American taps into his fear to explore new worlds
PORT KLANG: Fear has certainly taken Andrew Stephens to many places and encounters around the world.
The 33-year-old American from Everett, near Seattle, has been sailing solo across the Pacific Ocean and South China Sea in his 30-foot Cape Dory sailboat and as of today, his voyage around the world would be 10 days shy of a year.
As Stephens sailed towards Peninsular Malaysia two weeks ago from Borneo island, he reached the 10,000-mile (16,093km) point yesterday.
Since he left the Everett Marina on July 12 last year, his sailboat named Cascadia has taken him to Hawaii, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, the Philippines, Borneo island, Johor Baru and now Port Klang.
“Many people asked if I was scared to sail alone.
“In fact, I am frightened every time I point my sailboat’s bow west over the horizon.
“There are many uncertainties and so many things could go wrong,” Stephens said when met at the Royal Selangor Yacht Club here on Friday.
But Stephens said he viewed fear as a healthy emotion to have when travelling into a world of the unknown.
Recalling the amazing moment when he was alone on his sailboat at the mighty Rajang River in Sarawak three weeks ago and weathering a nasty storm at the South China Sea that eventually broke his headsail and forced him to sail downwind, Stephens said that it was the uncertainties, too, that he enjoyed.
“I can wake up, look at the map and go anywhere I want.
“Who would have thought that a small sailboat would have made it to the Rajang River all the way from the United States?” he said.
Fondly known as Andy, he grew up living at the Puget Sound coast and became familiar with boats and water since young.
This led him to serve in the Coast Guard after high school.
“I learned everything about boats there, from maintenance to navigation and general seamanship.
“Then I transferred those skills into a commercial captain’s licence upon leaving the Coast Guard when I was 28 and began sailing,” said Stephens.