Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Adventure on the high seas aka going where few have been....the Sean Merritt interview

(Dolphins playing in the ocean-Azores. Source tellegraph.co.uk via Google images)

This is the interview that I'd been hinting at in the last few blogs/podcasts. Sean Merritt  is someone I know that's had a rather interesting life and one big part of it is that he's made a Transatlantic voyage by boat and I'm not talking cruise ship either. It takes a special sort of person with a special sort of courage not to mention adventure to even want to take on such an undertaking. But he didn't do it alone as you will soon discover but that doesn't make his tale any less interesting.

ATG-What made you decide to do this? Or was this a job to transport someone's boat from Point A to Point B?

SM-The opportunity came about by being at the right place at the right time, as I ran the kitchen at an infamous Irish bar in St. Pete and I knew the captain's daughter.

ATG-What sort of boat and how big/long was it?

SM-The 'Murphy's Law' is a 62' motor-vessel with a 18' beam and has a 9' draft; that's how deep it sat in the water.

ATG-How big was the crew?

SM-There were four of us: the captain and his wife, the first mate and I was the purser and ran the galley.

ATG-When did you do this?

SM-We left late Spring of 1990.

ATG-Which port did you sail from and what was your destination?

SM-We cruised out under the old Skyway intending to circumnavigate the world.

ATG-How long did it take you to do this?

SM-Our trip lasted just over a year and we had to come home (USA) because of the first Gulf War to free Kuwait.

ATG-What were your ports of call?

SM-In order-Key West; Ft. Lauderdale; Bermuda; Azores;Portugal; Spain; Gibraltar and the Balearic Islands. My side trips included France; Germany; England; Morocco and on the way back Madeira and the Canary Islands before landing back in Puerto Rico.

ATG-Did you hit any inclement weather such as hurricanes, typhoons, etc?

SM- We had a bad patch between Bermuda and The Azores that made us deal with a tropical storm that caused 15' to 20' seas that were double stacking behind us as high as 40'. This following sea caused us to have the stern (the back of the boat) to lift up first and drive our bow (the front) deep into the bottom of the waves. As you can imagine, this is very dangerous.

ATG-Were there any instances where you were scared to death?

SM-This caused one of the stabilizers to break off and we had to fix this in driving rain and to be off the side of the boat to do this. As the waves would cover over half my body, this was the closest to death I've ever felt. We fixed the problem and soon came out of the bad weather.

ATG-What kind of animals did you see out there, i.e. whales, sharks, etc?

SM-Many days saw porpoise playing in our bow wake and we saw two different sperm whales near The Azores.



                                                    (Atlantic Ocean. Source-Wikipedia)

ATG-Did you keep a log or some sort of journal?

SM-I kept a journal on the way over but didn't keep it up on the trip back.

ATG-Are there any interesting things that stood out for you? (Amusing stories, etc).

SM-Too many to recount here with this first installment to your blog.

ATG-What was the best cure for seasickness and did you suffer from this?

SM-Just puking your guts out and getting it out of your system. I did so on the first day and then didn't have any more trouble with it.

ATG-How did you deal with 'sea legs'?

SM-You develop them over the time when you are constantly moving 24 hours a day and it takes a couple of days to lose them when you''re back on land.

ATG-Do you have advice for someone who might wish to take this on?

SM-Pick up some of the trade journals or Sailing magazine or know someone in the maritime trade

ATG-What did you learn by having this experience? Any good life lessons?

SM-That travel is the greatest educator in the world and nothing is impossible if you set your mind to it and commit to it. Going to sea was an easy way to commit to it as there's nowhere to go once you leave shore. Once home, I realized no other thing I've ever done left me feeling as empowered as going to sea and making it back safe and sound.

ATG-Would you do this again?

SM-Absolutely! There's always a little voice in the back of my head calling me back, sirens maybe.

ATG-Do you have a website that I could refer people to where they can learn more?

SM-No website but if I do get one, I will let you know.

Many thanks to Sean Merritt for doing this interview with me.



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