A one-man sailboat is leaving Port Hawkesbury to travel across the world Wednesday morning.
Alan Mulholland, who is from PEI, says he’s been thinking about the trip for years, and he spent the last year rebuilding his sailboat, the Wave Rover, for the job.
Mulholland tells The Hawk he chose the 25-foot vessel because the small craft would let him make the trip on his own.
“It’s really easy to get a small boat and solo sail it- if you get a large boat, it gets more difficult,” he says. “Solo sailing also adds a great challenge to the whole adventure, and the independence of it really appeals to my nature.”
Mulholland say it isn’t the first time he’s gone on a major sea voyage- he once sailed across the Pacific Ocean- but this will be a new experience.
He says he chose to rebuild the boat himself so he had complete control of the vessel.
“I rebuilt it from the ground up, so I’m really familiar with every little last piece of the boat,” he says. “I’ve kept it really simple, so I should be able to repair it on-site.”
Mulholland says he’ll need a minimum of two years to make the trip safely, but it could take as long as three years.
He says he plans to document the journey on YouTube for at least the first year, and will donate any profits from the channel to Plastic Oceans, an educational and advocacy organization focused on the effects of plastics and microplastics on the environment.
