Read what people are saying about convergence:
Sailing January/February 2018
Register-Pajaronian April 2017
High Country News November 2016
Boat U.S. Magazine October/November 2016
National Women's Sailing Association Newsletter Fall-Winter 2016
Monterey Yacht Club Newsletter February 2016
Wooden Boat February 2016
Practical Sailor - 5 Sailing Book Gift Ideas November 2015
Solar Today Fall 2015
Ocean Champions October 23rd Newseltter
Sailing September 2015 Edition
Latitude 38 January 2015
Latitude 38 April 2015 Edition
48° North April 2015 Edition
SAIL feed April 2015
Cruising World June 2015 Edition
Book reading at Old Capital Books in Monterey, California. Special guest Congressman Sam Farr (center left) with author Sally-Christine Rodgers (center right) photo by Michael Sutton
Listen to Radio interviews with author Sally-christine rodgers
Press release 3/25/15
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONVERGENCE: A VOYAGE THROUGH
FRENCH POLYNESIA
Sally-Christine Rodgers Writes Eloquently About
Life, Sailing, Family and Protecting Our Oceans
SAN FRANCISCO (March 25, 2015)All of us have dreams; places we’d like to go, adventures we’d like to take, plans we’d like to make reality. Sally-Christine Rodgers, whose childhood was filled with her father’s tales of South Sea islands, dreamed of sailing with her husband and son to the South Pacific. And she did. In her new book, Convergence: A Voyage through French Polynesia, Sally-Christine Rodgers tells an eloquent tale detailing her family’s adventurous journey from Santa Cruz, California across the Pacific Ocean and through French Polynesia. It is at times harrowing, often heart-warming, and in the end an engaging tale about a woman determined to follow her dream.
Sally-Christine, her husband Randy Repass and longtime friends Jim Foley, a legendary pioneer of the short surfboard, and his wife Dr. Linda Moore along with their children boarded the custom designed 65’ Convergence and headed out to sea. They sailed thousands of blue water miles with twin four-year-olds and a nine-year-old aboard.
It is a beautifully written story that allows readers to experience life under sail, native culture, and the introspection that comes from being at sea. Sally-Christine’s poetic vignettes draw the reader into each scene, and her prose is complemented by hundreds of color photographs that lend an intimacy to the places they visited and the things they saw. “I want the reader to come along with us as part of the crew,” she explains, “I want them to see the things we saw, smell the scents of paradise and revel in the wonders we encountered.”
A convergence of factors led to them making this voyage. First, their dedication and hard work had given them enough money to build the boat they wanted. Sally-Christine’s father passed away, which made the pull to visit his beloved South Pacific more urgent. Their son was severely dyslexic making schoolwork difficult. They felt it would be better to immerse him in the world rather than having him struggle to read about it. Finally, she had her own health scare.
“So many of us yearn for adventure, but few make the leap. I had always wanted to visit the South Pacific with my father, who regaled in telling stories to us about his travels there in the 1930’s, but now it was too late,” she sighed. “Somehow we were always too busy with work, not financially stable or just not quite ready to go. I came to realize life is short. It was time. I needed to step out of my comfort zone, get onboard, and go sailing.”
Convergence: A Voyage through French Polynesia is a very special book. While full of harrowing tales, it ends happily. It has huge crossover appeal resonating with sailors, adventure travelers, women, families, and those concerned about the environment.
Boaters will revel in the detailed chapter on the Tom Wylie designed Convergence, a 65 foot cat-ketch with wishbone rigs on unstayed carbon fiber masts capable of unnerving speeds of 12 to 22 knots. Convergence sailed 3,000 nautical miles to French Polynesia in just 15 days. There are detailed photos of various unique aspects of the boat along with an equipment review of what worked and didn’t work while underway.
Both Sally Christine and Randy grew up sailing. Randy is the founder of West Marine, which he started in his garage in 1968 and grew into the world’s largest boating equipment and water life outfitter. Sally-Christine’s career was also in the marine industry, starting the only female owned manufacturer’s representative firm in the United States, and later launching the International Division of Port Supply. They pride themselves in the fact that they are hands-on, active boaters who don’t just sell boating equipment— they use it. They learn first-hand what works and what doesn’t, and share that information with their customers.
Finally, although Sally-Christine’s book is an ode to adventure and family, the narrative recognizes the critical issues facing the oceans. She writes passionately about preserving and protecting marine ecosystems, discussing her first-hand experience of the pollution and over fishing thousands of miles from shore and offers suggestions for what individuals can do to improve the situation. She founded the Grants and Sponsorship Department of West Marine forging partnerships with non-profits in recreational fishing and marine conservation projects. Putting her money where her mouth is, the proceeds from Convergence: A Voyage through French Polynesia go to benefit Marine Conservation.
The book is available exclusively through West Marine. Cost is $24.95 per copy. http://www.westmarine.com/buy/paradise-cay--convergence-a-voyage-through-french-polynesia--16525172
Chartwell Newsletter – Spring/Summer 2015
Adventures of Repass-Rodgers Family (‘09) Recounted in New Memoir
To Be in the World
Alumnus Kent-Harris Repass (’09) first came to Chartwell in 2003, and since that time he has endeavored to learn about the world by seeing and experiencing it firsthand through adventures that have taken him far and wide. Since the age of nine, he has spent every summer sailing around the world with his parents on their family boat, Convergence. Kent-Harris’s mother, Sally-Christine Rodgers, is a life-long seafarer whose work and passion revolves around the ocean. Kent-Harris’s father, Randy Repass, is the chairman and founder of West Marine. Together, this family has modeled a commitment to lifelong learning through their exciting adventures at sea.
Sally-Christine recently published a travel memoir, Convergence: A Voyage Through French Polynesia, which recounts their family’s journey across the South Pacific on their 65’ cat-ketch sailboat, which she and Randy helped to design. They set sail in summer 2004, after Kent-Harris’s first year at Chartwell. “Knowing he would struggle to read about the world,” writes Sally-Christine, “we decided he needed to be in the world to fully gain an education.”
With this idea in mind, Kent-Harris and his parents set out from Santa Cruz and sailed to French Polynesia, where they explored the history, culture, flora, and fauna of the Marquesas, Tuamotos, and Society Islands. Sally-Christine’s book recounts these explorations in detail, offering insight and reflection on the region and its culture, as well as the many challenges and joys of living and learning at sea. She describes the demanding but deeply rewarding and transformative experience of long-distance sailing as one in which “reality is sharpened every moment,” bringing “new perspectives, deeper self-awareness, and the inherent respect that comes from giving oneself over completely to nature.”
Kent-Harris recalls the trip as one where he learned that would-be obstacles – like language barriers – need not prevent him from making meaningful connections: “I have countless memories...I met many different kinds of people on these travels. Some were cruisers like us, some were local islanders, and some were expats...I still find it remarkable how many friends I made – kids and adults, alike – even though we did not share a common language...Somehow, we were able to connect, interact, and enjoy each other’s company with little more than a ‘Ia orana’ or ‘bonjour’ (‘hello’).”
Subsequent trips have taken the Repass-Rodgers family to other regions of the South Pacific, into Southeast Asia, and throughout Mediterranean Europe. “Sailing as a family has been a gift,” says Sally-Christine, “a great way to see the world, to learn about other cultures, and to meet wonderful people from all walks of life.” Committed to preserving the ocean for generations to come, Sally-Christine is donating proceeds from the sale of her memoir to marine conservation.
Today, Kent-Harris remains an avid sailor while pursuing his passion for theatre at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. Like his sailing adventures, his path to Cornish led him to other exciting experiences and locales around the globe. For high school, he attended Idyllwild Arts Academy, a professional arts boarding school near Palm Springs, where he engaged in intensive studies in theatre, including acting and directing. He also spent a year at Gordonstoun School in Northern Scotland, which is one of two schools that served as inspiration for the fictional school of “Witchcraft and Wizardry” in the Harry Potter series. While at Gordonstoun, Kent-Harris participated in debate competitions, played rugby, was a member of the Marine Training and Rescue Service and First Aid Service, and served as Chapel Warden and Drama Captain.
After finishing his first year at Cornish this spring, Kent-Harris plans to cruise the Ionian Islands of Greece this summer. “Traveling from such a young age has given me a profoundly different view of the world, and an appreciation for different cultures, religions, philosophies, food, and traditions,” says Kent-Harris. “It has been a rich and rewarding experience.”