Rodinger Gangerl Clemens survived pirate attacks and storms of the Century. Meanwhile, the duration of the sailors looks back on almost 30 years of adventures.
Munich – no, I do not like him at all. For weeks, the turtles are pests, and preserve their eggs, only to be then stolen by local fishermen in Malaysia? “Then I’ll stop in to the turtle guards,” says “Gangerl” on the phone. He just sits on a beach on the island of Pulau Kapas.
Gangerl is his real name, Wolfgang Clemens. the professional? Adventurers and extreme sports enthusiasts. Currently, the 78-Year-old is stuck in the Malaysian state of Terengganu. The Corona-crisis has also surprised him. To the further sailing is not at the moment at all. So he spends the day with Work on his Yacht and sports on the uncrowded beaches. And to protect the turtles. Gangerl know how it is when you labor for weeks. He also knows how it feels when everything is taken away.
Clemens has always been a man of extremes, a adrenaline junkie he says. Car racing, martial arts or parachute were to jump early to his Hobbies. The key experience, however, was a trip with his family to a small lake in the Bavarian forest. While Gangerl with his wife and children drove comfortably in a rubber boat on the water, sped a sailor passed them.
The learned blacksmith felt that he would like to also experience this freedom. In 1975, he started building his own Yacht. During the day he worked as an art blacksmith in the Bavarian town of Roding, and also a tavern with a Hotel, and at night he toiled on the boat for his dream. “The biggest Problem for people who want to let go of? The woman!“says Clemens.
After seven years of marriage, the Rodinger separated from his wife. The “Problem” was solved before. 1988 Gangerl put everything on a card. He sold his company and all his possessions. From Regensburg he started with his 15-metre Yacht – the him 180 000 D-Mark cost – the adventure of sailing around the world.
down the Danube, he sailed first over the countries of the Balkans and the Black sea into the Mediterranean sea. Over the Atlantic ocean and the Caribbean Gangerl reached Panama. He then explored beautiful Islands in the overseas territory of French Polynesia. But the passionate adventurer had to feel his own body, how fast it is at the mercy of the force of the ocean.
in 1993, Clemens broke in with a single-handed sailor from Eden, Australia to a cruise. The goal should be to Auckland Island, and the native yellow-eyed penguins. However, six days after the departure from Australia, the weather Fax reported on Board a massive storm. The the storm of the Century cyclone Polly flying in hurricane strength on the Bavarian drop-outs to. Flash of lightning shot from the sky. The masses of water rolled over the Yacht: “I was huddled on the floor, had broken my Ribs. Around the end of the world. I have been waiting for me to die.“
for Days the storm raged. The lone sailor threw up countless times, got chills, and ate only the stomach and pain pills. The only thing that tasted Gangerl was the blood that stuck to the dry lips. On the Yacht, he had no control, his “Bavaria” was exposed to the vagaries of nature. Only after five days the storm let up. Gangerl radioed Radio Kiri Kiri in new Zealand: “could not believe it, I was the only sailor that was during the hurricane on the high seas.”
During his travels, Clemens is always in search of the Unknown. He visited the tribes of Kombai and Korowai in West Papua, the eat even human flesh, and went with the indigenous people in Wamena on pig hunting. On the Sepik river he was fired upon by Natives with arrows, and there they mourned with him for a warlock.
Gangerl was during his expeditions, often in danger of their lives. In 1996, he sailed in the Sulu sea off the island of Cagayan in the Philippines. Two pirates boarded the boat and threatened him with weapons. The German sailors, even with a shotgun and a Revolver equipped, did not hesitate long, and shot the attacker. The first fell into the water, the other one lay wounded in front of him: “As I approached him, he slashed my forearm. I hit him with a piece of wood on the head and thrown into the water.“
Clemens needs the danger, and the Wilderness. In Germany, he is only rare. The first ten years after the Start of his adventure, he has not visited his home, and the family even.
in 2002, he traveled through Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet, climbed several six thousands of. “In Germany I think it is never long, I’m looking for Places that are still dirty from civilization.”
today, with 78 years, pushing the adventurer even sports every day. On the island of Pulau Kapas, he goes snorkeling, and power Workouts on the beach. Pushups, pull-UPS or a small round walk on the beach. If the knee holds out.
in 1993, the “sea wolf” started his project circumnavigation of the World. The project has long since become the everyday. Gangerl looks back on three decades of extreme sports and dangerous expeditions. Over 100 000 nautical miles, he has traveled about 180 000 kilometers on the land.
as soon As it is possible, he wants to sail to Indonesia. Fear of the Corona-crisis, he has not, in spite of his old age: “I have stared death to the face, I’m afraid.”
Nico-Marius Schmitz
lecture in Munich: miles Over 100 000, 180 000 kilometers of land, almost 30 years of adventure: Clemens has a lot to tell. 10. October Gangerl the lecture “Wild South Pacific” in the Wirtshaus zum Isartal in Munich (Brudermühlstraße 2). The inlet begins
at 18:30, the lecture starts at 19:30. The cost for a Ticket is a regular at 13,50 Euro (children up to 13 years, five euros/ students 10 euros). The Bavarian globe-Trotter will tell the adventures of his numerous Sailing, which he documented in his book, “The Paradise of hunters.” Who would like to pursue Gangerl, during the quarantine in Malaysia, you can subscribe to the YouTube channel “Gangerl”. There, the 78 reported-Year-old on a regular basis in the Form of a virtual diary.
