When a man’s wife says he has perseverance and tenacity, his teenage son attributes him with “incredible courage,” and his teenage daughter says people need to sit up and pay attention to him, it’s either Father’s Day or they’re talking about a truly amazing man. This character so admired by his family is Charl deVilliers, a 44-year-old native South African who returned home to Olivia, Texas, on Dec. 18, 2004, from setting a new world record as the first person who is deaf to circumnavigate the globe alone.
Charl’s nine-month, 28,800-nautical-mile voyage began on Monday, March 6 from Palacios, Texas. His wife Beverly, who faithfully kept a log updated on his website (www.silentvoyager.com), wrote on that first day: “Nervous and obviously sad, Charl fastened his safety harness and with many hands ready to set him loose, he gently eased Island Time out of the marina and into the channel. We watched as the sails gently unfurled and Charl set out to face the greatest challenge of his life.”
Island Time, Charl’s 37-foot, 1977-model Tartan, was equipped with radar, weather fax, global positioning system, a data kit (for sending e-mail and text messages), a marine satellite phone and a laptop computer. Charl also used some unique sailing equipment – assistive technology such as an emergency personal indication rescue beacon which would send a signal to France if Charl was in distress and a vibrating bed shaker alarm which proved most valuable. “It enabled me to get some sleep without having to be on watch all the time,” Charl told Hearing Health.
Even though Afrikaans is his native tongue, communication in English at most of the ports was relatively easy. Deaf since the age of eight, Charl is a skillful lip reader, having never learned sign language. Commenting on his only connection with people during his voyage, “I was always received at the ports in a most friendly manner with everyone, including customs and immigration helping and supporting at all times.” Yet he acknowledges it truly was a lonely voyage. His daughter Sharleen sympathized with what her father must have felt during his days at sea. “Imagine being deaf and alone in the dark out at sea. How scary that must be,” she says.
Charl admits he missed his family and friends enormously but knowing the end of the voyage would reunite them, coupled with the desire to fulfill his dream, kept him sailing on. “Unforeseen dangers such as submerged containers, whales and other vessels with no watch on deck,” kept him attentive to his task, he adds. Charl also had to be constantly vigilant of the boat’s condition and when needed, take time out at port to make repairs. He stayed 20 days at port in Darwin, Australia, repairing sails and self-steer units. Later, in Durban, South Africa, he lost five days to a broken mast tang – an essential piece of equipment.
The trip was not without its perils either – such when he spent hours in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, hiding from the treacherous southwesterly winds known as “the buster” or when he held up waiting for the end of hurricane season in the Northern Atlantic before he crossed the equator. The menacing weather continued right up until the end of the journey. Five days prior to reaching his destination, Charl wrestled high winds and massive waves to sail through a 40-knot gale in the Gulf of Mexico. When he topped the white-capped waves as high as 20 feet, he would practically free fall into their “sinkholes.” Charl recalls that, “Island Time shuddered hard when she hit the bottom of those sinkholes and many times her bow submarined, resulting in the whole deck awash. I could have slowed down and made things easier on myself and Island Time, but this would have resulted in a loss of another day, so I kept pushing both of us to the limit.” Despite the treacherous conditions, Charl’s strategy of “staying cool, fully trusting the boat and a lot of tenacity,” pulled him through.
Though Charl loves a challenge, ironically, he does not consider himself to be a risk-taker, pointing out that safety is always a top priority. “I love sailing and all sports that keep me on my toes,” he says. “I have been a skydiver for many years, play rugby and am a Texas rugby referee. These sports provide an arena for me to participate without hearing being an obstacle.”
Charl goes the extra mile to communicate and dispel myths about people with special needs. Not one to give up on his dreams or sit back and wait for life to give him a handout, Charl says each of us can make a difference even if we must prove our worth to others. “Together we can make the world sit up and say, ‘Yes, we will give you a chance!’” he says.
Charl hoped to do more than set a world record with his solo sail around the world. He would like the purpose of his trip to gain recognition as well: “As disabled persons, we need to believe in ourselves,” he says. “As individuals, we are able to achieve our dreams and we are able to make a real contribution to life. Each of us has something to teach others about our disability and this is what we need to aim to do. The more others understand about us, the easier it will become to be accepted and appreciated.”
Charl’s voyage will take us all a great distance toward acknowledging the abilities of people with hearing loss.
To see photos of Charl’s voyage, read log entries and the more than 800 messages from well-wishers around the world, visit www.silentvoyager.com.
Elizabeth Thompson lives in Glendale, Arizona, with her husband Bob. A freelance writer, she was a “deaf” reporter for Suburban News Publications in Columbus, Ohio, and contributed the column “Day by Day” for more than six years. Elizabeth is now a community columnist for The Arizona Republic newspaper and the editor of MSWorld.org.
