2025-08-04
18 分钟Coming up on Lives Less Ordinary, Hold Fast continues.
And the closer they were coming, the more anxious we were, like, oh my God, what is happening?
What is happening?
Is this really what I think it is?
They're waving at us.
They are trying to get in touch with us.
We have to do something.
This is the extraordinary story of sailing cargo ship the Avantour and its crew of 15 on a wind-powered mission to transport olive oil,
cacao, coffee and rum between Europe and Central America.
But before they even make it halfway, everything they're counting on is thrown to the winds.
I'm Siobhan McSweeney and you're listening to Lives Less Ordinary Presents.
Hold fast.
From the BBC World Service.
It's now the 28th of February 2020,
42 days since leaving Germany and barely 24 hours into the ship's Atlantic crossing.
The Avantour is making the rather slow pace of 1.5 knots,
some 80 miles off the coast of Gran Canaria.
It's impossible to predict how long any Atlantic crossing will take.
Depending on the wind, it could be three weeks, it could be four, or it could be longer.
It's early morning, not yet light, and before beginning her breakfast prep,