We were in Roatán, Honduras heading back to Ole Lady when a comment from Taylor about my mishandling of a line resulted in us punching each other in the face. He knocked me onto my back, and I knocked Taylor off the dinghy. He didn’t stop, though. He got me in a chokehold from the water, pulling me down from below. We both thought the trip was over then, that we were going to pack it in and return home. However, we came back together in the cockpit that same night. We cried a little, laughed a lot, drank even more whiskey, and finally, made a pact to not punch each other in the face again, no matter how drunk or angry we got.’
SOLACE IN A SAILING MISSION
Sometimes voyages can test any close friendship but add post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) into the mix and it is easy to see why emotions sometimes ran high for Taylor Grieger, the skipper of the leaking 1983 Watkins 36CC, Ole Lady, and his crew Stephen O’Shea, 29.
The pair spent 15 months sailing the 36ft sloop-rigged yacht from Pensacola, Florida, through the Panama Canal and down the South American coast to Cape Horn. For Grieger, a 28-year-old retired US Navy rescue swimmer living with PTSD, the voyage was not only a personal odyssey to face his demons but to raise awareness of the difficulties veterans face moving from the military to civilian life; a battle many of them lose including four of Grieger’s friends.
Denne historien er fra July 2020-utgaven av Yachting Monthly.
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Denne historien er fra July 2020-utgaven av Yachting Monthly.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Midsummer on Hanö
This wonderful little island in the south-east of Sweden is a real gem off the beaten track
ADVENTURE SAILING TO HAITI
After spending two months in the Dominican Republic, Andy Brown sails west to Haïti bringing medical and school supplies to the town of Mole Saint Nicholas
In celebration of bad sailing
New owner Monty Halls tests his sailing skills with his family aboard their Colvic 34 ketch, Sobek. A recently qualified Day Skipper, Monty faces a few unexpected challenges...
Winter brings excitement and opportunity
Oddity’s double glazing, insulation and heating create a warm, homely environment as I bash out this column.
ADVENTURE MAISIE GOES TO GOES
To depart or not to depart? That is the question. Is it safer to stay, or suffer the wind and weather of a rough North Sea?
'MAYDAY, GRANDAD OVERBOARD!'
When David Richards and his grandson Henry went out racing from lowey, they didn't expect their sail to end with a lifeboat rescue
VERTUE
For a 25-footer, the Vertue has a huge reputation and has conquered every ocean. So what makes this little boat quite such an enduring success? Nic Compton finds out
Sailing siblings
Mabel Stock, her brother Ralph, a friend Steve and an unnamed paying passenger passed through the Panama Canal in December 1919 on the sturdy Norwegian cutter Ogre. They were towed to a quiet anchorage in Balboa away from the boat traffic but within rowing distance of the shore.
TECHNICAL MAINSAIL MODIFICATIONS
Safety and performance improved hugely when Mike Reynolds reduced the size of his mainsail and re-configured the systems controlling it
PILOTAGE DONE PROPERLY
Chartplotters are an amazing aid, but can detract from your real-world pilotage if not used with caution, says Justin Morton
