Chapter 1

In many ways Rolf was correct in thinking an escape from people was what was needed; in another his thinking was incorrect, much so. After a bitter, divorce and a much contested dissolution of his company he had had enough. is aim was to live his own life, only for himself now and only accountable to his own judgment, not anyone else’s. A very fine outlook for one in his state of mind, but not a very realistic one. It may have been the same drive early Vikings had to discover North America centuries before Columbus; a charge into the unknown.

Rolf’s escape from reality took two forms, one, he bought a boat, nay, a ship really, the old Phocea(French 1976 launch), a 75 m(275 ft custom solo ocean or ‘blue water’ yacht). Second to prove to himself that his life still had some value at 28, he would sail thru ‘Drake’s Passage’, the straights between South America and Antarctica. The Drake Passage is the body of water between South America’s Cape Horn, Chile and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica.

I took possession of my new home at sea at San Juan. Although old by many standards, she was a beauty, to me at least. Granted, the yacht ‘Athena’(90 M near 300 ft) was more modern(2004) but relied on her motors more than sail to have greater speed. It was a bit more difficult than I thought to sail her. There was enough luxury for a dozen people or more if they were couples(12 Staterooms) but unfortunately, I was alone. In looking back, I think that was one thing that gave me real fear. Where I was headed, the other.

My plan was to rest and re-stock in Argentina or Uruguay to allow reaching Easter Island by late November or early December; depending on the weather. For some reason, I had not, nor could I fathom what I would do after that. Learning to sail her was much more difficult in real life, it took longer also than what the books and classes taught me. I had estimated about 2 weeks; but was lucky to become proficient in 2 months. The waters were fairly calm to start. The farther my trip went South, waves, wind and the vastness of the ocean increased.

Would you believe that getting into and out of a harbor, let alone finding dock if you were not a cruise ship or had called a week or two in advance was more a problem that sailing the ocean? The stopover in Barbados was one example. Like many tourist islands, things are costly in Bridgetown.(Capital of Barbados)

To me, any place where 5-10,000 people can vacation each day is too much. As beautiful as people claim, this was not for me; at least not at my stage of life. I’ll choose that wide open ocean any day, many days, most days there is no storm anyhow. I hate, hate, hate storms, even on a ship this size, the waves, swells and crests and troughs at sea scare me to Hell.

Being alone! Yeah, that was not what I thought it was. I wondered at times, many times, at what I was doing and why was I doing it? As always, the ‘What’s next’ question pops up. This I had no answer to nor did I want it to come up. Try arguing with yourself on that. I stayed in International waters for the most part. ‘Helpful’(Not) Mexican patrols, drug runners and pirates usually stayed away from a ship this size not really knowing I was alone. In some cases there would be a small convoy I could join but I only chose any that did not hug the coast.

Rio was another vacation spot along the way. Not a lot of fun if ... well ... not the best place to spend a holiday at, IMHO. Rio is OK, just don’t go past a block or two from the beach alone and stay out of the so-called dance clubs unless you are in to that kind of thing.(Not real girls) The further into that voyage, the better seaman I got to be and the more frightened I became. In Argentina I almost wanted to pay people to come along. All three coeds said no, it was in Castilian so I may have translated their response incorrectly.

Next stop Easter Island or perhaps Pitcairn, depending on a lot of things. My timing was inline for the Passage, but the closer I went, the colder it got. Repairs and new upgrades along the way were close to $450,000, Most of that for better radar and radio equipment and a more powerful engine upgrade. Ships(100 ft and over) were not cheap to own, even older ones(Phocea was $12 million) but the size was impressive and much safer at sea than a new, but smaller ship. About here the lack of female companionship also became better prioritized; I was now certain I could have learned Spanish.

I wanted to turn back, I really did. Radar, the weather forecast and my own eyes could see the black clouds up ahead. Rule number 999 or some such rule was to head away from the bad weather, no matter what the ship size. It was common sense; even the radio reports from large cruise ships said they were changing courses and headed away from the storm. It was common sense all right. Just by looking at those clouds one knew it was far greater than a storm. To the East was land, Patagonia I think, West open sea. I followed old Horace and went West.

At 14 knots plus my upgraded engine for about 90 minutes(Time) that choice was vindicated. Winds and waves were going down, less now but still not nap time weather. I shut down the engine, reefed in some canvas and sailed on West by North-West at 6-8 knots. I had plenty of time so the extra sail was not a concern. I would rather be safe than sorry. From all reports, Drake’s Passage would be as bad or worse on some days as the hurricane I just avoided.

Night falls or rather creeps up then drops around here. It was getting warmer now, 70 F plus. and a steady barometer reading, all good news. The sudden appearance of a flickering light made dropping anchor for the night a wait and see proposition. I could see several miles to the horizon in daylight so knowing this that light was only less than 2 hours away I changed course and headed there.

The closer I got, the brighter that light became. I turned on side and deck lights in addition to all the marker lights that were already on. About a mile or two later, I could see land, sort of trees maybe. The moonlight showing down a big change in the colour of the water ahead. It was the kind of thing a reef caused. I shut everything down that made the ship move ahead. It takes some time to do this. While this was happening, a red flash streamed to the right, more like a dying quail than anything else.