Mayor Brian Tierney congratulates Garry Crothers on his epic solos Atlantic crossing
Garry Crothers and his family were invited to the Guildhall where he was presented with a gift by Derry City and Strabane District Council Mayor, Councillor Brian Tierney
Said Mayor Tierney: “It was fantastic to meet Garry Crothers and give him a belated congratulations on his epic solo sailing voyage.
“That saw him travel 4,000 miles over 37 days last Summer to reach home after being stuck in the Caribbean due to the pandemic.”
Garry hit the headlines a year ago after completing a 3,600-mile solo journey to get back home as the Covid crisis swept the world.
Now he is thinking about heading off on an even greater adventure — a round-the-world sailing event spanning some 26,000 nautical miles.
And his plans are all the more remarkable because he is an amputee who lost an arm after a motorbike accident in 2009.
Not even his experience last year has put him off another sea adventure on the high seas.
The onset of the pandemic had scuppered Garry’s plans to sail from the Caribbean island of Saint Martin with two friends who had been scheduled to join him there.
That left him with no option but to sail home alone across the Atlantic, an epic voyage that made headlines.
Garry said being an amputee was not a hindrance to him during his 37 days at sea last year, and won’t be in two years’ time if he secures enough sponsorship to take part in the Global Solo Challenge in 2023.
He added: “Looking back on last year, it does seem like a dream now, but at the time I really had no other choice.
“The writing was on the wall that the coronavirus restrictions were going to be in place for some time, and as I needed to be home for my daughter Oonagh’s wedding, I had to batter on as best I could.”
At the end of the gruelling voyage Garry arrived back in his native Derry where his very relieved wife Marie, other daughter Amy, Oonagh and fiance Ryan were on the quay waiting for him.
Garry Crothers welcomed back to Derry by Deputy Mayor Graham Warke in July last year
He recalled: “Every day during the summer I travelled by motorbike from home to Queen’s University and I was about one week away from putting the bike away for the winter when, on a Monday morning, a car did a U-turn right in front of me and I went into the side of him and did a serious amount of damage.
“It was touch and go. Without a doubt, I owe my life to a paramedic who arrived at the scene within a couple of minutes.
“His name was Louis Mac Ghollaigh Bhride.
“He was on his way home from a shift and pulled his car into the side of the road and attended to me until the ambulance arrived.
“He also came with me as I was being rushed to Antrim Area Hospital.
“Louis has since passed away himself, so I was never able to thank him properly.
Mayor Brian Tierney with Garry Crothers and his family
Following the crash Garry retired, but soon adapted to a new way of life with sailing — and it remains his passion.
He added: “I could never imagine not sailing, and it is why I am giving serious thought to the Global Solo Challenge next year.
“It will mean I will be at sea for almost a year and I will most likely need sponsorship.
“But I am not ruling it out, that’s for sure.”
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