26th of June, 2009 

http://www.sailnews.pl/content/view/577/31/

Thanks to Translateria (www.translateria.pl), you can read this article in English:

An interview for sailnews.pl - Natasza Caban

Friday, 26.06.2009

A sailing enthusiast and a person sensitive to the suffering of others – this is how a sailor from Ustka, Natasza Caban, is often characterized. At the moment, Natasza Caban, a person who combines her passion for sailing with charity, is preparing for the last leg of her solo cruise around the world.
She found time to give an interview to sailnews.pl when crossing the Panama Canal. Here, she describes the origin of her expedition and the difficulties connected with it, as well as an amazing charity action. Enjoy your read!

Let’s start from the very beginning, with the question you are surely asked quite often. How did you come up with the idea of the cruise around the world, which remains an unfulfilled dream for many sailors...

I have been eager to find all about remote places and sail round the world ever since I was a child and started to be interested in sailing. It might seem quite natural when you grow up in Ustka, but in fact I began to think seriously about such a solo cruise when I was an adult. It was then that I met great sailors who had already had such an adventure and infected me with the enthusiasm for their already fulfilled dream. It was only the matter of time when I would try my hand, and the moment I knew it was within my power to take up the challenge and sail round the world alone, I did my best to complete my project. I think that pursuing the aim doggedly for eight whole years in preparing the expedition helped to make my greatest dream come true. However, I wouldn’t have been able to achieve what I achieved if it hadn’t been for people and institutions who agreed to support my project – without their help and faith in me I wouldn’t be where I am now.
 
More or less at the same time, other Polish women sailors, MartaSziłajtis-Obiegło and Joanna Pajkowska, set out on a cruise around the world. We might say that in their case it was mostly about competitiveness. Weren’t you tempted to follow their path and try to break one of the records?

When I was preparing my expedition, I was aware that as far as women’s sailing, especially Polish women’s sailing is concerned, far too little was happening. I decided to show, particularly to women, that we can easily follow in the footsteps of Krystyna Chojnowska – Liskiewicz and Teresa Remiszewska. Less than 8 months after I started my voyage, Joanna and Marta put one of my project’s assumptions into practice by following my tracks. I’m very pleased with it and I believe that it doesn’t matter whether they succeeded  in achieving their competitive goals, such as breaking another records, or not. The most important fact is that they did try and then they came back home safely.

I could break the record, after all I was the youngest Polish woman on a solo cruise around the world, but as soon as I left the first harbor I realized  that my aim is not to beat the record, but to do something more. I could have gone via Cape Horn or reach the finishing line before other Polish sailors, but what for? Going on the solo cruise gave me the opportunity to bring happiness to the children for whom every day is a real struggle. Their smile is worth more for me than any joy at sports feat could ever be. Records are and will always be there to break, and I can only hope than I won’t be the only one who combines sailing round the world with charity.

Seas and oceans are not always kind to sailors. Were there any particularly difficult moments during the expedition, when you only wanted to come home safe and sound?

If by coming back home safe and sound you mean giving up on the further cruise, the answer is no. However, if you ask me if I ever wanted to get to the harbor safely, the answer is yes. The sea, which does not like to forgive, has put me to really difficult tests. It also put to the test the technical endurance of my boat and pushed my physical and mental abilities to the limit. Tanasza Polska Ustka and I have struggled against huge waves, adverse currents, and the wind whose strength practically exceeded the scale of our windmeter. So far, luck has been on our side. I hope it will stay there during the longest, yet the last leg of my cruise from Panama to Hawaii.

Your cruise is not only sailing solo round the world, but also an amazing charity action which makes the sick children’s dreams come true. Such an idea of help combines sailing with charity. How did it all start?

Sailing is my passion, but most of all it is my way of life. I got an incredible opportunity to make my greatest dream come true by obtaining the necessary support for my cruise. The need to share my happiness with others is something natural for me. I only had to find the way to turn a solitary and egoistic cruise round the world into something good and useful for the others. The Against the Odds Foundation, which I started to cooperate with, came to my rescue. The cooperation resulted in two actions: last year’s  Cruise with Natasza and this year’s Medivet Cruise with Natasza. Thanks  to this common initiative, we were able to make other wonderful dreams come true – I invited two disabled children dreaming about the sea and exotic trips on the board of Tanasza. My guests were the winners of the Marek Grechuta National Magical Song Festival organized annually by Anna Dymna’s Foundation, held on the Main Market Square in Cracow.

People who work with or take care of sick children often stress that these are the children who teach them persistence, perseverance and... joy at things which seem commonplace and dull for healthy people. Was it similar for you? How were you affected by sailing together and being in touch with the pupils of the Against the Odds Foundation?

Yes, it’s really incredible how much I could learn from Karolinka and Robert. It is said that the sea reveals our true nature and exercises our character...I believe that it’s not the solo cruise, but the opportunity to spend some time with these children on the boat which was a real test of my captain skills and abilities. Even though each child was different, I noticed that they have the same inner strength and joy of life. When fully fit people are in their company, they start to put the world, their own problems and most of all, themselves, into perspective. It is an amazing experience to see the world with their eyes and then to be able to look at their happy faces...now I know that I have sailed round the world only for a child’s smile.

Your solitary cruise round the world is slowly coming to an end. Do you have any plans for the future? Will You still be combining sailing with charity, or are You perhaps planning on some extraordinary voyage?

All my plans come from the dreams, and I can’t complain about the lack of those. I would love the cruise that is just coming to an end to be just the beginning of my charity adventure. I have lots of ideas related to it and a few cooperation offers, but the following months will bring the answers. 

Thank you for the interview and for finding time for us in this busy period of preparations to the last leg of your cruise. We encourage everyone to check out Natasza Caban’s website -
www.nataszacaban.com