Huron Expositor, 2015-05-20, Page 88 Huron Expositor • Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Submitted
Seaforth residents Ian and Joy Winterborn pose on the deck of their sailing boat, the SV Reberth,
which was designed and built in Goderich.
Seaforth couple fulfill dream by sailing across the Atlantic
Marco Vigliotti
Huron Expositor
In a continent spanning
voyage touching Portugal's
scenic south coast and the
hilly terrain of the Cape
Verde islands, among other
dazzling destinations, Sea -
forth residents Ian and Joy
Winterborn were instead
transfixed by the stars.
The British expatriates
both pointed to the quiet
nights drifting along peace-
ful waters, with only the stars
and constellations illuminat-
ing an otherwise pitch-black
sky above, as their favourite
memories from a massive
eight-month sailing trip
across the Atlantic Ocean
last year.
"Being out at night is one
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of the most dramatic things
for us. Looking up at the dark
sky...seeing the planets (and
stars)," Ian said in an inter-
view with the Expositor.
"Rarely these days can you
find somewhere where there
isn't light pollution."
"To see the Milky Way is
just unbelievable - that's my
memory," Joy added. "We
were lucky enough to see
dolphins alongside the boat;
we saw a whale. It's just
incredible."
Their 9,000 nautical mile
journey traversing the Atlan-
tic included stop -offs in
numerous marinas and
ports dotting the Caribbean
and southern Europe, such
as Lagos, Portgual, Las Pal-
mas, Grand Canary and the
island nation of St. Lucia.
The trip, made on a
41 -foot long sailing boat
dubbed the "SV Reberth"
designed and built by Goz-
zard Yachts in Goderich, was
partly spawned by positive
experiences on previous
ocean -crossing cruise trips,
the Winterborns said.
"We have travelled across
the Atlantic on a cruise ship
and you look out and you say
'wow, wouldn't it be good to
be out there on our boat,"
explained Joy. "This oppor-
tunity arose; it seemed like a
good idea. And it was a good
idea."
"We have a well -found
boat; a beautiful boat, a
strong boat," Ian noted.
The Winterborns, who
moved to southern Ontario
from the United Kingdom in
1993 for work, purchased the
Reberth brand new in 2002.
For its maiden long-distance
journey in 2004, the retired
couple trucked the boat from
Huron County all the way to
the Chesapeake Bay in Vir-
ginia and then sailed from
there to Tortola in the British
Virgin Islands.
Every winter since, they
have sailed it across the Car-
ibbean, with the boat typi-
cally left hunkered down in a
harbour in Grenada for the
duration of the Atlantic hur-
ricane season.
In 2012, the Winterborns
brought the Reberth back to
Goderich for its 10th year
anniversary and once again
sailed it from Virginia to the
British Virgin Islands.
By this time, Ian had
become greatly intrigued by
an ocean -spanning ARC
Europe rally organized by
the World Cruising Club that
travelled from the Caribbean
to Lagos.
"I said to Joy, 'I got a crazy
idea, perhaps it would be fun
to take the boat on ARC
Europe and bring it back on
(a different boating rally),"
he explained. "In 2013, I
started to think about it, con-
tacting people and started to
do some planning. And the
crazy idea became a reality."
The couple left Tortola for
Bermuda on May 3, 2014.
After a few days, Ian set out
with two crewmembers for
the Azores islands in the mid-
Atlantic, where Joy would
later re -join the group.
From there it was off to
Lagos, where they spent a
few days before disembark-
ing again for the popular
coastal city of Estepona in
Spain.
After spending some time
in the famously sun -soaked
beach destination, the Win-
terborns left their boat there
for a while, eventually
returning in the fall to ven-
ture out to Las Palmas.
The couple joined another
rally to travel from the Grand
Canary port community to
Cape Verde and then St.
Lucia, where they arrived
safely on December 4.
The Wmterborns listed the
Azores as their favourite
stopping point during the
journey, despite boasting
what the coupled termed as
"underdeveloped" and
relatively modest ports and
marinas.
"The Azores are just magi-
cal," Ian said. "The Azores
islands we visited are all
different."
"The marinas there are
very basic but the people will
do anything for you. They're
just incredible" quipped Joy.
Now back at their home in
the Bridges of Seaforth sub-
division, which they pur-
chased in 2006 after Ian
became intrigued about the
planned development dur-
ing his many work trips from
the couples' then -base in
Georgetown to Goderich,
the Winterborns have no
concrete plans for their next
sailing adventure.
Planning out an encore
might prove difficult with the
Atlantic crossing trip repre-
senting something of a
dream come true, the couple
said, who encourage others
to aggressively work towards
making their own dreams a
reality.
"If you have a dream, get
out there and live it," Joy
said. "Do not say 'I will do it
tomorrow,' because you
never know what tomorrow
will bring."
"That's something we've
learnt," added Ian. "If you
want to do it, do it:'