Some things I learnt crossing the Atlantic in a sailing boat (Part 1 of 2)

Ilustration: Carmen Pérez

 

“The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore.” – Vincent Van Gogh

 

In my previous post I mentioned that one of my dreams was to cross the Atlantic in a sailing boat. It was rather a dream than a goal I pursued actively. But two years ago, I finally managed to do it. Here are some insights into what I learned  just before, during and after completing the trip.

To be honest, from time to time I need to go back to those learnings as some of them keep slipping out of my memory. So It is the right moment to have them in writing.

Low expectations, less stress, more happiness

As I said, I never really actively worked to make this dream come true. I lived my life doing what I thought was the best for my family and myself without getting stressed out chasing this dream. It just happened that at some point the penny dropped, and I did it. I wouldn’t have been depressed if I couldn’t make it, but I was beyond myself with happiness when it did come true. Apart from the birth of my two children, this has been one of the greatest moments in my life.

It’s good to remind myself that the journey is more important than the destination, but for a goal-oriented and ambitious guy like me it’s not always easy.

Go for the unknown but prepare yourself as much as possible

Before this trip, I had a couple of experiences sailing, but always as a member of the crew. This time it was going to be completely different, much more challenging. I spent more than six months researching everything that could happen – or go wrong – and how I should get ready to tackle any possible challenges. Having done my homework I felt confident that I could do it even without enough previous experience. It can’t be that difficult if you are with the right people, a good leader and you are willing to deal with whatever task that comes up.

Even knowing that the voyage itself wouldn't be more dangerous than going hiking in the mountains, I got all the necessary insurances to make sure that my family would be covered if something bad happened to me.

A good leader is the key

Not being an expert sailor, it was important for me to find an experienced skipper. As a part of my research, I looked at several ones and I was lucky enough to find Paul Mulder, who had completed one voyage around the globe and four Atlantic crossings. This was going to be the fifth and last one for him. His main concern was to always keep the crew safe, and before setting sail we had some mocks of possible plights and how to react in case they do happen.

He is very strong-charactered and proved to be tough, even ruthless in critical situations, but most of the time he was very kind and with lots of amazing stories to tell about his trips and his job as a film producer.

Unfortunately, I’ve found out that his vessel – Ar Seiz Avel or Seven Winds – is now on sale... (https://www.sailtodiscover.com/).

The first rule for a good team –  Sharing the same goals

Apart from Paul and me, there were three more members of the crew – and  I was the only one without proper sailing experience. The crew was completely mixed in terms of age – between 40 and 76; professions –  an architect, a policeman, a business owner, a film producer, and me; and nationalities – two US Americans, a Netherlander, a Canadian, and a Venezuelan-Spaniard. None of us had ever met before.

Despite all our differences we had one common goal: to get safe to the other side of the pond.

Many people asked how I could get into a small boat with four other strangers and manage to get along with them for 30 days without having known them from before. The truth is that I never thought it was going to be an issue. I knew that all of us had the same goal and all of us knew that there wasn’t any other alternative apart from helping each other and doing our best for the team. It was going to be only us, the vessel and the ocean. There was no other private place on the boat but the toilet, so you’d better enjoy the time and the company, no matter whether you like them or not. Of course, knowing that wasn’t a never-ending project helped to overcome whatever stress you could endure over this crossing.

You are not alone in hard times 

During the second part of the sailing, we had several days – and especially nights – when the waves were hitting us from the side tipping the vessel heavily, moving it at angles of sixty degrees – from -30° to 30°. It got really bad at nights as I could hardly get any sleep. All my muscles in the upper half of my back and neck grew tense to keep my head straight. 

It’s even difficult to say what I didn’t try to keep it straight – tossing and turning,  burying my head in between two pillows, using the lifevest to add stability, but nothing worked.

After three days of that torture I developed a very  bad migraine. As I didn’t want to worry  my mates I tried to keep it to myself  but after five days I couldn’t take any  more, and just exploded breaking into tears.

The team, and especially the captain, helped me to calm down. He massaged my back and managed to relieve the strain. After that day I still had some pain in my upper back and neck, but the migraine was gone. I should have asked for help much sooner than I did! 

Even experts make mistakes 

It doesn’t matter how experienced you are – you still make mistakes. Once we had to shift the sail and Paul – our skipper – let go of the rope holding the pole before time it hitting me straight on my head – just like it usually happens in the movies – fortunately I didn’t fall into the water and the hat I was wearing helped to cushion the blow. But I still had to sit down for several minutes.

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Ok, let’s stop here for now. In the next post I’ll continue talking about other insights and the experiences that for some time made me feel the most fortunate person in the world. Yes, I know it sounds overplayed, but it is true.