Reflections on my trans-Atlantic crossing
Andrew Hunt February 20th, 2008
It’s now nearly two months since we arrived into St Lucia, brackish and battered after sailing across the Atlantic. It has to be said that it’s only been in the last fortnight or so that I’ve begun to think of the trip with a degree of fondness and pride. In the immediate aftermath of our arrival I just felt tired and wanted to get home to unwind in my own house. Once back in the UK, I didn’t really speak about the crossing that much, only to let people know how hard I’d found it. But now I feel different: I’m really pleased I did it, and as I’ve mentioned, proud. Chatting to a mate of mine he asked me if I’d rather have had the weather we did, or had a typical “milk-run” crossing, and I realised that actually I’m glad we had the big winds and the rain. It makes for a better story and it also makes it feel like more of an achievement!
I’ve now got a bank of pretty good memories from the trip. The first night really stands out – sitting in full waterproofs, in the strongest wind I had yet sailed in, watching the boat making really good speed and shrugging off the waves that sluiced beneath us, all under a bright moon and clear sky – pretty special. Losing the parasailor and broaching, whilst not much fun at the time, really helped increase my confidence. And landing, gutting and filleting that dorado made me feel like a real hunter-gatherer. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that feeling of complete isolation and vulnerability I had for a couple of days in the bad weather – knowing that there was nothing we could do except keep plugging on through it, with no land for about another 1000 miles. But I guess that’s what big ocean passages are about!
I’ve just received a round-robin email from my uncle bringing everyone up-to-speed with their plans, and his summary is a very close reflection of mine: “All in all, a memorable experience that I would happily repeat but probably won’t”. Which is a shame, but a big undertaking like that asks a lot of the patience of your work colleagues and loved ones, and I’m not sure I can make that demand again. At least, not for a couple of years……
- General , Sail Race ARC , Staff Travels
- Comments(0)