An amateur sailor who took on the challenge of sailing from Falmouth to Africa and back on a Rustler yacht and back has urged people to never give up on their dreams.
Dan Monk, 41, sailed to Africa and the Caribbean and beyond with his wife of ten years Bow and his two young children Amelia and Olivia despite never having sailed a full size yacht before.
They bought a 45-foot yacht they named Pancakes originally built by Rustler Yachts in Falmouth and, with no sailing experience, sailed from Plymouth to Africa, across the Atlantic up the Caribbean and returned back to Plymouth via the Azores - covering 10,000 nautical miles.
Growing up around the Helford River and Truro in Cornwall, Dan was fortunate enough to attend one of England’s top boarding schools, Sedbergh School and Truro College.
But despite the opportunities and privilege, his life spiralled into addiction at the age of 16, consuming 13 years in darkness.
He says it was a perilous climb from the abyss, but with the help of a 12-step programme and a supportive community, he reclaimed my life.
Thirteen years after breaking free from the chains of his addiction, he has built a successful business, Cask World, and achieved a world record for the largest bottle of whisky sold at £1.1 million.
But he said he never let go of his dream of sailing the world in a yacht, despite never having sailed one before.
“I sailed toppers and lasers but never sailed a yacht and certainly never owned a boat. It’s always been a dream of mine,” Dan told the Packet.
“My dad was a captain in the Merchant Navy and I grew up on ships which is very different to little sailing boats. I used to fly out and join him during school holidays and join him for trips and that’s how I saw the world and I think that’s where my love of the sea comes from.
”It was always my dream that one day I’d love to buy a boat, and go sailing when I had children it really encouraged me to keep going.
He said it was not all about the sailing, as he and Bow didn’t know how to sail, it was just how could they show the girls that you don’t need to know everything, that you can still try and you can just work it out together.
The day before they set of on their adventure they were invited to Robin Knox-Johnson’s house for tea as a send-off.
The 14-day voyage from Cape Verse to Barbados was gruelling, marked by relentless winds and powerful following seas.
“It was definitely challenging, but it took us three years to get there before we left. It was no easy feat.
“It was challenging. It was exhausting it was uncomfortable it was all of those things that endurance sports bring with them.”
He said one of the things that they enjoyed the most was the community of sailors. “It was almost like we were in the class of 2024,” he said. “There were other peoples and families doing the same and we bumped into them everywhere, we were all following the trade winds. It was a great environment to be in.
However he said it was harder than expected.
“I didn’t expect it to be so challenging,” he said. “It was just exhausting.”
Bow struggled with sea-sickness and nearly gave up on a number of occasions but pulled through and the children are now seasoned sailors.
The story of their journey actually started in 2021 when they bought Pancakes. Dan says he found the boat in the Hamble and went down to see Nick Offord the managing director and owner of Rustler Yachts.
He said it turned out there was a chap in the yard who’d built the boat while co-owner Adrian had launched it.
Nick went with Dan to buy the boat and they bought it back to Rustler who did the refit which took a year.
Then it was taken to Plymouth where world renowned sailor, inveterate traveller and adventurer Dan Stroud taught the family how to sail.
The sailing adventure is now over, but Dan says a new one awaits with the steppes of Mongolia in their sights.
“The Important thing is that it was scary but pulling the trigger on the whole project in the middle of my life it was a big investment for us,” he said. “It was an investment in something that didn’t give money back, it took more money, and, with a young family, I’m supposed to be sensible and buy a house.
“The majority of people just thought we were crazy and that was difficult to push through the fear but, once we’d bought the boat, we decided there is never a right time for anything so we just decided to push on.
”But making it to the start line is often underappreciated or not recognised and that’s the message I want to share, is that just making it to the start line is amazing.
“You’re already ahead if you have a dream but, to get to the start line of it as well that’s amazing and then when you get to the sailing itself well then you’re living it.
“I guess my message to everybody is, it doesn’t matter what it is, whether it’s sailing, horses, growing a garden in the backyard, whatever those dreams are stay the course because this took 20 years, this wasn’t just ‘OK, let’s do it’. We didn’t have any money but kept looking at boats and always focussed on the dream.
“It was very special and I encourage everyone to do it.”
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