Conquering the mighty Atlantic

Some people dream about what they would like to do and others just do it.

Umdloti resident and adventurer, Donald Alexander, is one of those doers and recently did something that he will remember for the rest of his life: a solo transatlantic crossing.

He had done a lot of dinghy sailing in his youth and is a keen kite surfer but he had always dreamed of doing this epic journey, covering plus minus 7200 kilometres across the cold Atlantic.

“I knew I wanted a safe, fast boat that could be adapted to solo sailing so that the crossing would be fun, while limiting the risks.”

He found the perfect boat in France, a Class 40.

“Being a thoroughbred racer, she’s full of high tech, but pretty spartan with everything else. Not even a shower, fridge or a toilet.”

He named her Power of One, which was partially inspired by his wife, Debra, because of the play on the numbers as the boat was registered under 111, their philosophy that we are all connected and, of course, the solo sailing.

He spent two and a half months preparing the boat, buying the right sails, sorting out the electronics and stocking up on supplies.

Then on October 11, he sailed across the Bay of Biscay, a much feared bay due to the frequent bad weather and tricky sea, to La Coruna, Spain.

“I was quite ill during the Biscay crossing, because the diesel tank was leaking and the fumes made me sea sick, but the winds were good so the passage was fast and I got to La Coruna in a couple of days.”

This was the last port his wife, Debra, accompanied him to before he set sail for the Atlantic crossing to Grenada in the Carribean, via the Canaries.

“I could not have done this without my wonderful wife, leaving her behind in La Coruna the night of my departure, was very emotional,” he said.

Two days into the journey, trouble soon set in as his alternator broke and without that he could not charge his batteries, which meant no navigation system, no auto pilot and no communications.

He had fortunately purchased a generator in La Coruna, but he had never used one before.

“I got out the manual, put in the fuel, which was messy and ended up all over the cockpit, and after the sixth pull, it finally spluttered into life. The sail down to Cape Verde was the only time I had my grab bag, (an emergency bag for evacuation) and the fire extinguisher on standby, in case the boat caught fire with the generator running and the fuel everywhere. It was precarious sailing at high speeds with that generator going, but it got me safely to the Cape Verde islands, 1200 kms to the South, to get the alternator fixed,” he said.

The rest of the journey was not all smooth sailing.

“I had just been through a rain squall and I thought it was over, but as I was settling down to a cup of coffee at sunrise, without any warning the wind picked up from around 12 knots to over 30 knots and knocked us flat.”

After much flogging of sails, the squall passed and by easing the sails she eventually came up again and he was able to get her back on course.

The wind then settled down and he had some of his most exhilarating sailing ever, surfing down waves at over 20 knots of boatspeed.

“Being at sea, alone with just the boat and the elements was the greatest personal experience of my life and probably the most at peace I have ever been.”

He did not feel lonely, because he was always busy navigating, checking weather forecasts, adjusting and changing sails, doing maintenance, communicating with Debra and two friends with cross ocean experience, cooking and, when possible, sleeping.

“I cannot tell you how exciting the morning of November 26 at Grenada was, when I reached the end of my journey. Having my wife and my son, Jonathan meet me at the marina as I docked was way special.”