Sailor Determined to Tie Up Her Voyage’s Loose Ends

Ten thousand miles under her keel and an additional 20,000 to go . . .

No problem.

All Karen Thorndike needs is a little cooperation from Mother Nature and a lot of patience, and eventually she will become the first American woman to sail around the world alone.

And anyone who believes it will be that simple hasn’t been following the saga of Thorndike, a Seattle resident who astonishingly enough is not ready to admit that this particular journey was not meant to be.

“I’d have to say, ‘Yeah, I’ve had some bad luck,’ ” she said Thursday in a brief phone interview from the Falkland Islands off Argentina, where nobody wants to go outside for fear of literally getting blown away. “But I don’t think my journey is jinxed or anything.”

Bad luck?

Thorndike, 54, is back in the Falklands eyeing Perth, Australia, several thousand miles away, for the second time.

The first time, two months ago, she made it 350 miles out of Port Stanley before coming face to face with an angry sea.

Mammoth, shifting swells, generated by 60-knot winds, tossed about her 36-foot sailboat, Amelia, as though it were a cork in a washing machine, nearly capsizing it several times.

She struggled to maintain control of the boat, and while she managed to hold her own against the elements for several hours, flu, fatigue and exhaustion began to take their toll. Finally, a series of chest pains led her to believe she was having a heart attack. She sent a distress signal and was fortunate that a British warship was in the vicinity.

Still, in the long hours it took the frigate to reach Amelia, Thorndike was certain the ocean would swallow her and Amelia before help arrived--if her heart didn’t give out first.

“I thought I was going to die,” she would say.

Thorndike not only survived, thanks to the ship’s doctor and crew of the HMS Norfolk, but after returning home she learned she had not suffered a heart attack after all, and was eventually given a clean bill of health.

Now she is back in the Falklands contemplating the resumption of her journey within the next week or so. And contemplating, and contemplating . . .

A 50-knot wind developed the day after she landed in Port Stanley, making preparations on Amelia nearly impossible.

Looking back at events that have transpired since she first tried to sail around the world two years ago, this is not surprising. So little has gone Thorndike’s way that if she does someday make it back to her home port in Seattle, it would be a minor mariner’s miracle.

On her first attempt in 1995, she got caught in an electrical storm 1,000 miles off Nicaragua and lightning disabled her electronic equipment. She limped back to San Diego and began planning her most recent attempt.

She began her latest voyage from San Diego last August and made it uneventfully enough to Hawaii, but she had to wait there for several weeks so repairs could be made.

She sailed across the equator to Tahiti without much trouble, encountering strong winds and rain occasionally and having to jump overboard once despite the wind and swell to plug an exhaust valve that had broken.

But during the leg from Tahiti to the Falklands the tide began to turn. Thorndike began to figure out that she had no ally in Mother Nature. Amelia got thumped by heavy seas 2,000 miles before the notoriously treacherous waters off Cape Horn.

Electronic messages sent to her support team read like this one sent Dec. 9, 1996: “MAJOR STORM OUT HERE! 40k SWesterly became a 50-knot Southerly last night. Seas are monstrous.”

Thorndike eventually made it around the Horn to Port Stanley, and back out again with a course set for Perth. Flu symptoms developed about the same time as sleet and hail began pelting Amelia, which soon was being broadsided by enormous waves generated by 60-knot winds.

Thorndike, 350 miles at sea, barely managed to stay afloat and keep her wits until the rescue ship arrived, and when it finally did she was in a near state of shock.

A crew from the ship sailed Amelia back while the ship’s doctor treated Thorndike.

Two months later, having regained her health and color, a determined Thorndike planned a return trip to Port Stanley to outfit Amelia for the resumption of her journey.

On the way she was robbed of her documents and money while on layover at the airport in Santiago, Chile. She missed her plane and waited in Santiago for new documents and money from Seattle.

After catching the next flight to Port Stanley a week later, Thorndike discovered that a few small items again had been pilfered from her luggage, but that wasn’t the big news.

Word spread that the small airline providing the only civilian flights into and out of the Falklands was going out of business. That has since happened, stranding those trying to get on and off the island. A major fire then destroyed a building that contained the airline’s records.

That was last week.

“The only way to get off the island is by military transport twice a week to England,” said Cathy Main, a spokeswoman for Thorndike’s team. “There is no boat service.”

Thorndike, of course, has Amelia. But, like old faithful, the day after Thorndike arrived a healthy wind was replaced by gusts that nearly blew her off her feet.

“The weather has turned very bad, so leaving has taken on a whole new aspect,” she said, referring to the fact that with the Southern Hemisphere winter just around the corner, days are getting shorter and nights are getting longer.

“I went by the harbor and [learned that] even two Antarctic survey boats are headed back north because the weather is so bad,” she said. “Everyone down here has told me that the weather conditions are the worst they’ve seen as long as they can remember. It’s been a horrible summer and fall. My friends are all telling me I shouldn’t leave, so I’ve got to take all this into consideration and make a decision.”

Thorndike said she will finish her journey, even if she has to wait until next spring (our fall) to do so.

“One thing I’ve learned is not to leave until it feels right,” she said. “If it feels right, I will leave. If it doesn’t, I won’t.”

After all she has been through, one can’t help but wonder if it will ever feel right again.

AROUND THE SOUTHLAND

About 1,000 already have signed up for this year’s Santa Monica Bay Halibut Derby on April 12-13, and tournament chairman John Bourget predicts he will get an additional 600 entries before the April 11 afternoon deadline. Those wanting to take part in this annual circus (top prize is an all-expense trip to Whalers’ Cove, Alaska) can order an entry form by phone through Tuesday at (310) 450-5131. After Tuesday, Bourget will be accepting entries at his home at 1636 11th St. in Santa Monica. Last year’s winning halibut was a 36.3-pounder. The cost of the derby is $40, with proceeds going to youth fishing programs and a halibut hatchery project.

Hiking: Coastwalk, a nonprofit group that organizes multiday naturalist-led hikes along remote sections of California coast, has announced its schedule of coastal walks, with the first June 16-22 along the Monterey coast. New to the agenda is a Los Angeles adventure June 22-28, featuring hikes on the rugged Palos Verdes Peninsula, a 27-mile hike or bicycle tour of the Santa Monica Bay via bike path, and a trip to hike portions of Santa Catalina Island. Details: (800) 550-6854.

Biking: The Southern California Bicycle Expo will be held April 11-13 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Dealers will be peddling the latest in road and off-road bicycles and equipment, but the event also features a variety of bike-related entertainment, such as a mountain bike trials competition, a competition between local law-enforcement agencies, and stunts from the Schwinn freestyle team. Cost is $7 for adults, $4 for children 7-12, and free for children 6 and under.

Miscellany: Silverwood Lake in San Bernardino County is filling slowly after being lowered more than 100 feet for several months for repairs. The lake is currently down about 50 feet down and boaters will be allowed back on the water in two to three weeks. Silverwood Lake State Recreation Area remains open from 6 a.m.-9 p.m. and campgrounds are available for $17 Sunday through Thursday, $18 on Fridays and Saturdays. Reservations are required and available by calling (800) 444-7275. Updated lake conditions are available by calling (619) 389-2303.