Conor sets sails for the seven seas
With a fair wind at his back, local Conor Mulligan took to the sea to pursue his lifelong passion of sailing professionally, and found himself at the beautiful seaside towns of Spain.
At 23, Conor Mulligan, a Bekker High School alumnus set out on the high seas, making his way to El Masnou in Barcelona, Spain. The voyage, with all the stops, took just over two months. The actual days spent sailing amounted to 46. It was his passion for the sea that drove him to pursue his dream, to board the Imvubu 3 yacht and take on a 14 112 kilometre sailing expedition.
Conor was just nine years old when he had his first sailing experience.
In 2014, after his final exam, he flew to Durban where he qualified for his Day Skipper Ticket. After a previous round of the very trip that he recently participated in was cancelled in 2015, Conor decided to work at a well-known coffee company in South Africa. However, he didn’t feel that he had found the career path he thought he should be on at that point in his life. He then completed other courses and was certified as a deckhand on super yachts, and hoped to advance to captain later on. When Kevin told his son that the same trip of four years ago was back on, Conor signed up without hesitation.
The Imvubu 3 is a 54 foot cutter ketch, rigged-steel expedition yacht with over 160 000 kilometres under its belt. For the early parts of the trip Conor sailed with two other sailors, but finished most of the trip with only yacht master and owner, Ralf Dominick.
He noted that one of the toughest parts of the trip was being disconnected from his family and friends for long periods of time. But, overall, he is content with his own company. Talking about the best part of the trip, Conor struggled to point to one single aspect.
“There is a magic about the open ocean, a certain solitude that makes the world seem right again. Once you approach your next destination, it’s almost like you could just carry on. That feeling you had a few days before of wanting to be on land and get connected again simply disappears. We came across orcas off the Namibian coast and many dolphins along the way – it’s an amazing sight to see dozens of dolphins riding the surf the boat creates.”
Barcelona is just a stop-over for Conor, though he will be based there for a short while until he moves to the next port in the Mediterranean. “I am basically going where the wind takes me.”
