Ontario Sailors for Atlantic Crossing 'Holiday'

by Kevin Swayze, Waterloo Record on 25 Jun 2007 by Kevin Swayze, Waterloo Record.

Icebergs, wayward cargo containers and worries about hurricanes are all part of a summer adventure planned by four sailors from Ontario in Canada. The men are about to leave on a 5,200km voyage across the Atlantic. 'Ít's kind of like our Everest', they say, the adventure of a lifetime on a 12 metre sailing boat.

But the biggest threat may be boredom on the open ocean, where they know a single mistake or absent-minded action can kill or maim them.

'Complacency is a huge issue,' said Jan Pieter van Hazel, a dentist from Cambridge who sailed the seas off the Dutch coast as a boy.

'It's not uncommon to find boats (in the Atlantic) without anybody aboard. Usually boats survive the ordeal, not the people.'

A dentist and a high school teacher from Kitchener, and a Guelph cabinetmaker will join van Hazel on Mokum, his 12-metre (40-foot) sailboat.

The voyage was planned to start this week from 50 Point marina on Lake Ontario.

'It's kind of like our Everest,' said Martin Shelley, the Kitchener dentist.

The only bigger thrill for a sailor is to sail around the world, he said. He's not planning that. Not yet.

As the crew prepared Mokum earlier this month, everyone was joking as they checked charts, inspected equipment and organized the itinerary.

At times black humour crept into the banter. Other times, sailors with decades of experience offered blunt assessments of the challenges ahead.

They agreed their adventure isn't for the faint-hearted or the ill-prepared. Nor does it appear to be for any mariner who ignores superstition.

'Leaving for a voyage on a Friday is bad luck, so we're leaving a few minutes past midnight Saturday morning,' van Hazel said.

Also making the 5,200-kilometre trip is Eric van Miltenburg, a cabinetmaker from Guelph. David Meijer, a math teacher at Cameron Heights, will join the crew in St. John's in mid-July, after he finishes teaching for the year.

Rainer Leipscher, a photographer from Cambridge, will work part of the trip from Quebec City to Port aux Basques on the southwest tip of Newfoundland.

Pim Slijboom, van Hazel's longtime sailing friend from Cambridge, hopes to stay aboard until St. John's.

Slijboom has battled cancer in recent years and can't make the whole trip, van Hazel said.

The voyage starts at Stoney Creek, Mokum's home port. Stops are planned in Kingston tonight, Quebec City in a week, Channel-Port aux Basques by the first weekend in July, and St. John's a week later.

St. John's is the halfway point. Van Hazel expects to head for the open sea on July 18.

Three weeks later -- give or take -- Mokum should arrive off the coast of England. Then it's a couple day's sailing to Amsterdam, van Hazel's birthplace, where the trip should end by mid-August.

There, van Hazel's brother will take charge of Mokum as the crew flies home after a bit of touring.

'Eventually, we'll either sail the boat back or sell it,' van Hazel said.

You've got to be a sailor to understand why they're doing it, the crew says. They know landlubbers just shake their heads.

'I've always wanted to do this before I turn 60. My (60th) birthday is in February,' van Hazel said.

Meijer heard the crew needed a fourth member in May. He quickly jumped at the chance for a sailing adventure he'd didn't expect to try until much later in life.

'He doesn't know enough to know what he's getting into,' Shelley said.

Three weeks on a small boat in the middle of an ocean is a psychological challenge. Personalities will grate.

'Company is company but after three days, they're a burden. The honeymoon is over pretty fast,' Shelley said.

Shelley is packing his dad's sextant, with plans to teach his crewmates how to use it despite the global positioning system navigation gear aboard. Meijer has his father's hand-held bearing compass packed, for more old-school lessons.

The small cabin may also be home to Dutch classes by van Hazel, or card games to keep minds sharp.

Mokum will have a satellite phone to contact the outside world. Shelley plans to regularly update a blog, so friends and family at home can follow the journey.

Van Hazel said his patients were interested -- and some concerned -- when he told them of his Atlantic adventure.

Transport Canada doesn't regulate people who want to sail private boats across the ocean. Officials advise boaters to tell people where they are heading.

Transport Canada's focus is on big, commercial ships, said Steve Bone, an agency spokesperson in Dartmouth, N.S.

For pleasure boaters, the agency recommends ways to stay safe, like hiring an inspector to look over the boat before sailing, or leaving a 'sail plan' with a trusted person who will alert the coast guard if the boat is overdue.

'We understand there are many competent sailors out there who undertake this kind of voyage . . . it's not unusual.'

Mokum will first sail south from St. John's for three or four days, then turn east toward Europe.

The dogleg gets the boat out of the shallows of the Grand Banks as fast as possible, clear of shipping lanes, away from icebergs and into the northeast Gulf Stream current.

Mokum has radar, but it's only useful when big ships and big icebergs are about. It's little icebergs that are the bigger worry.

'Even if they're a half-metre across, they'll make the same hole in your boat,' van Hazel said.

'I'm afraid of three things: icebergs, fog and evenings. If you get all of them together, you've really got a problem on your hands.'

Out in the middle of the Atlantic, more dangers await, Shelley said.

If the hurricane season arrives early, storms could ride the Gulf Stream and take aim at their little boat. And out in the open ocean, ships routinely lose cargo containers overboard.

'There are thousands that fall from ships every year and some don't sink,' Shelley said.

Floating low in the water -- or just below the surface -- radar won't spot them.

'This really is dicey . . . you have to have faith that the ocean is a big place,' Shelley said.

Then there's the risk of falling overboard. Life jackets and lifelines will be the rule on deck -- because the ocean is a scary place to be lost.

Even with a stash of anti-nausea drugs ready, 'we all expect to get seasick,' Shelley said.

The dentists have also packed a full medical kit, in case they have to put their skills to use on the open ocean.

'I should be able to stitch someone's finger back on if I have to,' van Hazel said.

If there's a dire medical emergency at sea, they might radio a passing ship for help. Or call for a coast guard rescue helicopter.

The dangers nag at van Hazel's wife, Lesley.

At first, she tried to push the fears aside and leave her experienced sailor to pursue his quest. And perhaps quietly savour the moment when her competition is sold in Europe.

As Mokum prepared for the trip, reality weakened her resolve. She started talking about booking flights to meet Mokum when it docks in Quebec, St. John's, England and Amsterdam.

'I'll have to join them along the way. It's how I'm going to deal with it.'

To follow their voyage, go to www.mokumovertheocean.blogspot.com