Dave Sails Back into West Cumbria
After 17 months, 18 countries and over 11,000 nautical miles, Dave Storey sailed back into Whitehaven harbour last week.
In February of this year, we covered Dave’s story. How the 44 year old, father of three from Whitehaven had left everything behind to embark on a “once in a lifetime trip”. In April 2016, Dave and his 30 foot Albin Ballad, Minkie, set off to sail single-handedly across the Atlantic, an achievement which had been on his bucket list since the age of 12, as a Sea Cadet.
Last Monday (4 September) evening, after a 28 hour journey from Dublin, Dave sailed back into Whitehaven and moored his beloved Minkie into the Marina, for the final time of the trip. He was met by friends and family, there to congratulate him.
Dave, who sold his house to finance his trip, said: “Everybody says it is such a great achievement, but it doesn’t actually feel like that to me, it just feels like sailing. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time.”
He continued: “People go ‘you’re so lucky to have a life like this’ but it’s just a choice I made. At some point you have to go, do I want to talk about doing this for the rest of my life or do I actually want to go and try it?”
When we last caught up with Dave he had just reached Carlisle Bay in Barbados, after 22 days at sea from Cape Verde. Since then he has island hopped his way around the West Indies, before a 27 day sail, the longest passage of his journey, to the Azores. From there he travelled to Ireland before making the final sail from Dublin back to England.
Dave said: “There are a lot of mental challenges, even just spending that much time by yourself. There’s the actual sailing, the navigation and a little bit of time is devoted to what am I going to eat and how am I going to cook it, then you have to fill the rest of your time. I took some stuff out on my phone to watch, I had some stuff to read and I used audiobooks. You fill the rest of the time, so you’re not sitting there despairing about being at sea for 27 days.”
However, he added: “At the end both long passages, I was quite sad, I’d settled into such a being at sea routine. Just at that moment when you’re a day or so away and know you’re going to be arriving in the next 100 miles, you start feeling sad that it’s ending, because it was a good experience.”
It might have been the trip of a lifetime, but it certainly hasn’t all been smooth sailing. Dave experienced numerous hiccups along the way, from the Boom breaking, to having to fibreglass the leaking hatch up, as he crossed the Atlantic ocean.
About 500 miles off the coast of Ireland, he weathered gale 8s, with waves reaching heights of five metres, the highest he has ever sailed through.
Dave explained: “The waves now and again would splash over the cock-pit. They were so big so you had to leave the hatch shut, all I did was shut the hatch doors, go down below and put my headphones in so I couldn’t hear it. I knew it would pass over, I knew the boat would look after me and it did.”
But he wouldn’t describe these as low moments, just sailing moments.
He said: “I have no regrets, none whatsoever. Even though my boat has come back a little worse for wear and I’ve been spending savings for 18 months, I wouldn’t change it.”
Dave, who has posted regular updates on his Facebook page and kept careful track of his budget, has spent £11,152.48 over the course of the trip, plus £1000 before setting off. He is set to return to work on Saturday – he’s not a millionaire, after all.
As for Minkie, it’s time for a well-deserved rest, followed by some TLC in the new year before the next adventure. Perhaps a summer season on the Portuguese Islands? Or maybe even a voyage on the Pacific Ocean? Who knows.
Dave admits he has no idea where the wanderlust might take them next, he said: “I’m just not the type of person who goes to the same holiday destination more than once, I like to choose something different.”
What has he learnt from the experience? If there’s anything Dave’s epic journey has taught him it’s what’s really important.
He said: “I think it might have focused my priorities a little bit more, I realised that material things aren’t actually that important, it’s your family, your friends and the people you care about. That comes into focus a little bit more because you’re away from them for so long.”
And despite initially keeping an open mind about the length of his trip, before he had even crossed the Atlantic he knew he didn’t want to be away from home for too long.
Dave added: “Firstly I missed my friends and family and secondly, I realised that the world’s a big place and I’ve only got a little boat.
“We fly from one side of the Atlantic to another in eight hours on a plane and think nothing of it, but when you’re on a small boat, it makes you realise just how big the world actually is.”
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