COURAGE OF YOUTH

A TALE OF FOUR SCHOOLBOYS ON AN ADVENTUROUS TRANSATLANTIC CROSSING THAT'S ENOUGH TO TURN ANY PARENT’S HAIR GREY

In the summer of 1983, a group of very young Norwegians set out on a round trip to the Caribbean in Jeanette VI, a 35ft Vindø yacht they chartered from a sympathetic 'grown-up. Morten Stødle and his peers were schoolboys not yet at university, but came from sailing families and all had the same dream. Almost 40 years later, two of them, Stødle and Hauk Larsen Wahl, have gathered the diaries they wrote and given a 'warts and all' account of the trip. Their book, The Dream of the West Indies, is youthful, fresh and positive. The lads left home with patched Levi jeans, knitted jumpers, three SLR cameras, two empty diaries and the New Testament.

Although they'd all been sailing most of their lives, the big seas were a 'learn-as-you-go' experience. We join them first in the Azores, sharing their delight at finding themselves in a real seafaring community, then follow them up to the English Channel, through one wretched weather system to the next, until they're hit by a storm that comes close to ending the adventure.

We have mostly fine weather for the 1950 miles from Bermuda until we see land in Faial, the westernmost island in the Azores, at 0900 on 22 April 1984. We dock in the guest harbour at the port of Horta, and look forward to a cold beer at Café Sport, and a warm shower.

Café Sport, also known as Peter's Bar, has been visited by many famous adventurers and globetrotters throughout its long history. As has become a tradition, we hand over a Norwegian flag to the charming owner Peter, which he hangs up on the wall straight away; we hope it will decorate the bar for a long time after we leave.