| At sea. Aviva Challenge: Dee’s Westpac Rescue Helicopter man talks of bonds and friendship |
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| Thursday, 16 February 2006 | |
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Dave Greenberg: The first time I almost met Dee was on January 2, 2005 and I was 100 feet above her in a helicopter almost 100 miles from land. So it feels pretty ironic and somehow poetic that when I almost met her on February 12, 2006 I was 100 feet above her in a helicopter almost 100 miles from land. The rescue of John Masters, one of Dee's crew, during the Global Challenge race last year will always be memorable. From 100 feet above a real bond was formed between our team on the Westpac Rescue Helicopter and the team aboard Dee's yacht. The bond was strengthened when I was allowed to join Dee and her crew on the next leg of the Global Challenge between Wellington and Sydney a month later. And the bonds and the friendships I made are what brought me to Portsmouth to see Dee off on her Aviva Challenge in November. The chance to catch up with the team and to offer a bit of moral support to an amazing woman setting off on an amazing adventure was enough to bring me 1/2 way around the world - and I was so glad to be there. Over the last month or so I have been helping Alistair from Challenge Business in setting up a rendezvous with Dee when she reached the waters around New Zealand. Trying to hire a boat or plane to rendezvous with a yacht somewhere sometime is not as easy as you might think! I will not bore you with all of the details but the whole rendezvous was a moving target. We did not confirm which helicopter we would use until late Saturday afternoon and I did not book a ticket to fly to Dunedin until 2am on the morning of the rendezvous. At noon, just a couple of hours before we met up, I was sitting in Dunedin airport, using wireless internet to plot her latest position which I got while I called Dee on her satellite phone using my cellphone (isn't technology amazing). But yesterday was not about the technology. Or the helicopter. Or even the video tapes we retrieved. For me yesterday was about doing anything and everything I could to support a special friend. Unfortunately I could not support Dee in the way I most wanted to - I wanted to go down and give her a hug. But that was not allowed. So all I could do was wave and smile and know that even though we were never closer than 100 feet we were touching each other in a very special way. I was touched. I was touched by the spirit of a person I admire more than words can describe. And how can anyone not be touched by that infectious Dee smile. And her courage. And her humour….. Although we could not get Dee to show us how she sunbathes on deck (four guys, we had to ask!) she gave us the best rendition of pole dancing I ever seen by a fully clothed woman on board a yacht in the Southern Ocean. Unfortunately after about 15 minutes we had to leave Aviva and Dee behind, but as we flew back towards Dunedin I spent the next 10 or 15 minutes chatting with Dee on the radio. We chatted about lots of things, but in the end it didn't really matter what we chatted about, it was just good to be chatting - practically face to face. It was very hard saying goodbye, particularly because I could hear her starting to get upset - as we always knew she would. From my perspective it was frustrating being so very close but yet so far. It must have been thousands of times worse for Dee. Today I feel very humbled and privileged to have visited with Dee yesterday. I feel privileged that Dee and her support team trusted me to play a very small part in her challenge. And I am humbled to know that I am probably the only person who was there to see her off in Portsmouth that will get to see her before she successfully completes the challenge in a few months time. www.avivachallenge.com |
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| Last Updated ( Thursday, 16 February 2006 ) |
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