Ripcord Adventure Journal 2.2
Our sixth issue of Ripcord Adventure Journal is a very different beast to its five earlier siblings, whose articles and images were, in the main, submitted by adventurous travel writers and photographers; in this issue however, we have brought together 11 accomplished explorers and adventurers who write about their unique experience of life, lived to the maximum and danced to a different beat.
Our sixth issue of Ripcord Adventure Journal is a very different beast to its five earlier siblings, whose articles and images were, in the main, submitted by adventurous travel writers and photographers; in this issue however, we have brought together 11 accomplished explorers and adventurers who write about their unique experience of life, lived to the maximum and danced to a different beat.
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7<br />
Guest Editorial: An Ocean Deep<br />
Alex Bellini<br />
Just do it!’ Then a dialogue would start in my head ‘Don’t do it. Just<br />
get rid of it!’<br />
The box offered a safety net that I was glad to have, but it was also a<br />
temptation. In fact, that temptation had become so strong that I had<br />
decided to move the EPIRB to the front cabin, placing it behind<br />
bags of trash and equipment. Now, if I wanted to reach it I would<br />
have to make a definite decision and effort to do so. I felt suddenly<br />
safer. However, I may have solved the problem of temptation but,<br />
of course, I had added an even greater problem. If disaster struck<br />
now, I certainly could not reach the emergency switch quickly.<br />
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA<br />
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA<br />
So, on the 13th of December 2008, I purposely moved into the front<br />
cabin, grabbed the EPIRB, took a deep breath and flicked the<br />
switch.<br />
Two hectic hours followed and at one o’clock in the afternoon, in a<br />
sea about to swell, I glimpsed a small boat nearing me. It was Katea,<br />
the New Zealand tow boat that was making its way from New<br />
Caledonia to the town of Newcastle, one hundred miles north of<br />
Sydney. Katea had received my message and would be able to take<br />
me to land in about eight hours.<br />
I stepped on board. It was devastating, as if someone had suddenly<br />
taken away all my certainties and everything I had. But, at the same<br />
time, it was also a relief - as if a heavy load had been lifted from my<br />
back. My journey had come to an end, but the true adventure had<br />
only just begun.<br />
After chasing land for almost three hundred days I was tired,<br />
overwhelmed, hungry and bent by fatigue. But I had enough<br />
strength left in my mind and my body to reach Australia and go<br />
beyond. If my life had not been at stake I would have dared to go<br />
on and maybe, just maybe, I would have reached land in my rowing<br />
boat.<br />
Destiny often prevails over our dreams and unexpected events can<br />
block the road at the last minute. But they say what stands in the<br />
way becomes the way. What impeded my actions in some way
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