ahora's skipper

Hi, I am Jan!

I am Ahora's skipper since August 2016. Since I was a child, I always dreamed about once owning a seaworthy sailboat. Even though I did not grow up close to the water, I spent most of my summer holidays in the Netherlands and Brittany, where I sailed on various small boats with my dad and granddad. For some reason, I always felt connected to wind and waves. As soon as I could read, I devoured books by German single-handed sailors, but also tales from the great age of sail, such as the books by Jack London. It was just obvious to me that one day, I wanted to sail the world's oceans on my own boat.

With the beginning of my studies, other projects became more important. But only until I got the chance to sail as crew on the historic Schooner Zodiac, an experience that once more kindled my fasciantion for the ocean. During the rest of my studies, I spent more than 10 months in total, working on various tall ships, such as Roald Amundsen and Bark Europa, which brought me as far as Antarctica.

Even though I think that sailing on tall ships is a great way to learn the arts of seamanship, when working there you are always part of a large crew. The decisions about the route are taken by the captain, often based on a very tight schedule. My own boat would liberate me from such schedules and give me a lot of freedom (with the exception of climatic circumstances, such as the hurricane season).

During my time as PhD-student and researcher at Konstanz University, I was able to save some money and take the first step towards future adventures: I bought my boat ahora in 2016!

After three years of preparations, I started my journey in the summer of 2019. In order to pay for the trip, I am running the online magazine KlabauterKiste and the online shop KlabauterShop from board as a digital nomad.

Just after the beginning of my trip, my brother made a little introductory video (in German). This way you can get an impression of the boat. Luckily, after reaching Brittany, the trip got much more relaxed... 😉

I am happy to let you take part in my journey through my blog. If you want to stay up to date, you can also register for the newsletter below.

Best

Jan

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