This was originally published on my old blog BackpackBook (Livro de Mochila), a project that blended literature and travel, sometimes just traveling in my lucid dreams. It ran as âMuito mais que cem dias entre o cĂ©u e marâ on June 29, 2007.
I came to Amyr Klink through our collaborator on all subjects, the mysterious Mandrake, who lent me the extremely rich Cem Dias Entre CĂ©u e Mar. I believe it’s a 1989 edition, since the first pages went traveling on their own and were never seen again.
Amyr designed a small rowing boat, built to survive a hard voyage, to leave from LĂŒderitz in Namibia, in the south of Africa, cut the Atlantic in half and arrive at Praia da Espera in the northeast of Brazil. Around 7,000 km alone and without stopping, guided by the stars, by dreams and by missing home.
That wasn’t his first adventure. By then he had already made plenty of unusual trips, by motorcycle, by car, by boat and even on foot, almost always alone, accompanied only by the passion for reaching the destination, or for getting back home.
(Parentheses)
Have I mentioned that the best thing about a trip is coming back? Including inside a parenthesis exactly like this one? Amyr must think so too.
Without taking anything away from his more recent voyages and books, this one in particular is among Amyr Klink’s best. Unfortunately I only worked that out after seeing the boat from this adventure, which is at the Museu do Mar in SĂŁo Francisco do Sul. When Mandrake saw it his eyes lit up, and I, in my temporary ignorance on the subject, could not have cared less. Patience. I’ll be obliged to visit that beautiful town again to dissect an object that broke a lot of barriers and gives strength to great dreams.
The post also carried a short biography. Klink is known as one of the great adventurers and sailors in the world, from his first solo canoe crossing in 1978, from Santos to Paraty, through to circling the Antarctic continent, with a shelf of books to match the voyages.
Traveling with the book in your backpack
Amyr Klink would like to travel with you and Cem Dias Entre CĂ©u e Mar through:
- Paraty and its hidden beaches, showing you the immensity of the Atlantic while you lie by the water imagining what it would be like out there alone.
- Ilha de SĂŁo Francisco, in Santa Catarina, visiting the sea museum or sitting in the historic center.
- Somewhere quiet and isolated, inside a tent, by the light of a lantern.
The stories of James Cook and Marco Polo encouraged Klink and went with him on his carefully planned adventures. Amyr Klink’s stories inspire and motivate the small adventures of my life, and they’ll always be in my backpack.
---- Update ---
I talked to some people from Paraty months later, and some were somewhat upset with Amyr Klink. It seems he is not an easy person to work with. There are other issues you might want to look up yourself…