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Alice Kamperschroer A reference April 2014 Alice’s great great grandmother was a mermaid. At least that’s my theory, although Alice denies it. She really is a skipper’s dream come true. She came to my boat in early January, in the New Zealand port of Nelson. She helped me with a variety of technical repairs, then we sailed 5 days straight to Opua, in a short-handed run up NZ’s west coast. We then explored the northern coast until the middle of April. Here are her qualities: highly intelligent, learns fast, energetic, physically and emotionally strong, calm and even-tempered, a great cook, courageous (dived in to release a fouled rope around the propeller in rough seas), and understands technical issues. However two other qualities are of great importance: from the moment she arrived she saw herself as part of a team. That’s really important – whenever I needed help she was right there beside me. Finally, she has a profound love for the ocean – that’s a great help and is the foundation for her ability to cope with the boredom and discomfort which inevitably accompany cruising.
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