Go Beyond

Smith (second from left) and An-Tiki crew.

On Wednesday, April 6, Anthony Smith of London fulfilled his boyhood dream of crossing the Atlantic Ocean on a raft. The interesting thing is that the intrepid Smith celebrated his 85th birthday on the 2800-mile trans-Atlantic crossing. Smith, an adventurer and former science correspondent for the BBC, never gave up on his dream but could never have anticipated the event that would set it in motion. He was hit by a van, suffered a broken hip, and decided to use the compensation money he received to finance his adventure. In a fashion reminiscent of Sir Ernest Shackleton, Smith placed an ad in The Daily Telegraph that read: “Fancy crossing the Atlantic? Famous traveller requires 3 crew. Must be OAP. Serious adventurers only.” Smith intentionally recruited a crew of Old Age Pensioners that included John Russell, Andrew Bainbridge (his physician), and a civil engineer named David Hildred — all between the ages of 56 and 61.

Smith and his companions started their journey at the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa. Prior to their departure, Smith delivered a farewell speech in Spanish to a crowd of well-wishers. And then, they set off on their raft dubbed the An-Tiki, a name adapted from Thor Heyerdahl’s famous Kon-Tiki, the raft that the Norwegian explorer used in his 1947 expedition from South America to the Polynesian Islands. Heyerdahl’s book by the same name was one of my favorites when I was a kid. The purpose of Heyerdahl’s  expedition was to demonstrate that people from South America could have settled Polynesia in pre-Columbian times. The purpose of Smith’s expedition was to raise awareness about the environment and to raise funds for WaterAid, a British non-profit group that provides potable water to impoverished communities. Oh, and also “to show that older persons are capable of undertaking what are considered dangerous … and adventurous projects that are normally left to younger persons to fulfill.” Having just turned 55 years of age on April 7, I have lots of admiration for Smith and his crew of old age pensioners.

Smith’s raft traveled at an average speed of 4 knots or about 4.5 miles per hour. Sixty-six days after setting off from the Canary Islands, the An-Tiki arrived at the Caribbean Island of St. Maarten. Kudos to Smith and his crew for their daring adventure and for demonstrating that you are never too old to go beyond — to lose sight of the shore in search of far horizons. We can learn a few things from Smith. First, never stop dreaming. The quickest way to get old is by having more memories than dreams. You may not be as quick as you used to be, but as long as you have breath, keep striving forward. Second, don’t die with regrets. It is better to have tried to accomplish great things and failed than to never have tried at all. Third, be willing to forsake everything secure and familiar in order to pursue your dreams. Smith set sail without any guarantee that he would arrive at his destination, but he set off anyway. Life does not come with guarantees. Finally, don’t forget that God is always in search of adventurous individuals willing to risk it all to advance His purposes and declare His glory among the nations. Make yourself available to Him and set off on the adventure of a lifetime!