Maltese sailor completes solo Atlantic crossing
Joanna Ripard
Eleandro Buhagiar cruised his way into the history books last
week, becoming the first Maltese to sail across the Atlantic
single-handedly when he successfully reached Horta in the Azores 20
days after setting sail from the West Indies on May 14.
Mr Buhagiar, 31 of Mosta, originally hoped to sail solo from
Antigua to Malta on his 37-foot yacht Mahina, but an accident has put paid to
part of his ambition. After three days in Horta braving gale force
winds and "trying to keep Mahina
in one piece", the 1975 Swedish-built ocean cruiser was rammed by a
French catamaran, causing her considerable damage.
Mr Buhagiar, an electrical technician by profession, carried out
some repairs himself, but he has practically lost the use of Mahina's self-steering mechanism.
Last Wednesday, he set sail for Gibraltar, where on Saturday he
will be joined by his father Joseph, who is to travel from Malta to
accompany his son as he sails across the Mediterranean to Malta.
They are expected here between July 4 and 6.
In Malta, Mahina might have to
be put on the hand to undergo repairs. Mr Buhagiar will probably
have to leave her behind for a while as work commitments await in
the Caribbean, where he moved in 2001 to freelance as crew for
regatta races and yacht delivery.
Mr Buhagiar's brother Ruben told The Sunday Times last week: "We
have spoken to Eleandro. He is exhausted as he is not getting much
rest, but he is upbeat in spite of the setbacks and the damage to
his beloved boat. He is very pleased he has made it across the
Atlantic alone. It is a huge achievement for him. My father has
decided to fly out to be with him from Gibraltar to Malta to support
him and to put the family's minds at rest."
The 2,500-nautical mile voyage from Antigua to the Azores was far
from plain sailing. In a soul-baring e-mail he sent to friends, Mr
Buhagiar described the first three-week leg as "personal proof of
endurance" as he writes of overcast skies, rain, flat seas and
five-metre waves, gale force winds and breezes, on-the-spot repair
jobs, dodging lightning, and no luck at fishing.
Mr Buhagiar says he quickly ran out of fresh produce and resorted
to fishing but caught nothing but a plastic bag and a seagull,
"though I heard ashore that almost no yacht caught any fish". He was
disappointed that cloudy skies meant he "did not see much of those
sunrises, sunsets, moon and starry nights as I and anyone would have
imagined". In three weeks, he only communicated with two ships and
three sailing yachts. Dolphins and the occasional bird kept him
company.
His SSB/FM receiver came in handy after his stereo broke down. He
hooked up a small FM transmitter to an iPod and listened to music
through the receiver. He also made a simple antenna, taped it to the
backstay and was able to listen to Herb, a weather router.
On Day 8, Mr Buhagiar noticed water was seeping in through the
anchor locker which had to be drained every so often. Four days
later, Mahina enjoyed her best
run: 164 nautical miles with the wind down to force 4, veering to
the south. The sun was out for two days and Mr Buhagiar was able to
catch up on some sleep and carry out some checks.
On Day 17 a fishing net wrapped around the prop. Horta was 300
nautical miles away. A storm kicked up and Mr Buhagiar decided to
steer himself "in complete darkness, alone on this tiny boat, in the
middle of the ocean in those conditions.
"I must admit I did enjoy it, until after five hours I got so
tired that I decided to hoist my storm jib and heave too. Mahina sat there calmly sliding down the
waves." After eight hours' sleep, the storm had passed and a little
miracle had taken place - the net around the prop was gone.
On Day 20, 50 nautical miles from Horta, the breeze picked up to
25 knots on his course, and the jib furling line snapped. The
accident with the catamaran occurred three days later and was
followed by four days of paperwork and repairs. Mr Buhagiar was,
how-ever, looking forward to setting sail again, despite the weather
not being "too great".
"My heart needs to be out alone at sea, away from land, people
and bars, and to forget my troubles this week," he signed off his
e-mail. | 
