First world problems

Chris Pearsall, whose yacht sank during a single-handed voyage in the Med, reflects on the circumstances now facing his Ukrainian rescuer

- Chris Pearsall

Really annoyingly, I’ve spent eight hours trying to persuade the authorities in the Seychelles to let me in. I’ve been in contact with the captain of a yacht who needs help to sail the 1,000 miles from the Seychelles to Zanzibar. There’s a significant (60th) birthday in two weeks’ time and I’ve been promising myself a new adventure. This seemed to fit the bill.

My first attempt at ‘pushing the boat out, resulted in a push too much. November 2021 saw me sailing on my yacht, Emma Rose, from Crete to Cyprus, en route to the Lebanon and the iconic destination of Beirut. That adventure came to an unhappy end 90 miles offshore at 12.30 on the morning of the 7th. I hit something and after a struggle to save Emma Rose I abandoned ship and got into the liferaft. Five hours later, I was picked up by a cargo ship bound for Haifa. The Zanzibar adventure was to be my first sailing trip since that episode (PBO June 2022).