A marathon sail - for charity - can one man make a difference?

9:28 PM Sun 12 Jul 2009 GMT

'Robert Dowling (in fur hat) and supporters from the Fingal Sailing School - 48 hour Endurance Sail' Robert Dowling

Rob Dowling is a man who believes 'one man can make a difference'. Driven by his passion and desire to help the children of the Amazon River basin and his love of sailing, Rob undertook on the 3-4th July, a marathon sail around an estuary in Northern Ireland. Rob completed his challenge - a 48 hour, solo sail but unfortunately did not manage to raise the necessary funds to continue his work with the children in Peru.

Here Rob recounts his marathon sail and the reasons behind it. His charity website will be up and running in a few weeks, in the meantime log onto www.amazonquest.net to find out more about Rob and the work he is trying to do.

Rob Dowling - 48 Hours solo in a GP14 dinghy.

One of the questions people ask me most is 'Rob, why?'

As I sit in my car over looking the very estuary where I have just completed my marathon sail, with laptop at hand, I ask myself 'why indeed?'

Two days and nights of no sleep, no rest and solo constant sailing with gib and mainsail up, in my 35 year old GP14 'The Huntress.'

Before I relate my sailing adventure, please indulge this battered tired old man who turned 51 two days ago, a day after the challenge.

The spirit of humanity, of true self is so much more than this body we identify with. What I achieved is simply a challenge to over come the fear, the physical pain, the sense of own self worth .just who do you think you are Rob? In answer to that question I am more than just 'Rob' more than just conscience. When we tune into the bigger aspects of our spirit, there lies within true strength. My work as a holistic therapist has helped me achieved this goal and indeed many others.

Now back to my sailing challenge. Was it tough going? Yes for sure my beloved 'Huntress' has seen better days sailing but is as solid a dinghy that was ever made. I feel she will out see me. What's the saying . they don't make them like that anymore!

Four years ago I completed my first sail marathon on the same waters with the same boat and a younger Rob!

Back to the beginning. I had been in the club for only two years and while on holiday had a vivid dream with a message I had a year to live!! Was I shocked? For sure, but with good heart I decided if it was to be so, it would happen and prepared for the event. But before that year ended I decided to do more then just give money to charity, I wanted to make a small difference in this world and also challenge myself.

I asked my fellow club members if they would like to help out on an endurance, 24 hour non-stop, solo sail.

In the month of September I started and finished the endurance sail without stopping; we raised a lot of money for the Children's Hospital.

That Sunday morning going home after the sail I realised my 'dream' death was that of my 22-year-old marriage, and the old Rob who was gone forever.

Two years later with the house sold and alone, but with some capital in the bank from my share of the family home, I was in pain from my loss and decided to sail down the Amazon River - solo in a bath (tub). This I did successfully, I already knew I had the strength and focus to complete the task. Oh, I should mention another 'dream style' message I had but one that came twenty-six years ago, when I was a younger man. It was Rob sitting in a bath on the Amazon River - alone.

My solo bath sail was to open a new world to me, one of helping the children of the Amazon River Basin.

And what better way to get publicity than by doing something one's passionate about - sailing dinghy boats!

Naturally the Amazon adventure covers a book, one that I have completed and am looking to publish (anyone out there?).

Back to now. For the 48-hour endurance sail, my training programme was basically running to build up my leg muscles and improve my general stamina. I didn't have much sailing before the event, only two hours solo and three hours normal in the year, with my children's project in Peru taking up much of my time. In fact I had no sails of my own, as mine were ripped and useless, I couldn't afford to buy a second hand set and actually borrowed a some from the sailing school, who kindly sponsored me, Fingal Sailing School here in Malahide, North Dublin, Ireland. I must say a big thank you to one and all, for your foresight and belief in the project and for the excellent supply of chocolate bars.

Naturally with a wet suit on for such a long a time solid food was not an option throughout the sail. Mind you, a friend did bring a bag of chips and cod out to me on my second day on the water! And yes, when possible, I indulged in a quick mouthful.

The winds at night time were very good to me, but during the day it was different. Often battling for several hours at a time I would think 'Dear God I can't take any more of this battering' but then the winds would die down to a steady flow and leave like a thief in the night.

Robert Dowling and his GP 14 Huntress - 48 hour Endurance Sail - Robert Dowling Click Here to view large photo

When the dreaded gusts, dark on the water, came creeping up and threatened to overpower me, the best technique I found was, apart from hiking out, to just let the gib go and turn into the wind, into irons for a half minute then out, and this was, at times over the whole challenge, to go and on for hours at a time.

The first day went well. It started at 2.00pm and the weather was perfect as I set off. 16 knots winds were expected and I had a sleepless night before thinking about this. The night before there was a major storm and rain fell and this actually helped for the start of my challenge.

My friends were there to see me off and watched for awhile while as I had fun on the water, it had been so long since I had a decent sail I was having a ball but had to remind myself that I was out there for two days and nights and needed to conserve my energy.

But my energy levels were very high. I made sure for the month coming up to this challenge that I took it easy and got as much sleep as possible. I spent a lot of time walking down the estuary every day, as I needed to get a connection on all levels. There were days when I looked out at the waters and said 'Dear Lord that's the weather I want'. And on other days I would see the angry water and say to myself 'if I get those winds I am finished.'

Don't get me wrong a challenge is a challenge but one man in a dinghy can only do so much.

Moving into the first night the sunset was beautiful. I recall thinking I was sorry to see it leave, the heat was most welcome. As daylight faded, reality crept in. On my first night sailing in darkness, I rigged up floor torches so I could move about without breaking a foot on the floor strapping. My dinghy is old with airbags on the sides and the flooring has sides which could easily catch a foot when tacking. I recall my first experience of darkness sailing and thinking every thing just seems different. Too strong a flashlight and your vision was useless looking about before a tack. So low floor lighting was the answer. On the shrews I had makeshift tell tails - golden coloured ribbon from a party balloon. They proved to be excellent as looking up at the burgee was very difficult on the neck and it was hard to see. On my tiller extension I had taped a small hand torch. This proved to be necessary as I moved around the boat. Extra pieces of most vital equipment included a radio and a form pad tied to a rope. My rear suffered the pains of sitting down for such a long period.

Once the sun was gone and a semi-full moon became hidden behind a cloud, it took awhile to adjust to night sailing. I was cautious tacking and only did so at first on a reach, not a run. In fact, thinking of it, I avoided the runs as much as possible; nice when needing a breather from hanging out, but a gybe in dark when your tired isn't a pleasant thought.

The Rescue Rib was only ten minutes away and I had radio contact, every hour the guys would come over and check on me. They'd stay ten minutes and head back to the warmth of the club - can't say I blame them. This in fact was better for me as I didn't want any distractions. I had on a watch but wasn't checking the time; a habit I believe that would have driven me insane and god knows I am bad enough.

Of course the regular checks by Rescue allowed me to keep a sense of timing.

I never kept a mental record of the actual hours left to finish. At times people would say during the daytime 'Hey Rob you only have 28 hours left.' Hell. that I didn't want to know.

What were my thoughts while so long out there alone?

Well thought one was the ever-shifting wind, their strength and my acing bones. The cold was so difficult for me, it got in deep.

I would take phone calls when possible. I had a Russian type, fur army hat with a place I could pop my phone into and talk hands free. My girlfriend in Canada would call every few hours during the night when everyone else was asleep, the time difference helped. Roxane my love I miss you so, and thank you for your words of love and support.

Another part of my mind was on the spiritual and I shall share that with you later.

As you know I have a connection with children in Peru from my bath (tub) trip. My thoughts and main motivation for this challenge was a young girl called Jazmin, she lives in a remote part of the rain forest in Peru. We have helped her to see - go to the website www.amazonquest.net and go to updates, these give you a better idea of her story.

She is never far from my mind, her and the desire to set up a charity for the children out there. It is my intent to head back this September for a few weeks to set up my charity and we have a web site almost complete www.Amazonchildren.com

Rob Dowling during his 48 hour Endurance Sail - Robert Dowling

This is why I had to do the sail marathon, for the publicity to promote the website and to raise funds to cover my costs to get to Peru and do what needs to be done to help Jazmin and many other children like her.

You see there is my reason and my passion. The children are our tomorrow; we need to care for them today.

As a challenge I succeeded...I did the impossible, but as a project to raise funds over the weekend, it was a disaster. ?300 was all we took in raffle sales and donations over the period. It was well published in the papers and we had volunteers on the waters edge and posters around the area.

Back to sailing!! I don't wish to focus on the negative too long.

With night one out of the way, when the daylight came I was thrilled I could take a breath and say thank you God - one down one to go. There was almost no sun breaking through; I was freezing, the bow wave kept me wet but focused. The winds came at me with a vengeance from day two, and around 6 am I was fighting a battle to stay upright.

My arms, hands and fingers were cold, hiking out against gusts of wind that would kill a racehorse. I had a picture of Jazmin pinned in front of me and when the going got tough I would look at her and think 'no way am I giving up.'

I moved the boat in close to shore but these winds travelled across the estuary and hit me on the wrong end, I had no shelter, the tide was out and the water depth was in parts so low and my rudder would hit ground and push up. This would give me weather helm and the boat would spin. I had a job to hang over the transom and unscrew the tension nut and push the rudder back down without tipping over. This was a pattern that would repeat itself.

At the height of the gusts I decided I had better not tack, the boom swing would take me overboard no matter how I did it. So I decided to beach the boat and get out, turn the boom and pull out to depth, point to wind and jump back into the boat. This technique while racing would be a no! but I had a priority to keep going no matter what and to hell with the paintwork or damage to the hull. The first two times I did this it worked, I was thrilled. just keep this up until the winds die down I would tell myself.

I was so proud of myself - no capsizes and all this time on the water and in these winds. But all that was about to change.

Right boom swing, point to wind swing around and jump in. With that the boat took off like a March hare, the wind and rain battering me. Where was I? Hanging onto the transom with one arm, holding on for dear life as my boat went tearing off. I was bouncing all over the water, my arm in pain and I was thinking . now what! No one around, as the Rescue had gone to get new batteries for the radio.

Well needless to say I had to admit defeat and let go . I was afraid of permanent arm damage and so I said 'lets just see what happens.' As my back hit the water with force, my life jacket took me back to the surface and with that I went down again watching my boat sail away without me. The buckle broke and the life vest was useless. I don't swim!

Ah yes that isn't a typo, I am terrified of the water. Bad experience as a child.

I was in a bad place, my feet couldn't touch ground and so I thought to hell with this, swimming can't be that hard. With my arms and legs kicking out and the wind on my back I made it back to shallow waters..the wind was on my back for the first time that day and I was thanking the wind, I believe it saved my life.

When my feet touched ground I was so happy I would see another day. No time to be emotional, I still had a job to do. With the water up to my chin and waves coming over my head, I fixed my life jacket and looked around to see where my Huntress was. Eureka. she was capsized without me, driven to shore by those very winds, her masthead buried in the estuary.

It took me ages to get to her, the walk was so difficult, the cold and rain was draining me. When I reached my boat my only concern was damage to a sail and my GPS unit fixed to her. This was monitoring my movement etc and needed for proof of my record attempt by the Guinness Book of Records.

Amazingly it was still working; an expensive model that I had purchased when on the Amazon adventure.

I did try the centreboard but no luck; I was just too exhausted and shaken from the experience. So I just decided to get my breath back and lie on the hull, enjoy the sight of the sky and say a prayer of thanks.

Within half an hour I could hear two ribs heading my way, one from my own support team and another from a neighbour club. They had spotted me and were worried.

The windsurfers were gathering about on the shoreline and when I saw them I knew the strong winds were here to stay. The windsurfers, later on, reached maximum speeds out on the estuary and were having a ball. But poor little old me I was fighting rather then playing!

My Huntress was so full of water I couldn't tack and sail to empty her so she was towed back to shore by the team and we bailed her out with a bucket. I then checked for damage and I headed back out into those very same nasty winds. The whole experience was just over an hour, yet it seemed longer and is one I shall not forget.

At this stage I would have killed for a hot shower and a decent cup of tea and to close my eyes for a half hour. Naturally I couldn't - it was back to the reality of my challenge.

A hour or two later and sailing where I was visible to the club and had some shelter from those winds, they started to die down and it was wonderful to see a gentle breeze, not shifting, just there to keep me moving and enjoy a beat without any worry.

Part 2 of Rob Dowling's Marathon sail will follow shortly. Stay tuned.

If you wish to make a donation to help Rob's charity please log onto his website - www.amazonquest.net for further information.

Background - Five years ago Irish sailor Rob Dowling completed a marathon 24-hour sail, sponsored by his local club.

Spurred on by its success, Rob then sailed 800 kilometres solo, in a customised plastic bath tub down the Amazon River. He then met and helped a young girl named Jazmin retain her sight, and his life changed forever.

Last year he completed a three day 114-mile raft race, again down the Amazon in Peru.

In September this year he will return to the Amazon to complete the set up of his charity.