He took his time doing it but when John Brennan finally plucked up the courage to make his first offshore passage, the rewards made it all worthwhile
I have been boating for over 40 years in everything from kayaks and speedboats to my current Redbay 1450, Dromquinna. In that time I must have covered over 25,000 nautical miles – roughly the equivalent of circumnavigating the world. However, 90% of this has simply been cruising around my local waters of Ireland and Scotland with occasional holiday charters in Croatia and the Caribbean.
Despite all those miles and the perception that I am nominally an experienced boat owner, I had never lost sight of land. I suspect, like many people, I simply find it more reassuring to stay in sight of land even though it’s a false sense of security as most accidents happen close to home.
Since buying Dromquinna I have wanted to conquer that fear and pass the point where I am alone at sea, trusting in my own abilities to get us safely to our destination. The buzz of adventure, the excitement of arriving in a new place with a different culture, and the sense of accomplishment that goes with it, is all part of the boating dream. I’d been dreaming of it for 40 years but now it was time to make it happen.
ALL IN THE PLANNING
The first step to any new adventure is planning. If you feel well prepared and know what to expect, much of the fear evaporates. Having researched various options for the best part of a year, we decided that France would be our destination, and the west coast of Brittany in particular. It was far enough away from our base in Kenmare, Ireland to be a challenge but not so far that it would be excessively daunting. It held all the attractions of a different language, culture, coast, facilities and most importantly we had not toured the area before either by car or boat so it would all be new to us. That fact that we didn’t know a word of French between us didn’t enter our heads, we were so focused on the crossing.
The other key variable was weather but with all sorts of apps to advise us, it’s not the great unknown that it once was. We looked at typical weather patterns for the time of year, as well as the local currents, tidal flows and the hazards en route, but the final call on timing would have to come down to the weather forecast immediately prior to departure.
Were we too small, were we too inexperienced, should we have a captain for the crossing?
Cork is the obvious departure point from Ireland to France so we planned to move the boat to
