Maltese sailor arrives after solo Atlantic crossing
Joanna Ripard
 |
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Eleandro Buhagiar, and his father Joseph
sailed into Marsamxett in Force 6 winds on board Mahina on
Thursday afternoon. Photo: Ruben
Buhagiar. |
Eleandro Buhagiar finally made port on Thursday afternoon, nearly
eight weeks after setting sail from St Martin on May 14 in his
attempt to sail to Malta single-handedly on his 37-foot yacht Mahina.
Mr Buhagiar, 31 of Mosta, became the first Maltese to sail across
the Atlantic solo when Mahina, a
1975 Swedish-built ocean cruiser, sailed into Horta in the Azores 20
days later. After three days in Horta, Mahina was accidentally rammed by a
French catamaran, and she suffered considerable damage. After some
temporary repairs, Mr Buhagiar sailed to Gibraltar where he was
joined by his father Joseph, who travelled from Malta to accompany
him for the last leg across the Mediterranean. At age 69, it was Mr
Buhagiar's first sailing experience.
Father and son sailed into Marsamxett on Thursday afternoon and
Mahina was moored at Manoel Island
marina. Yesterday lunchtime the Buhagiars sailed to Kalkara where
Mahina will be moored for the time
being until she is taken out of the water in October so that
extensive repairs can be carried out.
Mr Buhagiar, who freelances as crew for yacht delivery and
regattas, flew out to Croatia yesterday evening to fulfil work
commitments.
Speaking to The Sunday Times on board Mahina yesterday morning, surrounded by
his elder brother Ruben, his sister Caroline and his father, Mr
Buhagiar said he hoped to return to Malta in two weeks' time to
carry out some work on Mahina. In
early September he will join a crew for the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup
2007 in Porto Cervo, Sardinia, and later travel to St Tropez for
another race. He will return to Malta to continue the refit on Mahina in the winter in between
freelance jobs.
Sipping coffee, tanned but exhausted, Mr Buhagiar said he was
pleased he had fulfilled a long-time ambition but he did not feel he
had accomplished any extraordinary feat. Mr Buhagiar, who had
enormous moral support from his family, is not fond of publicity and
is reluctant to talk about himself.
But in an e-mail he sent out to close friends, he expressed his
satisfaction at bringing his home (Mr Buhagiar lives on board Mahina in the Caribbean where he is
based mostly) to Malta: "Five books, 4,800 nautical miles and a
zillion cups of coffee later, myself and my mighty sailing vessel
Mahina arrived safely to my home
island of Malta... the dream is accomplished and is all history
already," he wrote.
He explained how it took nine and a half days, 1,174 nautical
miles from Horta to Barbate, Spain, and how strong easterly winds
forced him to alter course and enter port while making his way to
Gibraltar. He pointed out that this was the hardest leg, although
the shortest, as gusty winds involved many sail changes. The worst
part was the last 48 (sleepless) hours because of heavy cargo
traffic on the major shipping routes. The highlight was a tuna catch
- enough for two dinners. He arrived at a deserted Barbate port at 4
a.m.
After driving to Gibraltar airport to pick up his father, the two
carried out repairs and checks on Mahina, topped up with fuel and stocked
up on provisions. They set off for the 10-day voyage to Malta on the
Tuesday and headed for Morocco.
The westerly breeze soon died out, but an easterly wind kicked
up. The Buhagiars tacked all the way down the Algerian coast to
Tunisia, averaging 130 nautical miles a day but advancing just 80
nautical miles a day. Many times the wind was not light, causing
sailing mostly between 15 and 25 knots in choppy seas.
One night the headsail tore, and father and son did their best to
repair it before they set sail again. After braving a thunderstorm,
during which they saw 46.3 knots on one occasion, the wind turned
westerly again off the Tunisian border. The fishing was going well,
too, with a 20 kg tuna catch so meals were sorted for several days.
Mr Buhagiar said it was trying, after spending so much time
alone, to become accustomed to the company of his talkative father
and was totally surprised at how "cosmopolitan" his father had
become, totally addicted to his mobile phone: "Every time we
approach the coast he gets that thing out, ignores all ships, land
and sailing, and gets focused on his text messaging!"
He signed off the e-mail: "One would wonder that life on a
sailing yacht is pure pleasure and relaxing. I assure you it is not
the case, especially single-handed. It is true that the sailing
gives you pleasure and relaxation but the work involved to achieve
that, the weather you need to go through, the problems in gear
failure, the constant sail changes, the constant thinking and
actions... "I admit, it is a hard life, but the adventure is
rewarding in every situation, from calm, pleasant sailing conditions
to sailing in furious winds and seas. This is where my heart is
happiest the most. Mahina is the
best."
Yesterday morning, Mr Buhagiar said that there were occasions
during the voyage when he wondered why he was putting himself
through the arduous experience, but he gritted his teeth and kept
going. He says he would do it all over again. In fact, he plans to
set up Mahina for a
round-the-world stint in four years' time. | 
