Around the island on a sailing boat
Jeremy Bolling – one of the Bolling clan long associated with swimming in this country passed away last week. This article by Luke Spinner Tidball published in the Tripin travel book in 2017, explores his lifelong dream: to circumnavigate the island in a non-motorized boat and the lessons he learnt in turning this fantasy into a reality. Jeremy Bolling made this epic journey in 2014.
The Bolling family, in particular has long been associated with water sports. Jeremy’s love for the water has taken a different course from the rest of his family without sparing an ounce less of achievement. Over decades, his passion for swimming and water sports has developed into his love for sailing.
For you land-lovers reading this article: circumnavigating Sri Lanka in a non-motorized boat means taking a sailboat around the circumference of the island. ‘It’s rather an old boat, about 15 years old,’ Jeremy explained in a calm manner as he flipped through pictures on his laptop of a 14-foot long boat roped taut to the back of a lorry and unloaded to his starting and ending point, Galle, before embarking on a month-long sea voyage. Prior to departure, the boat was inspected to make sure he hadn’t smuggled a rope or paddle: that would be cheating.
The second attempt to get clearance to sail got him the positive nod since this time he applied to sail on his own. “Without the Navy, I wouldn’t have been able to have done it.” Consequently, they were very supportive. The corporate world also did not approve of this trip but eventually Land Rover came to the rescue and sponsored it with a full online campaign that attracted attention from sailors around the world.
Now, he had a land crew driving ahead to check on the conditions that he would be facing, a giant rescue boat further out, and a rotating crew of sailors he would sail with, averaging around eight hours on the water a day before heading towards land to rest up for another day of sailing. This trip was planned to take place during the one month of the year where the conditions make an impossible journey a little more possible and began on February 19, 2014.
Once Jeremy reached Sri Lanka’s northernmost point, Point Pedro, there was a 90° turn, which meant that the wind shifted completely from blowing north-east to south-east. Had he chosen to sail the island in a counter-clockwise direction, these winds would have worked to his advantage. “But with sea sailing I have learnt to expect the unexpected,”’ says Jeremy. As he circled the island, making his way along the east coast and as far away from where he started, with a full moon, approaching which was to bring about some rainstorms, Jeremy took a well-deserved six-day break in Trincomalee.
Sailing off again from Trincomalee, Jeremy was hit by what he called “perhaps the last storm right in the middle of Trincomalee harbour”. Having weathered this he sailed along the east coast which calmed down heading towards Batticaloa and Pasikuda. With the sea at peace and enjoying the sail over the wonderful coral in this part of the ocean, there was time to ponder and in the back of his mind he knew he was yet to come across the greatest challenge of his expedition: the wide open ocean. Going around the south east coast bend (crossing the Great & Little Basses light houses), there are no land barriers between this tropical tear drop island and harsh conditions of the wide open ocean travelling across the globe all the way from the South Pole.
“My mind and body were so tired but I had to keep going.”
The conditions heading towards Patanangala in Yala were the most difficult Jeremy would see around the island. He was stuck in the middle of the ocean with 20 foot waves and with winds gusting over 60 km/hr trying to suck all the life out of him, one set after the next. This went on for three hours. Seeing Patanangala Rock and safely beaching apparently was one of the most satisfying moments for him.
Jeremy’s journey on the oceanfront is only half of the story; each day was filled with human interactions. “Each place is different, the way they welcomed me: after a while, I became one of them.” The help that he received around the island shows the true nature of the islanders and our age-old virtue of unconditional hospitality. On arrival, after each day of sailing, the villagers and their whole family would be there to greet him with cheek-to-cheek smiles, feed him their version of fish curry and rice, and assure him that he could park his sailboat safely in front of their house. Jeremy had much adoration for the people all along the coast, especially those on the north-east and north-west.
On one particularly rough day, Jeremy had already reached the shore but his land team had received word from the rescue boat that they did not have food or water and could not land. Among the villagers who cared for these men’s wellbeing was an expert sailor, an ex-LTTE combatant with one eye, one arm, and one leg. He told Jeremy to rest, gathered a crew of fishermen, put his differences aside, and worked with the Sri Lankan Navy to beat against the current for half an hour to take food and water out to these men. Despite his physical limitations, the people of the village claimed that he was the only person capable of getting these men food and water under those conditions. His willingness to work alongside the Sri Lankan Navy is a lesson we can all take something from.
There were many other stories that demonstrate both kindness and empathy as qualities our culture holds very dearly. In another instance, sailing along the southern seas, a fisherman diverted his boat quite a distance to warn Jeremy of oncoming rough conditions that would arrive just after noon.
Sometimes after a long day of sailing and whilst sitting around with the fishermen on shore, totally exhausted and simply thinking back on the day’s sail, someone would appear with a plate of rice and fish curry. “I didn’t even ask for it,” he said with a big smile. Jeremy realized through these and many other acts of humanity that there is no room for pride and experienced the inherent goodness we have within, first hand. After 30 days and 1,301 km when Jeremy sailed into Galle Harbour from the east, many greeted him, including his family, friends and those of the sailing fraternity that were worried that he wouldn’t make it. He had their support all along.
After a long and treacherous journey, you’d expect Jeremy to arrive back in Galle feeling like a hero. In reality, Jeremy came back feeling humbled, confused, and ready for a meal plan less reliant on fish curry. Jeremy reflected that there are two major fears we as humans have: fear of uncertainty and fear of failure. The death of these fears left much room for confusion as he pondered deeper than ever on what life is really all about. He also learnt from this experience that, “You earn your luck”. Murphy’s Law is the law of the land in Sri Lanka so it helps to be prepared for uncertainties.
Jeremy is one of the pioneering explorers of this island. There are new trends emerging and new ways of seeing the island from cycling to kayaking. The preservation of what makes this island beautiful is very important for the explorers that make their way here. His message to all is let’s simply respect our environment, people and their religions. We are one nation in our one ocean! Jeremy’s story spread from village to village through word of mouth and across the globe via social media. We hope that this story inspires the next generation of fear-conquerors.