Horses have been such an incredible part of the human history and have largely gone unpraised for the prices they have paid, plowing fields, carrying humans, fighting in battles, transporting goods and people across countrysides, and sadly, even being consumed to keep people alive. The spirit of this book is to acknowledge their divine presence in our world and to give them the credit they deserve for their gifts to humanity.
That being said, I saved Ivan Novak for last, as his character is near and dear to my heart. As you most likely know, my husband and I are undertaking a journey to sail around the world. Ivan sold everything he owned, like us; his goal? To circumnavigate.
Ivan’s character was inspired by the French solo sailor, Bernard Montissier. Bernard Moitessier was a legendary French sailor who famously abandoned the first solo, non-stop, around-the-world race—the 1968 Golden Globe Race—not because he was losing, but because he didn’t want to return to land. After sailing nearly one and a half times around the world and leading the race, he made the astonishing decision to keep sailing toward the South Pacific instead of returning to England to claim victory. He sent a final message by slingshotting a note onto a passing ship: “I am continuing non-stop because I am happy at sea, and perhaps to save my soul.”
Moitessier lived much of his life on the water, embracing simplicity and freedom. He sailed his beloved ketch Joshua tens of thousands of miles, sometimes with no fixed destination. He wrote extensively about the spiritual connection between sailing and nature. Despite spending years at sea, he had little interest in traditional navigation tools, often relying on instinct and the rhythms of the ocean. Moitessier’s philosophy was one of deep respect for the sea, rejecting materialism and embracing a life dictated by the wind and waves. His journey remains one of the most compelling and romantic tales in sailing history. My character, Ivan, embodies these values as he sets off to pursue his dream.
The Contessa 32 Connection
The next connection in this story that is near and dear to my soul is the boat Ivan chose to make his journey, the Contessa 32, (for non-sailors, the number represents the size of the boat, 32 feet).
As we were searching for our perfect boat, before Dan and I set out to sail around the world, we attended boat shows where we attended educational seminars to help prepare. It was at the Miami Boat Show that I insisted on attending a seminar on storm sailing by a man named John Kretschmer, a lifetime sailor and delivery boat captain. Storms were my biggest fear.
After John’s seminar, I was exhilarated. His stories of sailing through multiple hurricanes and typhoons, his tactical approach, and his enthusiasm for sailing made me feel like we were going to be okay. He brought his book about sailing in storms, which I planned on buying on our way out. However, before he finished his talk, he mentioned that he had one spot left in a heavy weather training passage, a 1,000-mile trip through the Caribbean in the notoriously difficult trade winds. I looked at Dan, my eyes wide, and said, “Honey, I have to sign up for this. It’s a MUST!” I couldn’t picture a better opportunity for me to prepare for crossing oceans in our boat. Dan agreed and I signed up.
That trip in itself was an epic adventure. Dan ended up joining me as someone dropped out last minute. Leading up to the voyage with John, we purchased several of the books he had written. One of my favorites was his book, Cape Horn to Starboard. John set the world record for sailing in the smallest sailboat from the 44th parallel on the East Coast, New York City, to the 44th parallel on the West Coast, Los Angeles, 16,000 miles in 161 sailing days. This was the famous clipper ship route which transported goods to the other side of the country. The boat he used to break this record was on a Contessa 32 named Gigi.
Several years later, we were finally aboard our sailboat, a Taswell 43, starting our journey to sail around the world. You can anticipate, but you can never truly prepare for your first storm at sea, and our first was a doozy. (You can read all about it in Riding the Waves of Reality: Tales of Turmoil and Triumph.) The extenuating circumstances around that storm caused me trauma and thus I developed serious anxiety from that experience forward, each time the weather started to turn bad. How did I get through it? I pictured Gigi.
During her voyage, she was in waves up to 30 feet tall. John described looking at the waves around the boat and seeing fish in the waves, above his boat! Gigi got him safely through storms and through the notoriously dangerous passage around Cape Horn. Gigi became my spirit boat. When I began to have fear, I pictured her, the little boat, a third of our size, successfully making that incredibly difficult voyage. If she could do it, so could we! Gigi kept me on an even keel.
What are the Odds?
Fast forward, several years later, to Scotland. Thanks to Covid, our trip around the world was delayed for two seasons in Ireland, but during a brief respite of being allowed to sail again, we ventured up to Scotland in late October. October is not the best month weather-wise to be sailing that far north, but we hopped from island to island waiting for the days that were the least rough to sail. It was on one small island, we stopped overnight for a rare treat; a stay in a small marina. We needed to provision and get fuel. This marina was so small, it only had mooring balls and one dock on which a few boats could tie along.
We tied up to the dock, walked two miles to a very small store to get food, and returned to the marina and filled up our tank. The next morning, we awoke and planned to depart. Dan was out preparing lines, I was securing the cabin when Dan shouted, “Alison, you need to come out here!”
Curious, I stepped out onto the dock. Dan pointed to a small boat tied in front of us.
“Do you see that boat? Do you know what kind it is?”
“No,” I replied with a shrug, not understanding why he was asking.
“It’s a Contessa 32.”
He had me at Contessa 32.
“Do you see the name on the boat?” he continued, pointing at the stern.
I walked closer and read the name, simple, clear, and deep with meaning. It read, “Gigi.”
Just then, a man walked up to the boat. Dan approached him. “Is this a Contessa 32?”
The man nodded.
Dan continued, “Is this… THE GIGI?”
“Yes,” he replied, “Yes, it is.”
There really aren’t words to describe that moment. I could try, but I would fail miserably. I began to tear up, and asked if I could ‘touch her.’ I reached out, and put my hand on her hull, I needed to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. She was real.
Tears streamed down my face as I realized the astronomical odds of being at a small dock, in a vast ocean, that wrapped all away around the world, and meeting the boat that helped get me there. While the stories in The Seven are fictional, destiny has had its hand throughout our voyage. I’m a huge believer.
Why the French Polynesians?
It’s hard to describe what it’s like anticipating each new country we will be sailing to, which currently stands at 46. Number 47 will be the French Polynesians – my number one highly anticipated country to visit as we sail around the globe. I try to research and gain some knowledge about each new place, but you really don’t get a feel for them until you are there.
I decided to make Ivan sail to them so I could live vicariously. A fact I had to determine before I began my research was if there were horses in the French Polynesian islands. In fact, there are. They are not in abundance and never featured as part of island life. Their history, however, is fascinating and a gem worth uncovering.
Fiji’s Horses of the Sea: Shipwrecks, Survival, and Island Legends
The history of horses in the Pacific is not just one of introduction by explorers and traders – it is also one of survival against impossible odds. Tales of shipwrecks, where horses swam through treacherous waters to reach distant shores, have become part of maritime legend. Some of these stories are documented history, while others are whispered myths, passed down through generations.
Oral traditions in parts of Polynesia tell of horses washing up on shore, their origins unknown. Some speculate that these were escapees from wrecked trading vessels, while others suggest they were simply cast overboard to lighten ships caught in storms. Horses are strong swimmers, capable of covering miles in open water, guided by sheer instinct.
Could this have been the fate of Fiji’s first horses? Given the gaps in historical records, it is possible that long before John Thomas borrowed his horse from a French trader in 1847, others had arrived by less conventional means. Perhaps a storm-battered ship lost its cargo, and a few hardy animals managed to swim ashore, vanishing into the dense jungle. Some found a way to survive in secret, their presence known only to those who ventured deep into the island’s interior.
Though history may never reveal the full truth, one thing remains certain: wherever horses have been introduced, whether by human hands or by the fate of the sea, they have found ways to endure. The story of horses in Fiji is one of mystery, survival, and a spirit as untamed as the ocean itself.
*Leave me a comment and let me know if you liked my stories behind the stories… and if there are any other topics you would like insights about!*
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