Hello everyone,
WOW, what a month May has been. If you follow FSL or me (Angie) on Instagram, it will be no surprise that we were busy touring Brittany with a bunch of truly fabulous women for the Women & the Wind documentary tour.
I FINALLY met Kiana, Alizé and Laerke in person after working on the documentary together for 18 months, as they arrived sweaty and tired to Quimper by train from Paris after a relentless-yet-successful start to the three-month World Premiere Tour. Sold-out screenings in Wilmington and Paris preceded a huge week of back-to-back screenings here in Brittany, where we also welcomed inspiring solo Arctic sailor Veronica Skotnes, and the matriarch of our group, the one and only Hanneke Boon (Head of Wharram Designs).
Left to right: Laerke, Kiana, Angie, Sahara, Hanneke, Veronica, Alize.
In between evening cinema events and the continual desk work required to manage the hundreds of community screenings taking place around the world (check HERE for a screening near you), we took advantage of this special time together to pop celebratory champagne, dig into local Breton oysters, and talk ALL THINGS wooden boats.
Moments to remember here in Brittany. Photo: Alize Jireh.
A visit to CapSo, where FSL will begin building our Narai Mk IV, had Hanneke and Kiana giggling with excitement: “It’s like an Aladdin’s Cave of wood!” exclaimed Hanneke, who could not wipe the smile off her face. “If I had refitted Mara Noka here, I never would have left!” joked Kiana. Work space validated, Hanneke sternly advised me to learn how to identify useable wood species asap, with much available in the yard thanks to CapSo’s program of receiving unwanted furniture, dismantling it to refurbish and re-sell to the public, giving us a great opportunity to repurpose the good-quality hard and soft woods for smaller sections of the boat.
Angie, Sahara, Hanneke and Kiana on our visit to the boat workspace. Photo: Alize Jireh.
Q&A with wonder women, left to right: Tamara Klink (who so generously translated this session in Lorient), Hanneke, Laerke, Kiana and Alize.
At the film premieres, audiences were captivated by the film, a culmination of years of hard work following Kiana, Alizé and Laerke’s 30-day North Atlantic crossing on Kiana’s 50-year-old Wharram Narai Mk I Mara Noka. In my first viewing, I could not stop the tears as I felt waves of emotion encapsulate me, triggered by both a sense of relief that we were FINALLY sharing this film with the world, the excitement of our iminent build kick off, and knowing that soon, we will be welcoming folks on board to also experience minimalist Ocean voyages (albeit, a bit drier!).
To watch the movie, check out the full tour schedule HERE. I am also thrilled to announce that we will be taking the film to the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festivalin September, where Kiana, Hanneke and I will give individual presentations and sit on a Wharram Women Panel Discussion. Tickets are on sale now.
Finally, as we ready ourselves to make our way into the boat work space in coming weeks, I want to remind folks that we will be welcoming volunteers to join various stages of the build. If you would like to get involved, shoot us an email at floatingstorieslab @ gmail.com.
Thank you always for being here!
- Angie
(Co-Founder and President, Floating Stories Lab Association)
Remy and Hanneke working through the final materials plans for the FSL’s Narai Mk IV build.
Women & the Wind Sandwich. Left to right: Kiana, Laerke, Angie, Sahara and Alize.
