LAGOS, PORTUGAL — He's all too aware of the risks, but the chance to circle the globe in his little homemade boat has Dan Turk more excited than apprehensive about his next epic voyage.
"There's a huge amount of adventure involved. There are so many places to go see and explore, and to learn the cultures of all these different countries. That's a big part of it," the Thunder Bay teacher said this week in an interview from Portugal.
"I enjoy sailing, too. So getting to these destinations by boat, and the fact I built this boat, is pretty novel as well."
Turk developed a love for sailing on Lake Superior where he honed his talents in weekly races organized by the Thunder Bay Yacht Club.
Now he is the only Canadian and one of just two North Americans, accepted for the inaugural 28,000-mile Mini Globe Race that starts in Antigua in February 2025 and finishes on the same Caribbean island in 2026.
All 15 entrants will be racing in plywood mini-yachts built to the exact same specifications.
Turk has already sailed his 5.8 metre hand-built Little Bea by himself from Halifax to Portugal.
That 2023 voyage took only six weeks, a far cry from the upcoming around-the-world expedition that will keep him on the water for over a year.
Prior to the main event, he and the others in the Mini Globe Race will embark on a qualifying journey – Transat 2024 – from Portugal to Antigua, a few days after Christmas.
"I feel pretty good," Turk told Newswatch. "If I showed you down the dock, there's a couple of people panicking right now because they're just not ready. They're still in construction mode, so I'm feeling good about it, and I'm the only one of the fleet that's leaving here that has crossed the Atlantic (already). So in theory, I have more ocean miles in this boat than anyone in the fleet."
Despite that potential advantage, he acknowledged "there are some really good sailors here, so there's some really good competition. Hopefully they just haven't figured out their boat yet. Maybe I have an advantage over them...We'll see what happens."
Besides finding out last year how Little Bea handled the ocean, Turk learned a little more about what to take and what not to take on a long voyage.
"I had physical books with me. I read five books last summer. But now I have a Kindle, so I don't have to carry all those heavy books. My meal preparation was pretty good, but I think I might just modify a few things, bring some more fresh fruit at the beginning, stuff that's ripe and stuff that will ripen in four or five days. That extends the fresh food I bring on board for maybe up to 10 days as opposed to eating freeze-dried food for the whole duration."
Turk is also taking exceptional care to reduce the risk of misadventure while preparing as best he can for worst-case scenarios.
"I need to stay on the boat. I need to make sure I'm nourished, I need to keep myself hydrated, and I need to get proper sleep. There's the things I need to do for long-term longevity, I guess."
Keeping an eye out for changes in weather conditions will be a constant priority.
"I don't really want to have to go through a storm in a boat like this. But the problem is because it's such a small boat, it doesn't go very fast, and I can't avoid anything big that I don't know about early enough. So if there is something like that, I have to deploy my storm tactics and ride it out, close the hatches, and hang on."
Little Bea is equipped with multiple satellite-based communication devices to enable Turk to stay in touch with the outside world including his family and his personal race manager.
A GoFundMe campaign has been organized to help cover his costs.
Contributions may also support Turk's not-for-profit initiative, Sailing into STEM, which provides opportunities for youth to learn science, technology, engineering and math through the platform of sailing.
