Weekly Meeting - Speaker Patrick Howell -The Journey of a Lifetime

The Journey of a Lifetime (Patrick Howell)

Patrick had been an electrical engineer and had sailed a bit as a young man; but he decided to expand his horizons when he retired early and volunteered to crew on a boat sailing around the world!  The yacht was called Incandescent and she was a 44-foot, 13-ton vessel with a fibreglass hull. 

After flying to St Lucia and meeting other members of the crew, they sailed down through the Grenadines towards Colon at the entrance to the Panama Canal.  The journey involved a detour well to the north of Colombian coast to avoid the risk of pirates and to take the opportunity to experience the spectacle of a total eclipse of the sun from far out in the ocean.  This part of the journey was well illustrated with pictures of beautiful islands, beaches and sunsets as well as a photo taken during the eclipse using a flash. 

The transit through the lock gates on the Panama Canal was made a little livelier when the prop-wash from an overenthusiastic super-tanker threatened to bounce their vessel off the walls of the lock.  Fortunately, the width of the canal and strong ropes holding them fast to another yacht prevented the incident from becoming a disaster.  On reaching the west end of the Canal, they victualled the yacht for 2½ months in preparation for the next stage of the journey to Tahiti via the Galapagos and the Marquesas Islands.  Apparently, one of the major priorities was to ensure that no cockroaches got on board with the fresh fruit, so everything had to be dipped in salt water.  The slides showed that the crew certainly bought enough beer and rum to fuel their voyage but they were very careful with alcohol intake since the sea and weather could be unforgiving. 

It took eight days to sail to the Galapagos and the next stage was the 3,500 mile leg to the Marquesas.  The sailing was great although there was the ever-present danger of squalls.   Incandescent lost her spinnaker at one point which resulted in the crossing taking 23 instead of the planned 21 days; all this time out of sight of land.   

The skipper also managed to sustain an electrical burn during the voyage but they were able to get advice from a German doctor via shortwave radio and then rendezvous with another yacht mid-Pacific to scrounge appropriate cream for treatment – in exchange for a bottle of rum!  Fish, unsurprisingly, became a regular part of the diet during the deep ocean phase and they usually caught one every two days.  Towards the end of their trip, they acted as Good Samaritans and towed a single-handed yachtswoman into Tahiti as she had a broken prop-shaft and was having to rely upon sail. 

By the end of the trip, Patrick had travelled 7,500 miles, or a quarter of the way around the world, in 4½ months crossing six time zones; he also lost 1½ stone.  It was clearly the Journey of a Lifetime with spectacular scenery, varying challenges and the opportunity to experience deep ocean sailing.  The talk was enhanced by photos of people, islands and the spectrum of animals encountered (particularly in the Galapagos) during his adventure.  We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and noted that Patrick had clearly not been put off sailing as he has since completed two further long-distance, ocean yacht trips. 

David Bruce