County Derry boat club members sail across Atlantic for cancer charity

Members of a County Derry boat club met challenges, triumphs and even a slap in the face as they sailed across the Atlantic and raised money for charity.

Emily Agnew, Michael Browne and Elwyn Agnew (skipper) of the Ballyronan Boat Club were the County Derry representatives on the trip. They were joined by Matt Ruiz from London and Anna Richmond from Vancouver.

They sailed as part of the ARC+ sailing rally, a two legged journey to the Caribbean via the Cape Verde archipelago.

Beginning on November 6 they set off from Gran Canaria on a boat named Optimistic and sailed to Cape Verde for the first leg. After a quick stop they began a two week journey to Grenada.

It was a first for everyone on the crew according to Michael who hails from Magherafelt. He said they were delighted with the time they completed the journey in.

“Thankfully, we didn't start the motor at all – on both legs,” he said. “The first leg was the Gran Canaria down to Cape Verde. That took six days and 15 hours.”

“The second leg was from Cape Verde over to Grenada. We were at sea for two weeks once we left. We didn't see land and we hardly saw any boats for two weeks. So we were just out in the mid-Atlantic making our way to the Caribbean – sailing into the sunset every day.”

“We were blessed that the weather was never that bad. We didn't really hit heavy weather and it was always on our tail which was very favourable for sailing.

Before the event the boat had to be sailed down to the starting point in Gran Canaria. The Skipper, Elwyn, was the only crew member who made that journey. Other members of Ballyronan Boat Club helped him move it.

The boat was then inspected by the organisers and the crew flew in to start the race.

A shift system was in operation throughout so they always had the wheel manned as they sailed 24 hours a day for the three weeks.

Sleeping, eating, sailing all happened in rotation meaning they could be sleeping up to four times a day.

Despite the irregular sleeping patterns and tight living quarters the crewmembers never got on each other's nerves.

“We all said to each other before we left if anybody was winding anybody else up that we would let them know and you just face up to it rather than having tensions on the boat.

“At no stage did anybody fall out which was great because that does seem to happen. It's a 45ft boat – that's very small after a couple of days – particularly if there are five people on it walking over the top of each other.”

Michael took a laptop full of films and videos but the laptop remained shut the entire time.

“What I found – which surprised me – was I wasn't bored and plus it was between 25 and 30 degrees every day so you can work up a tan.

“We had an ongoing chess tournament. It was a great way to occupy us and you always knew who you had to play tomorrow. We all played each other. We did two rounds of it.”

“We unfortunately didn't finish the whole thing – there were two or three matches to be played – what we did play, Matt won the tournament on points.

Welcomed by sea life 

Michael said the trip felt lonely at times as the crew had no communication with the outside world. However they did make a few unexpected friends along the way.

“The night before we got into Grenada – we were just coming in – it was early evening and about 30 dolphins gathered around the boat and just joined us for about 15 to 20 minutes.

“They swam alongside the boat, under the boat and around the boat.

“The fact that it was the day before we were getting in and everybody was just looking forward to getting there it lifted everybody's spirits,” he said.

Two Orca's also swam alongside the boat for a while on the first leg of the trip.

Not every experience with sea life was so wholesome however.

“In the middle of the night one night I got hit in the side of the face by a flying fish which scared the absolute life out of me at three o'clock in the morning,” Michael said.

“We saw flying fish nearly every day,” he added.

Another night presented the crew with a more serious fright when the boat's spinnaker pole snapped in the middle of the night.

The spinnaker pole holds out one of the sails so it can catch wind. It is used primarily for downwind sailing.

“It snapped on us one night in the middle of the night and you think 'oh God what are you going to do'.”

“But the owner of the boat is an engineer so the next day there were all sorts of tools out for the repair.”

Other than that it was smooth sailing pretty much the whole way for the Optimistic.

“The thing I didn't anticipate and I've been sailing all my life was that the entire three weeks you never stop moving. When you're in bed, going to the toilet, when you're cooking you never stop moving. You can imagine if you're going to bed at night and the bed's rocking on you.”

Arriving in Grenada

The Optimistic crew got to relax for a few days in Grenada when they got across. The ARC+ organisers had a few days of events planned for those who made it the whole way to enjoy.

After their long sea voyage it took a while to readjust to the land. Michael said getting his 'land legs' back took three days.

“What happened a couple of times – standing in the shower with the water beating off your head can disorient you. You can slip and fall. It took about three days for that to come good again.”

Michael took on this challenge to fundraise for the Laurel House Chemotherapy Unit in Antrim. His GoFundMe campaign has raised over £2,100 so far.

The fundraiser is still open and can be found here: https://gofund.me/866fde18 

Ballyronan Boat Club is an RYA training centre and provides powerboat, sailing and windsurfing lessons from beginner to advanced. You can find more information at http://www.ballyronanboatclub.co.uk