was packed into a shipping container and sent to Cape Town. While she crossed the Indian Ocean, I flew to France and worked on my book, and in January of 2020 I met Penny at the container depot in Cape Town and began making preparations for my drive to Europe across the length of Africa. Disappointingly, this all coincided with the beginning of the pandemic. In a mad rush, I decided to abandon the expedition and fly home. I left Penny with friends and boarded the second last flight out of Cape Town for Perth, narrowly escaping home to Tasmania. Unfortunately due to a number of events, the trip is officially over, with Penny currently back in a container and headed home, as we speak.
We make craft beer. Can you tell us a little about any craft you pursue.
In addition to adventure and writing, I work as a photographer and maker. I have a small workshop fittingly built inside a 20ft shipping container, where I produce a range of objects, primarily in leather. Utilising a range of ancient industrial sewing machines, hand presses, sharp knives, thread and Kangaroo leather, I make things from door handles for Land Rovers to wallets and homewares.
