Dee Caffari - Against the Flow: The First Woman to Sail Solo the Wrong Way Around the World

In loving memory of my father, Peter Caffari. The man who inspired, encouraged and supported me.

THE INSPIRING STORY OF A TEACHER TURNED RECORD-MAKING YACHTSWOMAN

DEE CAFFARI
WITH ELAINE BUNTING

Published by A & C Black Publishers Ltd

38 Soho Square, London, W1D 3HB

www.acblack.com

Copyright Dee Caffari and Elaine Bunting 2007

ISBN 978-07136-8441-4

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The right of the authors to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin, Cornwall

Patrick Snowball

When I first met Dee she was a rookie skipper, inexperienced on the corporate circuit, but was already planning her first circumnavigation of the globe against the prevailing winds and currents in the 20042005 Global Challenge Race. Instinctively, I trusted her. Maybe my military training enables me to spot an inner strength in someone that sits at the very core of them: a fortitude and resourcefulness that fires the spirit and frees it to do something extraordinary. Dee is one such person.

During the Global Challenge Race, Dee was tested to the limit. A crew member with a life-threatening medical condition needed immediate treatment. Dees calm, decisive leadership ensured that this mans life was saved. Undaunted by this and other adventures, Dee chose to test herself by following in the footsteps of Sir Chay Blyth to become the first woman to sail single-handed around the world the wrong way. I would have expected nothing less from her. Her impossible voyage, as it was called in Sir Chays day, was not without its risks but, at Aviva, our decision to support her attempt was straightforward. She had the knowledge, a boat not surprisingly called Aviva that could do the job, and the will to succeed. With Dee at the helm, it was always going to be a winning combination.

Its easy to believe in Dee simply because she is so believable. She is unpretentious, charming and, perhaps because of her days as a teacher, a natural communicator. She lives close to the edge and that is when she is at her best. Her passion for challenge gives her life purpose and, by example, helps to shape the lives of people around her.

Dee personifies a can-do, forward thinking attitude and at Aviva we are proud of what she has done and what she may yet do.

James Cracknell

If nobody can hear you, are you really screaming? This flashed through my mind as I was 100 feet up Avivas mast. Although I wasnt the most relaxed Id ever been I didnt feel like screaming, reassured by the sight of Dee below me guiding her soulmate across a glassy Solent on a beautiful July day.

What would have made me scream? Being stuck up here with broken climbing gear, struggling to replace a computer chipboard, whilst at the bottom of the world in the Southern Ocean during the worst storms for fifty years, looking down at the deck knowing there was nobody on board to help you out and the nearest human was busy orbiting the Earth. But screaming in that situation probably wouldnt suffice.

Maybe a salty sea-dog, born in wellies and a sowester, could have coped in a situation like that. But not someone from landlocked Hertfordshire, who only started sailing six years earlier and the first time shed sailed Aviva on her own was to the start line.

That is what makes Dee remarkable; not that she was the first woman to go the wrong way round but the way that she did it, on a small budget with hardly any preparation time and with a smile on her face. Knowing her youd think she was too sociable and gregarious to spend 178 days alone at sea, but this is what makes her so special. She has found a way to unlock the inner strength that is within every one of us, and for that as much as the circumnavigation she is an inspiration.

In a world where we want everything right here, right now without having to make any effort or sacrifice, Dee is testament to the fact that the greatest rewards do not come easily and if they did they wouldnt be any fun, would they?

Sir Chay Blyth

Being first to climb something, sail somewhere or explore some hidden corner of the earth used to be what it was all about. Think Columbus, Magellan, Joshua Slocum, pioneers all. Their voyages were firsts; those who followed in their wake had to seek out and overcome other challenges.

But in these critical times people find it easy to sneer at the accomplishments of others. They point to satnav, electronic autopilots, satphones and the magic equipment that streams weather data almost endlessly from the on-board computer. It all seems too easy today, and if it goes wrong air-sea rescue will pluck you from the ocean and have you home in time for tea.

Maybe they are right. Maybe technology has taken something away from modern day adventure, but some things do not change. Let those critics who carp and sneer sweat for months (years maybe) to raise the necessary money, to win backers, to build the yacht, and, yes, to put in all the high-tech kit and lets see them embark on a voyage of their own.

Let us see them drive a 72 foot yacht which would normally be crewed by 18, sail across the Southern Oceans of the world against the wind and currents, against the whole terrestrial spin of the globe. To stand at the helm and steer for hours at a time with the winds and waves crashing against you almost ceaselessly. To stand and fight in that desolate place where the seas come as big as houses that roll and break over and over again on top of you and your yacht, where day turns to night and the seas do not discriminate either between you or the time of day. Damage has to be repaired and the yacht has to be kept driving forward. No satnav phone helped anyone go through that.

The Impossible Voyage may no longer be impossible. But it remains hard very, very hard. In all recorded history only five people have circumnavigated the globe from East to West against the prevailing winds and currents. Dee Caffari is one of these five Impossible Voyagers.

I feel proud that in coming safely home along a track I pioneered more than 30 years ago Dee Caffari has written herself into history and we can now all bask in her reflected glory. This is her story.

Something was wrong. I climbed up the companionway ladder and shone my torch into the cockpit. Aviva reared up on each wave and slammed into the trough beyond with a terrible crash. The boat juddered and flexed before starting the ascent up the face of the next wave. Water crashed over the deck and cascaded in deafening torrents across the cockpit. For the first time since I had left Portsmouth in November I was afraid.

The beam of the torch lit up a mass of tangled ropes in the cockpit, some streaming out astern of us. I clipped my lifeline on and crawled out on my knees. As I moved away from the shelter of the tiny cuddy a wall of freezing water swept me off the cockpit floor and washed me aft until my lifeline snatched taut. My face was pressed up against the cold, hard surface of a winch. I struggled to get upright again and when I did I was stunned by the fury of the storm. In the darkness I could see the foaming white of breaking waves all around us, their tops ripped off by the wind and whipped away in spume. The air was choking with salt and I fought for breath. Reefed down to a tiny amount of sail and at times submerged beneath tons of solid water,