Sitting at anchor on Petronella in Virgin Gorda, in the
BVIs, surrounded by charter boats and people on holiday, it is getting hard to
remember just how it felt to be such a long way from land. January is starting
to feel like a dream so I thought I would put my side of the voyage down before
it faded completely.
Of the four of us I think I enjoyed the passage across the
least. The responsibility of making sure that the crew and the boat are safe
was a huge weight and stayed with me throughout the voyage. It started a long time before we set off, in
Turkey taking the masts down to check them for any defects, having a lot of
work done to upgrade the safety equipment , buying new fire extinguishers, new
preventer lines, new life jackets, the list is endless. But it paid off. We got through the
Mediterranean and to Gibraltar without any problems that John could not fix.
Then the first taste of the Atlantic. A benign motor and sail to Lanzarote with
our lively and fun crew, when the winds blew in our favour and lulled us into
thinking it might not be too much of a problem to keep going.
The Atlantic crossing was a bit different. For a start it
was the first time any of us had done such a long voyage. The thing I found
most difficult was the sheer distance we were away from land. As a skipper the
exit strategy, the closest place to take the boat in case of difficulty, is
always in your planning and mind and when you are 1000 miles from the nearest
land there just is no safe port of shelter. Sure there are boats around but not
many. In 12 days we saw no boat, no plane, no evidence that there was anyone
else out there. I found it best just not to think!
We were so lucky with the choice of crew. Jen and Marcus
were just amazing. They were such fun. They would sit on deck sharing
headphones and having a silent disco together, or whooping over the birds and
sea creatures we saw, or making clever football puns. In the 29 days we were
together no-one ever said a cross word to anyone else. In don’t think anyone
even thought one. I would lie in my bunk listening to the noises of cutlery and
tins being thrown from side to side as the waves crashed around us, and the
howling of the wind in the rigging, thinking I bet it is pretty awful up there
on deck, get up to take over from Jen and say as I came up, everything OK? “Mum it’s just brilliant” she would say and suddenly
life looked so much better. And John, voted the most useful thing on the boat,
was amazing. If it went wrong he just fixed it. The six years of working on our
old boat, putting in new systems and understanding the way things worked, paid
off time after time. He got us here safely.
So what did I do? Sailing tactics, route planning, meal
planning, much cooking, minimal clothes and bedding washing, general
organisation of crew and watches, half the cleaning, producer of prizes for
nearest guesses of total miles done, first view of dolphins etc. I wasn’t
bored! The days went quickly but the time we were out there seemed endless.
Just the four of us in our microcosm, relying on each other and enjoying being
with each other.
And then we arrived in the Caribbean. Amazing how you can just sail across an ocean without
anyone giving you permission or trying to regulate you. That first night we slept so well. Since then, like all our friends, we have been really tired. It’s taken three weeks to get to feel normal again but we have gradually recovered and are now enjoying being on holiday with our younger daughter, Emma. Our thoughts are moving towards spending the hurricane season in Grenada with our friends Jack and Fizzy on Carpe Diem and coming back to the UK to see our family and sleep in a bed for the first time since November last year.
It is not possible to overstate the effects of the comments
on the blog and the help and friendship and support we have received from our
friends out there. Thanks to all of you who sent us messages of support,
laughed with us and commiserated with us when things went pear shaped The
highlight of the day was switching on the SAT phone in the morning for the
texts from Vera and Jack. Each saw something slightly different in the weather
patterns and the knowledge that there was nothing ahead that we couldn’t cope
with was a great comfort. And then the morning email from Russ. Never
predictable, always amusing with a longer overview and a unique way of
describing the weather! Thanks to all three of you. You did a great job guys.
And to our families who texted us with news and greetings. It must have been
hard for them, knowing we were so far away. And finally to our Shore Support
Emma who kept us informed of everything we needed to know, liaised with John’s
parents, sent us daily quiz questions to answer and dealt with the numerous problems
associated with our house tenants leaving without notice. Thanks so much Em.
So that’s it. Journey over. My main sadness is that Dilek is
not here too in her small boat Symina. Thankfully Dilek is OK, back in Turkey
now. We had planned to drink a bottle of rum together. Instead we threw some
into the sea in memory of Symina.
Gill
Skipper S/Y Petronella
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