Crew


Crew of Rongevaer, preparing to leave Bayfield (L to R): Arnie Bottem, Don McGrath, Larry Carpenter, Skipper Dean Rau, Paul Hesse.  (Not pictured: Cristobal Carman).

 The Rongevaer had several different crews over the course of her entire voyage.  Skipper Dean Rau and Larry Carpenter stayed with Rongevaer for the entire trip, from Bayfield to Norway.  Paul Hesse traveled with Rongevaer from Bayfield to Sault Ste. Marie.  Don McGrath left Rongevaer in Clyde, New York, while Rongevaer waited for the next locks to open.  Cristobal Carman joined Dean, Larry and Arnie in New York for the crossing to Norway and Arnie Bottem traveled with Rongevaer from Bayfield to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

 

Together, the members of the Rongevaer crew have amassed a considerable amount of sailing experience and have logged many hours of sailing throughout the United States and Europe.
Crew of the Rongevaer
Skipper Dean Rau has been preparing for the voyage to Norway for several years.  He has been sailing in the Apostle Islands, out of Port Superior, which is where he met Larry and several of the other members of the crew.  Dean stayed with Rongevaer for the entire voyage, from Bayfield to Norway.
Larry Carpenter has been sailing on Lake Superior with partner Judy Taylor for over 10 years.  They have done a number of crossings, from Bayfield to Grand Marais and Thunder Bay, Canada.  Larry has also participated in the Trans-Superior race.  Larry and Judy previously owned and sailed Kiwa, a C&C 30.  More recently, they purchased and began sailing Allegro, a Mason 33.  Larry was a part of the entire Rongevaer voyage, from Bayfield to Norway.

 

Article about Larry in Innerloop, published by MTS Systems Corporation.
Arnie Bottem, another veteran sailor, has been sailing since 1981.  He sails an Aquarius 23 and has made several longer voyages, including a trip from Hastings, Minnesota to Florida and up the Atlantic Coast and into the Erie Canal.  Arnie traveled with Rongevaer from Bayfield to Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Cristobal Carman joined the Rongevaer crew in New York for the crossing to Ireland and stayed with the boat as far as Inverness, Scotland, where he left due to a prior commitment.  Cris is 24 years old and graduated in 1997 from Harvard with a degree in Geology. He was born in Panama and grew up on a coffee farm in Costa Rica. He was a teaching fellow in the Geology and Astronomy departments at Harvard for a year and then worked as a field assistant doing mapping and sampling in Namibia.  He made the crossing with Dean and Larry, leaving Rongevaer in Inverness, Scotland.
Don McGrath has been sailing for many years and some of his voyages and destinations have included: the Isle of Wight, along the southern coast of England, Spain, and sailing in canals throughout France.  He was a member of the Rongevaer crew from Bayfield to Clyde, New York where he disembarked.
Paul Hesse has been sailing in the Apostle Islands since 1984 and is a sailing instructor for Sailboats, Inc. and an expert navigator.  He sailed with Rongevaer from Bayfield to Sault Ste Marie.
Are you friend or family to any of the Rongevaer crew?  If you have any further information about any of the crew members or photos that you'd like to add to this page, please send information to Sean at sean@seans.com and I'll add the information to this page.