On a sailboat round Lanka
For the past 10 years Jeremy Bolling has had one thing to cross off on his ‘to-do’ list. Laughing that he didn’t tell people about it simply because they would think he was “a nutty empty vessel”, Jeremy secretly harboured the desire to circumnavigate Sri Lanka. When he spoke to his friends at the Ceylon Motor Yacht Club of what he wanted to accomplish in a humble GP14, 2 crew sailboat the reaction was exactly what he had expected.
Enthusiastic reception: A crowd gathered to greet Jeremy and his team in Chilaw
Three sails and a 14ft sailboat (that has barely enough space for the two man crew) – that has been Jeremy’s companion through his journey which was scheduled to come to an end by April 5 in Galle.
“It’s a dingy, really!” laughs Mini Trepte who with her husband Jon has driven alongside Jeremy on land during his almost six-week long voyage. Being a part of Jeremy’s team they have been the baton bearers of information between Jeremy and the rescue boats from land. Tracking down Jeremy’s whereabouts and scouting-out food and lodging, the duo feel that “it would have been impossible without a four-wheel drive vehicle.” Thankfully Land Rover, ardently advocating the spirit of adventure, got on board with Jeremy’s idea and provided a Discover 3 and a Defender 110 to forge paths. Jeremy’s coming ashore depended solely on the eyes he had on land and Jon shares that “sometimes we had to rush ahead of him only to find that it was too rocky or just unsuitable to land.”
After being cleared by the authorities last December to make the journey Jeremy consulted his family. “I spoke to my mother, wife and brother,” he smiles, “They thought I was mad” but in under a month everything fell into place and he set sail by the third week of January.
Proud of the fact that he comes from a family of “water babies,” sailing to Jeremy has always been a “nice way to get away from traffic.” Taking up swimming, water- polo and windsurfing when he was younger, it is only natural that with a father who owned a yacht and was a member of the Ceylon Motor Yacht Club he gravitated towards sailing. Describing himself as someone who enjoys competitive sailing
Sailing mates: Rob Moore and Jeremy Bolling
on the Bolgoda Lake on a Sunday evening and sharing sailing stories over a cold beer, Jeremy finds it recreational to be out on the water and has even made it to some world championships.
The technicalities not allowing him to sail into the wind means Jeremy’s time out at sea was a balancing act of avoiding the wind and tackling the waves. Even planning the project between monsoons didn’t guarantee the team anything.
Not knowing what you could be up against, even setting out by 6 a.m and returning by 10 p.m. was not a given as Jeremy recalls. The stretch at Adam’s Bridge in the North saw much turbulence and having to avoid the wind his journey of just 2 km changed course and took him 11 long hours. Just like most of the journey, Jeremy feels this leg too was worth it, especially when he saw dolphins crossing the Adam’s Bridge.”
The locals gathering around Mini and Jon frantically waving and ipad signalling Jeremy while he was out at sea initially thought they were transmitting messages. “We had to tell them what we were doing and why we were there” Mini recalls. While local fishermen sailed past to have a chat with Jeremy out at sea, Jon and Mini were happy to note that people were warm and welcoming wherever they went. Grateful that the Sri Lanka Navy extended their fullest support they feel that throughout the six weeks they “didn’t have a single bad experience.”
“The hardest part has to be keeping your mind strong when you are physically drained,” Jeremy shares. The first three or four hours are comparatively enjoyable, but as the day progresses “you get tempted to just beach it,” he admits. Overall accepting that it’s a journey of faith and that you will not be served-up the ideal conditions you hope for Jeremy felt strongly that he “was not alone because of the support from his family, friends and even the warm people around him.
Believing that at the end of the day Sri Lankans want nothing more than the company of other Sri Lankans, he feels that more people should go to new places and experience them differently. Saying that looking at Sri Lanka from the shoreline is a totally different experience, Jeremy who even tried to guess where he was by looking at the shoreline a couple of times says that he is in this to spread some awareness about Educate Lanka- a charity providing free education and for “the great stories” he could share.
Omnipresent smiles and warm receptions are what made the whole experience a “humbling one”, as he puts it.