Tripp Brower and Zach Bjur set sail on a circumnavigation of our planet with a big mission at hand on November 3rd. We sat down with them recently to learn more about them and that mission. We're proud to share their story and proud that two Allegiance flags will join them on their excursion.
They've dubbed their journey and the mission behind it, Apparent Winds. In sailing, apparent wind is different from true wind. True wind is actually how the wind is blowing and apparent wind is how the wind feels when you are in motion. It's how the wind feels to you given your position. It's a fitting name given the goal of their journey. In some ways we all face the same challenges in our lives, but in many ways we all face things very differently. Tripp and Zach have set out to learn about how different cultures of our world are dealing with some very serious environmental issues, climate change and sea level rise, in addition to globalization as a whole. Their goal is first to learn for themselves and second to educate the rest of the world, in hopes of igniting mutually beneficial ideas to help us all combat these serious threats.
They're eager to educate other cultures about America too. Allegiance is proud to play a small role in providing two flags for their sailboat, a 40-foot Hinckley beauty by the name of J. Henry. They’ll proudly fly the US flag and a South Carolina state flag across the world. Tripp and Zach are both modern day patriots whose love for America runs deep. When asked about what America and the American flag mean to them, Tripp said "I really feel strongly about flying the American flag because we are American and a lot of people have negative connotations about us that aren't true, and I'm really excited to be a good representative and show the world that we are good people. I think it's really important not to shy away from that". Zach adds, "We want to present our own idea of what it means to be an American in a global world." They're eager to spread the good word about their home state South Carolina, too. "We’re excited to fly the SC flag as well. A lot of people have misconceptions of what they think South Carolina is and unfortunately, a lot of those are wrong", says Zach.
They'll first head south through the Caribbean, then take the Panama Canal through to the Pacific crossing to French Polynesia. Then New Zealand, Australia, parts of Asia then to Africa. They'll head north from there, finishing the trip through the Mediterranean and then across the Atlantic in time to pull home for Charleston's 350th anniversary as a city. They'll meet cultures of all kinds and their goal is to document and share their stories in hopes of inspiring an environmental awakening and a new breath of modern American values. Zach shared, "I don't want to sit by and keep hearing that the world is changing and is being threatened and not do anything about it."
They both agree this journey is much larger than the two of them setting off on a typical sailing excursion. Their mission of educating others to the different cultural and environmental challenges of the modern world is well on its way. Those other cultures also have some lessons coming their way from these two as well, no matter what they might think of America in this modern day and time, the generalizations currently present are just that, generalizations. At Allegiance we think both sides are in for surprises and lessons that hopefully bring us all a little closer together to create positive change and impact. We're all in different apparent winds from time to time; let's now see what Apparent Winds can do to bring us all together. #showallegiance
Follow along at apparentwinds.com and follow @apparentwinds on Instagram
