Crossing the North Atlantic Ocean

In a small sailboat, crossing the North Atlantic Ocean is no longer a news-grabbing event. Recent advances in navigation and communication equipment, unavailable a few short years ago, have greatly improved sailors' chances of survival and success. Nevertheless, the waters of the North Atlantic Ocean still present many different moods and difficult—often extreme—challenges.

In 1996, three Lake Ontario sailors from Toronto—Henk Borsboom, Peter Becker, and the author, Dick Grannan—decided to accept the challenges of the North Atlantic Ocean on RABASKA (big canoe), a thirty-seven foot Alberg sailboat. The adventure had a huge impact on their lives, and their memories tell fascinating stories of what they experienced on that trip.

Many sailors who write about cruising have a chapter about The Storm. Crossing the North Atlantic Ocean in 1996 was not about just one major storm, but a series of them that nearly defeated their spirit and courage. The sailors faced relentless challenges when they crossed the world's second-largest ocean in a small sailboat. Grannan tells how they worked together as a team, and how the trip enabled them to rearrange their priorities and to get more in touch with their everyday lives.