Listowel solictor tells of his Atlantic ordeal
On board the yacht at Fenit . . . Father Gerard O'Donoghue, Carina and Gearoid Pierse (children of Robert Pierse) and Bill Verity.
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LISTOWEL solicitor, Robert Pierse, told The Kerryman that he had come to terms with God and various aspects of his own life during frightening experience on board a stricken 40-foot yacht, in the mid-Atlantic.
The yacht, after a harrowing crossing, was towed into Ballydavid Pier, on Tuesday evening. With Mr. Pierse on board the yacht were, his brother-in-law Rev. Fr. Gerard O'Donoghue — a native of Killarney — Cork solicitor Dominic Mockler, New York lawyer John Sweeney and world famous sailor, American Bill Verity.
The party left New York on July 30, 1980, and the voyage was without hitch until halfway across the Atlantic. Then the yacht An Siochan hit a fierce storm. It was lashed by 80 mile an hour gales and tossed about on 35-foot waves.
The boat lost five of its seven sails, and ropes and wires snapped. In all the storm lasted for six days but in the end the outstanding skill of skipper Verity brought the expedition to safety.
Speaking to The Kerryman on Wednesday Robert Pierse said he met God during the ordeal. Mr. Pierse had with him books written by St. Paul — who was himself shipwrecked — but only managed to read two or three.
'I established a better relationship with God and came to terms with a lot of my life out there. There was plenty of time to think," he said.
During the voyage Mr. Pierse made daily notes of his experiences, for his personal record. His 'finding' of God on angry seas form the theme of these records. Mr. Pierse has always been interested in historic figures as Columbus and St. Brendan the Navigator. His appreciation of their achievements was enhanced greatly during the ordeal.
Despite the fear, however, Mr. Pierse said he never thought he was going to die. And he was loud in his praise of the boat's navigator, Dominic Mockler, and his captain Bill Verity. The yacht reached Tieraght Lighthouse off the Blasket Islands at 11.30 on Monday night. A local fishing boat, Connamore Glory, towed An Siochan into Ballydavid.
