Local sailing duo returns home after six months at sea
A dream took a Pass Christian man and his Godson on a 5,000 nautical mile trip across the sea.
Have you ever wanted to leave your everyday life behind and go on an adventure? This was the dream of one Pass Christian man. He and his Godson did just that for the past six months.
Now today, the two return to the Coast with memories only a handful of people in the world can share.
Fifty-nine-year-old Paul Tuennerman has always had a dream to sail on his own boat on a 5,000 nautical mile journey despite not having much of a sailing background. “Years ago, I was sitting on a beach, probably had a couple of rum cocktails and I said to myself, ‘you know someday I’m going to sail my own boat down here and back.”
Today, he was able to officially cross his adventure off his bucket list. Tuennerman and his 22-year-old Godson Palao Sunyac, who has never sailed prior to this trip, returned from a six-month voyage to the British Virgin Islands. “When Uncle Paul proposed this to me, I dropped everything and I was all in. I mean there’s not many times that you get to do something like this.”
The two were supposed to leave in November 2020, but Zeta damaged Tuennerman’s boat just two days before their departure. However, this did not deter the duo.
Tuennerman and Sunyac spent months replanning and repacking and on October 14th, 2021, the two put their daily lives aside and set sail out of Pass Christian.
They spent a large portion of their trip at sea, sometimes spending up to ten days in a row on open water.
“You know, you could make excuses and say the time’s not right or it’s just not ready or the boat’s not ready or you know Aunt Sally’s not feeling well or whatever. You can make an excuse, and the reality is there are no do-overs in life and so you just have to do it.”
The duo traveled to various locations in the Caribbean Islands such as Turks and Caicos, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, and many other spots.
While the pair faced many challenges along the way such as bad weather, COVID, and boat damage, they were able to come out with a nearly unbreakable bond. “I’m never going to have something like that with somebody else. It’s just not going to happen.”
Now that they are back on land, they hope to spend more time with each other and continue to grow their bond they created on this trip.
Both of them hope to continue to spend time on the water and possibly even begin careers in the sailing field. “It’ll all work itself out. I don’t know what I’m gonna do next week for a job, but you know it will come to fruition and you just have to believe and believe in yourself and believe that things will work out.”
