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Dear Niven....Will she be landing anywhere in
Massachusett....??? I wanted to make it to Nova Scotia, but I was minding the
library while my Director was in Edinburgh... Kind
regards Claire
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, September 18, 2000 9:21
AM
Subject: The Olympics
There is one person who deserves an Olympic Gold and that is
Laura Zolo who has
just completed the arduous (and often dangerous) voyage
from Venice to Orkney
and, from there, to Shetland, the Faeroes, Iceland,
Greenland, Labrador, Newfoundland
and Nova Scotia. She is now
planning to sail down the Eastern seaboard of America
to Massachusetts and
to Rhode Island - thus emulating Henry Sinclair's historic voyage
of
1398. She has done this in her small yacht "The 7 Roses" which is small
enough to
fit into most people's kitchens.
The route she took wasn't
the soft Southern route of Columbus but the stormy waters of
the North
Atlantic where Leif Eriksson lost half his fleet and where the Titanic
sank. Her
story is a story of courage, endurance and
determination. It is also the story of one of
the finest yachtswomen
who has ever sailed the seas. Her slight figure belies her
stamina.
Her youth belies her incredible achievement. Her
self-effacing charm belies her ambition
to give 'physical expression' to
that which the rest of us have been talking about for years
i.e. why the
illustrious Zeno brothers of Venice chose to join Prince Henry Sinclair in
Orkney
and to serve him for 14 years - culminating in
their voyage to the New World in 1398 or,
as is now believed, in 1396
and 1398.
Courage is the one quality which guarantees
everything else. Laura has this quality in abundant measure. She
deserves our cheers on a great accomplishment - a veritable marathon against
the worst the seas could throw against her frail craft. Above all, she
deserves our thanks for bringing the story of Prince Henry Sinclair to a wider
audience than ever before. In particular, she has captured the
imagination of the young who have been
eagerly following her voyage from
their classrooms across Europe.
Bravo, Laura. You
have that underlying humility which is the essential ingredient of true
. champions. It is also the hallmark of people who know what it is to
battle against the elements - day after unrelenting day. Captain Jack
also deserves a medal for forbearance.
And your four-legged friends,
STELLA and SULTAN, without whom peace would not have
reigned. They
are undoubtedly man's (and woman's) best friends.
Niven
Sinclair
Niven Sinclair
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