Ludomir M±czka (1928-2006), also known as Ludek and Ludojad, passed away Jan. 30 in Szczecin. He was a sailor, a wonderful and modest person, an explorer, captain and a friend of travelers.

He was 78 years old. Not so long ago he was still planning another yacht trip around the world. It would only have been his third, but the routes he took were usually very long and winding: he crossed the Atlantic 10 times, the Pacific four and the Indian Ocean three times, for a total of around 170,000 nautical miles. He became famous first of all thanks to his first voyage around the a world-an 11-year cruise on a small yacht called Maria.

The sturdy boat, modeled on Collin Archer's Tahiti ketch yachts and with a displacement of 8.5 tonnes, was only 9.8 meters long with sails of 40 square meters. M±czka sailed round the globe on her from 1973 to 1984. What took him so long? He traveled in stages, he worked, waited for his friends in ports... The return to the Great Barrier Reef from as far away as South Africa, just to please his companions, is part of that epic. No less than five books were written about Ludek and his voyages. He never wrote any books on his own and felt more at home telling stories.

M±czka was born in 1928 in Lviv, a city which had belonged to Poland for centuries. When Lviv and the rest of Poland's eastern territories fell under Soviet domain after World War II, M±czka-like many other Lviv residents-was relocated to Wrocław in western Poland. He first sailed the Oder River, as a university student, in 1949. He studied geography and geology, which became his profession.

He started taking part in offshore cruises in 1953. In 1965-66, he sailed around South Africa on the ¦miały yacht cruise, commanded by Bolesław Kowalski. It was M±czka's first passage through the treacherous Strait of Magellan (the second time was in 2000, on Maria). In 1957, he obtained a master's license for yachts.

During long breaks from the trips, he worked as a scientist as well as a fruit seller, floor-layer, greens keeper, a welder's assistant-taking whatever job he could. Sailing across the oceans, even without amenities and spending a minimum on food is by no means cheap. His hard work as a geographer and geologist (in Mongolia, Zambia and other places) earned him his dear yacht Maria, which he bought in 1972.

Ludomir (a rare, old Polish name which according to the encyclopedia probably denoted "a person esteemed by others" or "one who brings peace to people") M±czka was among the yacht crew members who sailed the North-West Passage from the west to the east. That happened in 1988, the name of the French yacht was Vagabonde II, the captain was Janusz Kurbiel. The expedition begun Nov. 1, 1984, when the yacht departed from Brest heading toward the Panama Canal. Having sailed round Alaska, the crew tried to "break through" that winding passage four times from the west to no avail in the summer seasons of 1985, 1986 and 1987-the yacht had to retreat and was beached for the winter. A part of the crew even returned to civilization (but not M±czka!). Only in 1988 did the pack ice "let go" and the small yacht managed to pass through the Strait of Bellot. In this way, Vagabonde became the first boat in the world to circumnavigate the North Pole heading east. At that stage, the crew only consisted of the captains: Wojciech Jacobson (he led the expedition) and Ludomir M±czka.

Ludek was not a record seeker, he did not struggle to become "Aquaman," one with gills. However, he belonged to the Coast Fraternity and had friends all over the globe. He was a giver and knew how to accept gifts as well... You could always count on him, he never hesitated to put his yacht and life at risk. He learned to parachute, with all the relevant licenses, after he turned 50 and at 70, he learned to read in another language, Portuguese. Asked recently about what he remembered most fondly about his life, he pointed to horseback journeys in Mongolia where he collected data for cartographers. However, apparently both the question and answer were uttered during the consumption of liquids which did not only contain water...

In 1999, M±czka took part in a trip following Magellan's route, prepared by a Czech sailor Rudolf Krautschneider. It was intended as a friendly trip of three yachts, which alongside experienced sailors would involve scientists in various fields. We wrote about the planned trip in The Warsaw Voice (issue no. 35, Aug. 29, 1999). Unfortunately, it never happened as a joint project. Ludek, however, fulfilled his commitments and "carried" the scientists and their equipment while on the Cape Verde Islands.

Participants in the remaining stages of the trip on Maria included biologist Anna Abraszewska-Kowalczyk and captain Maciej Krzeptowski. They collected biological samples, news and took photos. The effects of their work were later shown at exhibitions and Krzeptowski went on to write a book titled Around the World on Maria. 20 Years Later. Sadly, Ludek became very ill on the Pacific and had to evacuate from Auckland, New Zealand, to Canada for treatment (at the end of 2000). A year later, Krzeptowski took Maria on the remaining part of the trip. Under his command, Maria returned to Szczecin in 2003 as the first Polish yacht to have sailed round the world twice. She was greeted in Szczecin by M±czka.
Krzysztof Teisseyre


Captain Krzysztof Baranowski, a famous Polish sailor and explorer, remembers Ludomir Mˇczka:
Ludek M±czka was the first person I met on my journey to sailing. He was preparing a trip up the Oder River, to a winter barge depot called the Baikal. I came to the club (AZS Wrocław) straight from the street and wanted to sail with him-I was only 14 years old. Somehow, his kind refusal did not discourage me. (...) Much later, Ludek examined me in Szczecin as sea yacht captain. Then, our paths crossed again on the ¦miały: we shared the same deck for many months on a cruise around South America.

Ludek was a special person: free from envy, but ambitious as well, free from vanity, but to a certain point he was slovenly, nobody minded him nor did he mind anyone. Everybody liked him for that. He was unpretentious, loyal and honest. He was a sailor whose home was the entire world.