Julian Megson Ocean Ventures

Thanks to a superb surprise from my wife Fiona, I will be sailing as part of a number of professional and amateur crew on the second leg of a Transatlantic crossing. My journey will take me non-stop from the The Azores to Portsmouth, a total of 1200 nautical miles.  Far from being just a passenger, I will be a fully working member of crew.  I intend to work hard and do all that would be expected of a professional crew and more.  Its not often that an opportunity like this comes along so I’m not going to waste it.  I just can’t wait to learn and absorb what it takes to sail a boat on a non-stop ocean crossing.

The organisers of the trip are ‘Ondeck‘.  Ondeck offer adventure sailing with a difference in that they aim to make the adventure of long haul sailing accessible and affordable to both novice sailors and highly experienced crews alike.  They own a fleet of Farr 65s ocean going yachts.  Farr 65s are unique in that they were designed by the world renowned Bruce Farr to be de-tuned versions of the famous Whitbread 60 for the ‘Millennium Round the World Yacht Race’ and with amateur crews in mind.  Although they have the performance of a fast racing yacht, they are extremely safe and user friendly for even the most novice of crews.

Needless to say this adventure is going to provide valuable experience crucial for my Single Handed Transatlantic voyage.  Firstly it will go a long way to teach me what it takes to sail a boat long haul.  The journey is non stop and as such means that the boat needs to be sailed 24 hours a day for almost 2 weeks.  There will be a watch system onboard where work is shared between teams, but never the less the boat will need constant attention for the whole journey.  Secondly this experience will allow me to be much more of a realistic proposition in terms of finding sponsorship.  If I’m honest this is the part of the whole venture that leaves me lacking in confidence.  Where as I can go out in my boat as often as I like to gain the skills I need and to acclimatise to life at sea, having the confidence to believe that anyone is going to be interested enough in me and basically beg for money in order to realise my dream, is another matter.  So it will be a great relief to me to have this journey under my belt and I will at last feel I have something tangible to offer in terms of having some of the experience required to be able to see this venture through.

If you want to know more about Ondeck, you can visit there website here.