Kenneth, from the Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean
The SAILCARGO INC. team would not be the same without the Costa Rican personalities that make it so unique. To begin this series of interviews, we are going to meet Kenneth Guzman (29), who turned a high school, part-time hobby into a career on ships and the sea.
A native of Monteverde, Costa Rica, Kenneth found his love for working at heights where, between classes and on weekends, he would help take tours with a company called, Monteverde Extremo Park. With Monteverde being a world renowned eco-tourist location, many opportunities opened for Kenneth to turn this interest into an established profession. In 2010, he successfully did just that and formally joined Extremo Park team of "riggers" working with pulleys, ropes, vertical rescues and descents.
Kenneth Guzman Rodriguez
Kenneth has now been part of the SAILCARGO INC. team for two years, during which he undertook a 2 month internship aboard the sailing ship TRES HOMBRES to transport cargo across the Atlantic. He explains that this opportunity took him by surprise and that the possibility of being on a boat had never crossed his mind. He goes on to say that, at first, he even thought it was a dream and that the nerves kept him awake at night because he had never left his country.
On February 14th 2019, Kenneth left Costa Rica for the Dominican Republic to meet the TRES HOMBRES crew and learn some of the tasks he needed to know before setting sail. He says that it took him the first two days to get used to the feeling of being on the high seas. After which, he describes the sailing methods used onboard as quite traditional, a factor he found beneficial because he was able to mix his experience of safety at heights with maritime rigging.
En route from the Dominican Republic to Amsterdam, Kenneth learned to climb masts whilst taking advantage of wind currents, rig pulleys, raising and lowering sails. These tasks sometimes needed to be done during night shifts, something that requires a heightened level of attention and responsibility.
His favourite experience was the adrenaline rush he felt when steering the ship, especially during difficult weather conditions. It was because of this he received the nickname "The Automatic", sometimes he would last up to three hours steering whilst his companions competed for the next shift.
SAILCARGO INC. is currently giving Kenneth a scholarship to train as a First Mate or Commercial Boat Captain at the Enkhuizer Nautical School in the Netherlands.
He hopes that this will not be the last time he sails aboard a sailboat and assures that, even though it took him some time to adapt onboard TRES HOMBRES, this second time will be easier and he cannot wait to embrace those crazy dreams that come with the waves of the sea.
