Losing sight of shore, a surreal experience!

KIeran is from Australia, he bought his sailing boat Merewether in Croatia in 2017 after saving up for a couple of years with the dream of sailing the world in his mind. He met Isabelle while sailing in Greece. Together they decided to live together aboard their ship Merewether. Being a great team, they took on a new challenge, crossing the Atlantic to reach the Carribean and getting one step closer to Kieran’s homeland. 

When was the first time you crossed an ocean?

The first time we crossed an ocean was in January 2020. Originally I had used the boat to sail around the Med in Europe for the past 2 years of owning her. Meeting Isabelle, it really spurred me on to take on a bigger adventure. Crossing the Atlantic ocean to the Caribbean and being one step closer to Australia (my home) was always an idea in the back of my mind when buying the boat but actually making the decision to enter such a massive body of water and sail so far away from any support or help was a big and very scary undertaking for me.

How did you manage your fear?

 Leaving Portugal and the safety I had gotten used to in the Med really affected me for the first few days of sailing through such a volume of water. It was like I was going into the den of a giant with only my own skill and perseverance to get me through. Isabelle took on the challenge with so much fearlessness and she picked up sailing while sailing out of the Med very quickly and without her I wouldn’t have been able to take on the task .

 My fears were at their greatest during the first week, once I had got used to the winds, waves and weather I slowly gained confidence in the boat, conditions and most of all myself. I hoped my planning and preparation in Portugal to get the boat ready for such a voyage were accurate and I hadn't forgotten anything. 

What’s a night like, when you are in the middle of an ocean?

The first night and every other night during the crossing were not great. With Merewether moving in all directions throughout the journey the waves often left us with sleep from around 2-6 hours a night. If we got 6 hours we would consider ourselves lucky and fresh the next day. One of the biggest problems of the trip happened when some crew we chose to help us sail the whole Atlantic decided to get off in Cape Verde. Often crossing an ocean, crews usually consist of at least 3 people if not 4 or more. 

How did you overcome that challenge?

Isabelle and myself picked up a french couple in The Canary Islands and we were planning to take them the whole way across the Atlantic but they decided In Cape Verde that they would stay in the African Islands for some time. This left us completely alone and without a crew with over 2000 nautical miles to sail. After much talk Isabelle and myself came to the conclusion that we would take on the Atlantic Ocean alone! This meant that the shifts would be 6 hours each through the night a task most sailors would very much dread. Our biggest task was the night shift and trying to get through the long nights with accumulating lack of sleep, tiredness and smell due to not having a shower in weeks. Water consumption was a big consideration, with 500 litres on board we made sure that every drop we used was for essential use only.

How does it feel to lose complete sight of shore?

 Losing sight of shore and focussing on that never really went through my mind. I mainly focused upon the journey ahead and the ground we were covering. It made me excited to see our position move around the earth in a big way every day. 

The first big thing we noticed was that the sun started to get up later and later, changing the clocks on multiple occasions through the journey was such a weird feeling that was surreal like having a little jetlag to get used to every week that went by. Once we had got used to our boat and our current state of crossing an ocean the next thing that we found was boredom. Strange to say but with a boat that is constantly swaying from side to side we very quickly get glued to one particular place both on watch and off. Once this takes place all there is to do is read books, listen to podcasts and watch the ocean beside you. Most boats have some contact with the outside world via satellite or other means, what we found most unique about our journey was the distance from not only the digital online world but the world as a whole. A nuclear bomb could go off, a virus could spread through the world, a family member could die but we would have no knowledge. It was the forced isolation from mankind which we found quite unique in so many ways.

Learn more about Sailing Merewether adventure here.