Island Life Magazine Ltd October/November 2006 | Page 31

weather. Husband Ian, who kept
in twice-daily contact with her by
satellite phone (running up a £1,000plus bill in the process) called in the
early hours of the morning to warn
of the weather conditions.
“I was totally fed up, because I was
just starting to feel I was on my way”
she says. “I told Ian that if I had
to go back to Tenerife, I probably
wouldn’t want to start off again,
but he just said “see how you feel
when you get there…” and by the
time I reached Tenerife after about
30 hours, I had made up my mind I
was going to cross the Atlantic!”
As it turned out, she ended up
being stuck in Tenerife for a week
with strong winds and engine
trouble, and Ian flew out to help get
her seaborne again.
Once on her way to Antigua,
Dolores learned to survive on
minimal sleep, napping for an
hour at a time, and got used to
basic rations that included cereals,
pre-cooked rice mixed with water
(which she learned to loathe) and
tinned tuna, soup and corned beef.
She was constantly scanning the
horizon for other vessels and then
calling them to check that they had

seen her little 26-foot craft – which
was bought specially for the journey
because she had not wanted to sail
in one of Ian’s larger boats.
“One of them was a Japanese boat
with a lot of lights on, just before
the Cape Verde Islands” she recalls.
“I called to check if they had seen
me and they said yes we have seen
you, but what is a little boat doing
out here in the middle of the water,
so far away?”
It was a question Dolores asked
herself right up until the last
glorious day when she finally
sighted Antigua and Ian came out to
meet her in a RIB.
Having done it was a huge triumph
and Ian and Seb were naturally
very proud. Ian said: “I was more
concerned about being back home
watching the weather for Dolores
than I would have been doing the
journey myself”.
Then he quipped: “On the bright
side, at least there are no shoe shops
in the Atlantic!”
And will the formidable Dolores
be doing it again? She says not
– although every time Ian suggests
selling the boat, she says no….

Equipment & food
continued...

Sea Anchor, Life Jackets, Life
Raft, Flares, 2 Emergency
Position Indicating Radio
Beacons and many alterations
to the boat to aid single
handed navigation - including
a forward looking camera at
the masthead so she could see
ahead when in the cabin.
Screw top long life milk (which
was horrible), water in 1.5
litre bottles (lots – all stowed
low down in the boat to aid
stability), Bread - two slices in
the morning, which was cut
down to one during the last
week, Black Tea using extra
strong tea bags so I could get 3
cups from one. Tinned soups,
pre cooked rice which I got
sick to death of! Tins of Tuna,
sweetcorn, corned beef, beans,
chipsticks and chocolate which
I only ate during the last week.
My favourite was my home
baked fruit cake...

Equipment
& food...
Dolores was very keen to
ensure that she had the right
equipment on board together
with a good supply of food:
2 Satellite Phones, VHF Radio,
Radar and Radar Detector,
2 Battery banks, Aquagen
and solar panels to generate
electricity,
Monitor
wind-vane
selfsteering, Auto Pilot, Parachute

The loneliness of a long
distance sailor - Dolores on the Atlantic.

Island Life - www.isleofwight.net

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