ODYSSEY TO NEW HORIZONS

epic voyage around the world.

With all the pressures of modern life, the urge to ‘upsticks’ and sail off on a voyage of global discovery probably affects most sailors at some time in their lives, yet for the majority the limit of any blue water sailing might be a trip across the Channel to explore the beauties of North Western France or, for the sportier crews, a race out and back to the Fastnet Rock.

Yet the romance of sailing away to a new horizon has been instilled in us through the wonderful writings of trail blazers such as Joshua Slocum who, 126 years ago, cast off from his winter berth in Boston on what would be a three-year solo circumnavigation, although today, sailing around the world, either crewed or single-handed, is more a case of racing around as quickly as possible.

This leaves little choice in the course, as sailors in the Volvo (now ‘The Race’) or the Vendée Globe aim for a fast run down across the equator, then a long board south towards the coast of Brazil, before turning South-East for the long haul down into the Roaring

Since returning home after a double Atlantic crossing, home has been under the care of Kemps Marina on the River Itchen. But after eight years, it is time to move on.

ABOVE: With sails set and drawing nicely. Mahler heels slightly as she sets out along a route that will take her right around the world in a pair of huge ‘figure of eight’ loops. When/if Terry returns to the Solent, the skyline will look very different… LEFT: A final thumbs-up and a wave goodbye, from now on Terry is very much on his own. He may be alone for now on the boat, but it is in his nature that he will make friends wherever he goes. Image: Shutterstock

Forties, passing south of Australia and Cape Horn, before the ‘last leg’ northwards up through the Atlantic.

However, as Southampton based sailor Terry Coles likes to point out, this high speed dash may well tick the box of having seen every one of the 360 degree points on the compass at some point in the voyage, but it misses out on so many wonderful locations.

In his mind, if you are really going to sail the globe then you need to be thinking in terms of a pair of ‘figure of eights’. And this is exactly what he is doing after slipping his lines in late June from the pontoon in Kemps Marina, on the River Itchen in Southampton, to embark on what will be a true sail around the world, a 55,000 mile marathon that could take upwards of five years to complete.

The story begins Amazingly, Terry is very much the antithesis of the ‘born to be a yachtsman’ sea salt, as he was the son of a carpenter, growing up in Farnham in very much inland Surrey. One day, wanting a holiday with a difference, a friend suggested sailing, which saw Terry coming down to the Solent and take a course at a sailing school.

Sailing had really bitten its latest recruit, as Terry then wanted his own boat, settling on the Folk Dancer 27, a sweet derivative of the classic Folkboat that enjoyed a long keel, sea kindly handling and a reputation for safe passage making.

It was just as well that Terry had chosen his boat wisely as his first voyage was from Faversham in Kent, around the North Foreland and then westwards down the Channel to the Solent. This really was a case of ‘hands on’ learning as there would be a number of interesting experiences along the way that saw him learning about inboard diesel engines and navigation en route.

Having done a quarter of the way around the compass, Terry decided that he might as well do the other three-quarters and thus set off to sail around the UK. Apart from some scary moments with poor visibility when transiting the Pentland Firth, this voyage left Terry wanting to head away to more exotic destinations, which would require a bigger and more blue water friendly yacht.

As luck would have it, right at the very top of the Hamble River another hopeful sailor had been building a ferro cement Norsk 35, the John Perryman designed canoe sterned ocean going yacht. Sadly, the builder was unable to complete the yacht, which he had named Mahler after listening to his favourite classical composer during the construction phase.

Terry all but gutted the interior, starting at the bow and working aft into the main cabin, then starting again at the stern and working forwards until the boat was complete.

Taking to the sea In the way of a shakedown cruise, Terry sailed Mahler westwards to Falmouth, before heading further west to Kinsale in Southern Ireland. From there it was a run that was pretty much due south to the beautiful Rias on the north-western tip of Spain. However

“Although not a long journey, Odysseus has to overcome all the challenges that appear in his path, with Terry quite rightly taking the pragmatic view that in the same way he, too, will have to face many challenges of his own.”

picturesque the tip of Galicia may be, it was well named by sailors of old as the Capo de Muerte – the Cape of Death - and it was just south of the area, sailing down the Portuguese coast, that Terry was hit by a violent storm that would see him hove to for five days.

Mahler survived a lot better than Terry did as sea sickness took its toll but, undaunted, the voyage south continued before reaching not just Spain, but the historic River Guadalquivir and the city of Seville, the start and finishing ports of so many iconic ocean voyages.

The pace of the voyage would slow, with a couple of years spent living abroad on Mahler before the yearning for sailing away became too strong. This saw Terry head out into the Atlantic and the Azores, before angling back towards the African coast and the pleasures of Gran Canaria. This became home for another two years, but the lure of the wide blue yonder would always be there.

Terry’s epic sail from Gran Canaria westwards would not be without incident, as he not only injured his hand, but as he approached the Caribbean, he spent too long out in the cockpit without adequate protection and ended up with a bad case of heat stroke.

After recovering in the aptly named Prickly Bay in Grenada, Terry finally turned northwards, taking in Dominica and Antigua, before pausing at Saint Martin where he prepared for a non-stop voyage back home.

Terry’s own odyssey Once again he would hit health problems on the sail home, but 41 days after setting out he made his UK landfall, ending up in Southampton at Kemps Marina. This would be his home for the next eight years as he prepared Mahler for what would be his defining voyage, but this one would come courtesy of another influence.

Terry says that he is not a great reader when on board, unless it is a practical book on pilotage or a ‘how to do’ the many tasks needed to keep a boat safe at sea. On his trans-Atlantic trip he did, however, have one work that clearly left its mark on his thinking, but the surprise is that it was that classic tale of Greek mythology, Homer’s Odyssey, that would inspire him.

The tale tells of the hero Odysseus, who takes 10 years to return home to Greece after fighting in the Trojan War. Although not a long journey, Odysseus has to overcome all the challenges that appear in his path, with Terry quite rightly taking the pragmatic view that in the same way he, too, will have to face many challenges of his own. He can neither duck them nor run from them, so he will have to see them through in order to continue his own odyssey.

Around the world It is understandable that Terry would be experiencing some doubts as he prepares to cast off for the first leg of his epic voyage, which will take him westwards to the Isles of Scilly, which is not just a convenient stop off point along the way but has long been on his ‘must visit’ list.

From there he will head northwards, as another place to see (though he will not be able to land) is the lonely outcrop of Rockall, with his next landfall being the Faroe Islands. If the weather holds in these high latitudes, Terry wants to make it as far north as Jan Mayen, a volcanic island that is officially in the Arctic Ocean.

From there Terry and Mahler will follow the classic Viking route, taking in Iceland, Greenland and then across to Newfoundland, but as the summer months slip away he will then head back south to the well-known warmth of the Azores.

The trade winds will carry him from there across to the coast of South America, where Terry wants to end up in Uruguay. There he will need to prepare for the longest single leg of his voyage, the 5,000 mile haul south of the Cape of Good Hope and Africa before heading onwards to Australia.

With a wind generator and solar power navigation it will be a combination of old ways and new, but for an hour a day the GPS will be used to ensure that his course is taking him towards his next destination, whilst avoiding any obstacles. In that same hour Terry often takes a video ‘selfie’, which he can then play back to himself so that he can create a spoken dialogue, even though it is one with himself.

Instead of carrying on eastwards for Cape Horn, the plan is for another ‘figure of eight’ that will see him heading north, up through the Coral Sea before recrossing the equator as he heads for Japan. At some point in a northern hemisphere summer he wants to reach Alaska, before coming south again for the Marquesas and French Polynesia.

I did ask him if there was a chance that the attractions of the Pacific Islands, grass skirts and all, might be a temptation that was too strong to resist given that the alternative is a long haul southwards to the less attractive delights of Cape Horn.

He was phlegmatic at this point, for though the next stage of his journey would see him re-entering the South Atlantic, with South Georgia and Tristan da Cunha on the itinerary, with just the ‘final’ trip north to the UK to complete this epic undertaking, he recognises that the fates might well intervene at some point.

Final thoughts At this point I had just three more questions to ask him.

Firstly, did it matter if he found such an idyllic spot that he decided to go no further. On this Terry was unequivocal; he would go where the wind and current took him and if life saw him stopping on route, then so be it.

My second question was on how afraid he was of what he might face on the voyage. Terry was clear on this, for he readily admitted to having moments when he was scared, as anyone alone and way offshore in a small boat is entitled to be.

My final question, and the most personal of the three, was ‘why’. Terry is now 60 and, given that this could take years, what was driving him onwards. His immediate response was that this was “this or work”, but that has to be something of a soundbite, as in those years ashore Terry has crammed work into his life in order to be able to cast off when the desire takes him.

I pushed him harder, for there has to be something more than that, otherwise our marinas would be empty of yachts. In the end, the answer was more prosaic, yet at the same time, is a lesson to us all. On reflection, Terry said that it was important to him to live life, rather than be a servant to ‘the system’.

Many of us share these thoughts but few have what it takes to turn your back on the comforts of a life ashore for the hardships and perils (and in 55,000 miles you will get plenty of both) and turn that dream of sailing away into a reality.

For that reason, everyone here at All at Sea wishes the very best for Terry and his yacht Mahler, fair winds and safe landfalls wherever that may be. We will try to keep track of his progress - watch out for reports when he is once again within reach of the internet.

With Hythe on the beam, Terry started to make sail but paused for a moment as he looked forward to what will be new horizons.

There is nothing glitzy or glamourous about Terry or his yacht Mahler, but everything about both of them speaks of functionality and purpose - and getting the journey done!