Seventy-six Days at Sea, Part 2 Life at sea – the return to land “Who hath desired the sea? – The sight of salt water unbounded – The heave and the halt and the hurl and the crash of the comber wind-hounded?” – Rudyard Kipling I feel like I’m telling a story that I read about,” Paul Attalla muses when asked to look back at his participa- tion in the Atlantic Rowing Race 2007. “I don’t feel like I’ve actually done it.” The perception of his solo rowing Pilot whales feeding around Dr. Paul Attalla’s boat. journey as surreal is not hard to comprehend. For 76 days, Dr. Attalla, a chiropractor from Fer- nie, British Columbia, lived an existence that was very different from any he had ever known. Aside from the fact that he was at sea – where, for the fi rst while, he was overtaken by debilitat- ing nausea – he now had to adapt to virtual, rather than real, human contact, a diet of dried foods, very little sleep, and enormous physical stresses. Add to this a leak in his boat – that took several days to manage – and the fact that he had some close calls with various ocean liners, and waves as high as 13 metres, and you have a tale that does seem to have sprung from a novel. But achieving the opportunity to participate in the race had, for seven years, been a very real goal that Attalla was now actually living out, day by day. WATER,WATER, EVERYWHERE… “As a chiropractor with a busy practice,” notes Attalla, “I was very used to having lots of people around. Also, between my family and preparing for the race, I had become accustomed to being very busy all the time.” So, how does one go from a fulfi lling and hectic lifestyle to being on a rowboat, all alone, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean? First of all, Attalla’s account reveals that he was not really alone. Although not accompanied by any articulate creature – of human tongues, anyway – Attalla was often visited by dolphins, a variety of birds, turtles and whales. (On one occasion, one very large whale parked itself underneath his rowboat for over an hour, forcing him to patiently wait until the whale gave him clearance to move on.) When he wasn’t interfacing with marine life, Attalla would read the comments from friends, family and supporters, in the guestbook on his website – this continually brought him great comfort and strength. Also, though limited, he did have some telephone communication with his family and others, as well. But, for the most part, Attalla spent his time thinking. “I rewound my entire life, from my fi rst memories,” recalls Attalla. “It’s like you dust off the shelves in your mind.” “I’m a fan of happy thoughts, so I focused on happy things. I thought about how amazing it was to be rowing and representing Canada in this race.” Attalla also thought, quite a bit, about the Canadian Museum of Human Rights (CMHR). As the Canadian competitor in the race, his goal was to raise awareness for the CMHR. The CMHR is involved in many projects that, Attalla notes, will help Canada move into the future with the right foot forward, as a global leader in human rights. He feels that, as a nation, we need to re- member our heroes and our struggles, in order to understand where we are going, and that we need to recognize those whose perseverance, in preserving history, will strengthen the richness of our Canadian culture. “I would think of how blessed I was to be able to pursue my dream. Often I would remem- ber people less fortunate such as a First Nations child, that I had learned of, who was forced into 30 • CANADIAN CHIROPRACTOR | JULY/ AUGUST 2008 Continued on Page 32 www.canadianchiropractor.ca feature
Chiropractic + Naturopathic Doctor July-Aug 08: Page 30
