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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 20, 2015)
10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2015 Sailor: ‘I’ve been wanting to do this since I was a little boy’ Continued from Page 1A Mooring Basin were Skip Masters and Da- vid Rankin, two previous owners of the boat. Rankin, who exchanged a duplex for the Ingrid in 1984, had already sailed the boat around the world with his wife, Diane, by the time they sold it to Masters, who had owned the vessel eight years and sailed it between Oregon and Alaska. Masters ran into Hollister at a hops fest in Hood River in 2008. The owners all lauded the Ingrid 38 model, which was built by Blue Water Boats in Seattle in the 1970s and based on a Norwegian lifeboat. The boat is designed to ride well on the ocean, they said, while its steering system allows a sin- gle person to control the vessel over long distanc- es. Hollister said his trip was 1 percent steering, 99 percent monitoring. Keeping busy While experiencing no major epiphanies or breakthroughs in the extreme isolation, Hollis- ter said he kept himself motivated by constant- ly working on his boat, writing in his diary and even playing the smartphone game Candy Crush. “I read a lot of really good books. I read about 15 really good books.” His lifeline for communication and weather reports on the ocean was his single-sideband radio, through which he could scramble radio waves into text known by sailors as SailMail, a radio form of email. “That was my emotional link,” he said. “That makes long-distance ocean sailing fun.” But by the international date line, he said, his ability to send emails went down, as did his elec- tronic chart plotter. Hollister was left relaying his messages through passing ships, often having to translate to non-English-speaking crews. With a single point plotted on a backup G3S unit, he re- sorted to dead-reckoning his position, using the previous G3S point, his estimated speed and a paper chart to know where he was going. “I have celestial gear on board but … I never saw the sun, basically, crossing the 3aci¿c,” he said. Hollister said he eventually found the radio frequencies of the U.S. Coast Guard, through which he relayed messages from a station in Ko- diak, Alaska, and received Honolulu weather re- ports for the last three weeks of the journey. Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Brian Thom, left, hides behind a wall at the West End Mooring Basin to surprise Tracy Hollister. Hollister said Thom’s surprise was the first face-to-face interaction he’s had with another human since he departed from Japan. A boy’s dream “I’ve been wanting to do it since I was a little boy,” Hollister said of his trip around the 3aci¿c Rim. He described his experience sailing as begin- ning in the womb, where he rode along with his parents on the Fern Ridge Reservoir near Eu- gene. Hollister said he learned to sail from his father, ¿rst crossing the Columbia River Bar up- river at age 14. He and Michelle waited to take their journey after their daughter left for college. The journey started Oct. 8, 2013, when the couple left the Columbia River to head south to California. In April 2014, Hollister departed 3uerto 9allarta, Mexico, with friend Thom for the nearly 3,000-mile trip to French 3olynesia. Then Hollister started what’s known as the Co- conut Milk Run from the Marquesas Islands, through several nations in the Oceania region and on to New Zealand, his halfway point. In March, he departed for Fiji, then 9anuatu, then the Solomon Islands, Micronesia and Guam. By the time he reached Chichijima to resupply, Hollister said, he had been sailing 4,000 miles solo. The Hollisters are taking the week to return Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Flags representing the countries Tracy Hollister has visited hang on the Ingrid Princess. Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian Tracy Hollister drew a star for every day he sailed alone through the South Pacific and across the ocean from Japan back to the U.S. their boat to Hood River. After his endeavor, Hollister said, he’s patient enough to enjoy the simple things in life, from sleeping on a real bed, walking in the woods with his dogs, to once again tasting his wife’s cooking. “After getting through the hardship, the simple things are just so enjoyable,” he said. Previous Ingrid Princess owners Skip Masters, right, and David Rankin, center, gathered Friday to greet Tracy Hollister, the current owner, after his solo sail across the Pacific Ocean from Japan. Photo courtesy of Skip Masters FERC: Commission believes the comment period was more than fair Continued from Page 1A “A project of this magni- tude warrants a robust pub- lic process and thorough consideration of community concerns,” she continued. “A 60-day window is simply not enough time.” Last month, Bonamici and U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley asked the commission to push back the Oct. 6 comment sub- mittal deadline to early De- cember to give constituents more time to read the nearly 1,000-page document, is- sued in August. However, the commission believes the now-expired comment period was more than fair. The commission provided 60 days for public comment, Norman C. Bay, the commission’s chairman, HOW TO COMMENT Comments can submitted electronically at www.ferc.gov or mailed (with the docket number on the letter) to: FERC Washington, D.C., 20426 ATTN: Secretary Kimberly Bose Or to: 888 First St. N.E. Washington, D.C. 20426 wrote in a letter to Bonamici, which is more than the stan- dard 45-day period. “Because we already pro- vided a longer than standard comment period, we are not further extending the com- ment period for the draft EIS,” Bay wrote. “Howev- er, please be assured that we will give consideration to all comments received within a time frame that allows for their review before the com- mission acts.” Shoes waiting to drop The draft environmental impact statement concluded that the controversial $6 billion liTue¿ed natural gas project would cause adverse impacts to the natural environment, but that Oregon LNG could mini- mize the impacts through mit- igation measures proposed by the company and the commis- sion’s environmental staff. “We encourage interested persons to make every effort to provide comments as soon as possible, and our staff will attempt to address any late comments received in the ¿- nal EIS,” the commission’s letter stated. “We believe that the combination of our pro- cedures for receiving written comments, together with the eight public comment meetings recently held in the project area, provide ample opportunity for the public to be involved in this proceeding.” The commission’s environ- mental staff conducted a two- part public meeting in Astoria in late September, where more than 0 people testi¿ed against the LNG project and three spoke in favor. The three Democratic law- makers sent another letter to FERC pointing out that Oregon LNG hopes to build the proj- ect on land at the center of an ongoing dispute between the DISCOVER RIVER CRUISING WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21 ST 6:00 PM AAA Travel 135 S. Hwy 101, Warrenton, OR RSVP: 503.861.3118 Join AAA Travel agent Debbie Schindler and Michael Weldon of Viking River Cruises and discover grand cities and quaint villages along Europe’s legendary rivers aboard Viking River Cruises. All events are open to the public and free to attend, but space is limited. Please RSVP. energy company and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which has an easement on part of the property. Bonamici’s of- ¿ce said it is still expecting a response from the commission about the easement issue. “The commission will con- sider the ¿ndings of the ¿nal EIS before making its decision on whether to grant an authori- zation and Certi¿cate of 3ublic Convenience and Necessity,” Bay wrote. “I can assure you that the Commission’s deci- sion on whether to authorize the projects (Oregon LNG’s and the Washington Expan- sion 3roject will be based on a careful review of the issues and will be rooted in law, facts and science.” The ¿nal environmental im- pact statement is scheduled for release in February. Meanwhile, locals are waiting to see whether Daniel .earns, a 3ortland land use attorney, will approve Oregon LNG’s permit applications to construct and operate the proj- ect on Warrenton’s Skipanon 3eninsula, as city planning staff recommended in September. 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