NYC Members Paul & Audrey complete 2 year Circumnavigation
Paul and Audrey Adamson were headhunted by ex Formula One Team boss, Eddie Jordan, to work as Captain and First Mate on his superyacht, Oyster 885’ LUSH and sail her around the world from November 2012 to September 2014!
Paul and Audrey will be speaking about their circumnavigation in the club at some stage over the next few months (Date TBC).
In the meantime, here’s a quick recap from Audrey on the two-year circumnavigation:
“Cruising among the islands in Clew Bay, county Mayo, on our family yacht as a child, ignited a lifelong hunger and passion in me for the sea, sailing and all that it encompasses. For as far back as I can remember I’ve harbored this dream to sail around the world and boy was it a magical dream to fulfill. When I applied to study dentistry in the UK, I wrote on my UCAS form that aside from my desire to become a dentist I had a separate goal… to sail around the world some day!
The Bay of Biscay, Canaries and Atlantic flashed by and before we knew it, we were joined by 26 other Oysters in the Caribbean. We set off on the Oyster World Rally sailing west through the Panama Canal and into the stunning Pacific Ocean. Crossing the equator we carried out the essential seafaring rituals, gaining our right of passage by King Neptune. A blue-footed booby landed on our bow pulpit approaching the Galápagos heralding the start of numerous awesome encounters with the worlds most wackiest and beautiful creatures. After 15 days at sea crossing the PacificOcean the dramatic cliffs of the Marquesas appeared on our horizon. French Polynesia was picture perfect, full of white sand, fruit trees, coconuts, gleaming crystal blue waters and coral formations teaming with fish. Tongan and Fijian people were just charming, so friendly and big; yes I can totally see why they play so much rugby! We sampled some Kava Root and danced about in grass skirts. On then to Vanuatu and through a small passage in the Great Barrier Reef where we were welcomed into Australia by a couple of salt water crocodiles!
Indonesia was full of bustling markets, very sweet people and dragon boats galore. Kite surfing in the Cocos (keeling) islands with reef sharks all around was spine tingling, navigating carefully across the rest of the Indian Ocean staying clear of the developing Tropical Revolving Storm off Mauritius kept us on our toes. We continued onto La Reunion and South Africa where we encountered plenty more animals, this time in a Game Reserve. We laid a wreath in the water just off Mandela’s prison cell in Robben Island the day this iconic leader was buried. The South Atlantic had some interesting islands too with St Helena being our favorite. I don’t think the great emperor Napoleon would have agreed with us though, this was where he lived out his exile! We stopped off briefly in Ascension Island and Brazil before returning to Antigua where we were crowned ‘circumnavigators’!
The adventure continued for 6 more months bringing us back across the Atlantic, via the Azores where we were met by magnificent blue whales, the biggest creatures to ever live on planet Earth! Our fun continued on into the Mediterranean with all its rich cultures, cuisine and languages. The seas were reasonably kind to us over the 22months but there were some hairy moments onboard LUSH from surfing atop the breaking crest of a 30-foot ocean wave mid Atlantic to navigating around uncharted reefs in Fiji, negotiating the treacherous Agulhas current of South Africa and watching a barometer pressure drop extremely quickly heralding the approach of a major gale! We completed our sailing adventure in mid Sept and are currently writing a book and sharing stories of our adventure at various speaking engagements and events.
This epic voyage has changed me forever. I have never felt more alive, engaged, connected and fulfilled in my life. It has been so much more than I ever imagined possible. We’ve experienced traditions handed down through generations, witnessed island life on the edge of the world, stumbled upon countless, unforgettable, breathtaking sights. We have had the privilege to be among some of the world’s most tremendous creatures on sea and land. We have been at one with the universe, sailing under the starriest of nights, watching the sun rise and set on the worlds wondrous oceans, knowing that this was exactly as it was for the earliest of ocean explorers.
I was delighted to share this adventure with my wonderful husband and the captain of our ship, Paul, who worked tirelessly navigating the world’s oceans and continually maintaining the yacht to the highest level. My Dad also made an appearance and managed to clock up 13,000 sea miles joining us, as crew, on some of our offshore passages. I’ll be forever grateful to have shared such a precious experience with him. We also had a few National Yacht Club members onboard including Martin McCarthy, who made a couple of appearance between the Atlantic and the Pacific. His wife Bernice joined him in the Pacific for a fantastic cruise around the Whitsunday Islands. They were an absolute joy to have onboard. Eddie and Marie were wonderful to work for and I learnt heaps from them on life, adventure and of course risk taking! We have become great friends and ultimately it is down to Eddie and his massive vision that gave us this once in a lifetime opportunity.
This circumnavigation has been an invigorating, life changing adventure that has left me with a profound sense of awe, wonder and appreciation of this magnificent world, along with her cultures, people and wildlife. It also makes me appreciate Ireland more and what this coast has to offer. I’m proud that I started sailing in the rugged west of Ireland, one of the most stunning places on earth and I can say that now with some authority having sailed 38,000 nautical miles and truly seen the world!”
Eddie Jordan, and his wife Marie, joined the yacht at various locations around the world, managing to fit it in along with his busy Formula One schedule. Here are some of his thoughts on his captain and first mate.
“Over the last 30 years, I have had dozens of amazing staff on all of my boats but I am not sure if there is a more complete and dedicated couple than Audrey and Paul, they were so perfect for this job. I have never heard a grumpy word, not once. Living in close quarters, people can become despondent or get on each others nerves but they were just a magic couple.”
