LESSONS LEARNED

STAY PUT: Assume everywhere is a safe haven until you’re told otherwise. I’d actually succeeded in what I’d needed to do, everyone was safe and the boat was secure. The chain of events started when I was not able to get hold of anyone and I worried about getting in the way in a commercial port. Nobody told me I had to move, it was all in my head.

DOUBLE CHECK: Through fatigue I rushed to get to my next place so I hadn’t checked my weather correctly between leaving Rosslare and getting to Wexford, five miles away. I hadn’t anticipated the weather accelerating.

SAFETY EQUIPMENT: We had plenty of fuel and all the recommended emergency equipment, but it was all redundant in that situation because it was all basically expensive stuff on a boat in a lee shore – the drogue broke in five minutes. What I needed was a tug or a giant outboard engine.

HINDSIGHT: I was trying to fit the yacht delivery in between work and if I’m brutally honest with myself, I should have delayed the passage, stayed on the UK south coast, let the weather blow through and sailed afterwards.

MOVE ON: Now as an RNLI crew, I go out and rescue people in all sorts of situations. Sometimes with very obvious errors. Don’t beat yourself up if you make a mistake. Learn from it and pass the information on. Ignore the keyboard warriors. I’ve sailed a lot, but I made an amateur mistake based on fatigue. When I go on rescues, I can really sympathise. I say, ‘I’m the guy who sailed a boat into a hurricane. Don’t worry about it. It’s OK.’

GIVE BACK: There was a huge aftercare from the Rosslare crew who went out of their way to help us. I’ve taken that personality type and pushed it into how I live my life. I work in the harbour, I’m a kitesurfer and I spend all my time on call for the lifeboat. We’ve had a super busy couple of years and it’s been really good fun, helping and educating a lot of people.