All men dream, but not equally.
Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity.
But the dreamers of the day are dangerous men,
for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible.
- T.E. Lawrence -
Pertti Duncker 13 January 1941 - 1 December 2009In Memoriam
A man with brutal honesty, unfathomable interest in everything in the world, an unwavering determination to put his own waypoints in life. A man who stood firm and tall infront of his own imperfections, never letting them stop him from living his own values. A man with a heart full of love for the whole planet, from Greenland to Antarctica, for every shore on every ocean.
The honesty, the courage and the determination drove him to reach the maximum in human life: To be able to face death eye to eye and say: "I don't have any regrets and I don't feel that anything was left undone. I'm ready now."
A heart worn on the shoulder, in good and bad. A productive artist. A photographer. A writer and an author. A circumnavigator. A sailor. An adventurer and many other things. But most importantly for me: A great human being and a wonderful friend. I have learned much from you, sailing being the least important. I will miss you every day, until I join you in the more mysterious seas.
Levoton on virta ja vierivä laine,
meri yksin suuri ja meri ihanainen.
Nuku virta helmassa meren.
Tuuli se kulkee ja lentävi lehti.
Onnellinen on se, ken laaksohon ehti.
Nuku lehti helmassa laakson.
Päivä kun nousee, niin sammuvi tähti.
Ei se ijäks sammu, ken elämästä lähti.
Nuku tähti helmassa päivän.
- Eino Leino -
This is my clumsy attempt to translate a Finnish poem to English.
I have used total artistic freedom to maintain my own feeling of the poem,
rather than achieve a literal translation.
The river is restless to the wallowing sea
The ocean alone, with the greatest glee.
Sleep, river in the arms of the ocean.
Blustery wind, a leaf takes a flight
Blessed is the the one reaching the valley's light.
Sleep, leaf in the arms of the valley.
As dawn breaks the night the star cannot stay
But that dimming star is not going away
Sleep, star in the arms of the day.
- Eino Leino -
Mr. Pertti Duncker slipped away quietly and silently after a short battle with a very aggressive cancer. His memory will live, not only through the 300 magazine articles, 6 books and thousands of hours of video recordings of his adventurous life, but also in the hearts of the people that knew him and in the actions of people who were inspired by him.