Brian O’Sullivan: Sailing Into the Unknown

First came the boat. Then came the captain’s license. The story of how one ambitious owner took fate into his own hands to successfully circumnavigate the world in his 135-foot yacht, KOMOKWA.

When Brian O’Sullivan opened the door to a Turkish warehouse in 2010, he was met by a large boat staring back at him. That boat was KOMOKWA, a new 135-foot Horizon motor yacht whose owner had walked away from the build prior to delivery. A German investor had funded the remaining construction of the yacht, but she still lacked an owner. Following the 2008 financial crisis, the bottom had dropped out of the yachting market and the only offers on the table were lowball.

KOMOKWA bounced around the European boat shows before landing in the hands of a creditor who put her into storage in the aforementioned warehouse. On learning about the opportunity, O’Sullivan flew out to Antalya and purchased the yacht on first sight. She was exactly what he’d been looking for – the smallest possible boat that could cross the Pacific Ocean on its own bottom. O’Sullivan planned to captain her around the world and KOMOKWA was ready for the challenge. The only sticking point was that O’Sullivan had yet to obtain a captain’s license.

“I called my insurance company and said, ‘I bought a boat!’,” he laughs. “They said, ‘Great, who’s going to be the captain?’, and I said, ‘Me!’, and they said ‘No, not you. We want a licensed captain for a yacht of that size and value.’ I said, ‘What if I go to school and get a captain’s license?

Can I be the captain?’ And they said, ‘Sure, absolutely!’ So, I packed my bags, flew to Fort Lauderdale and completed my Maritime Professional Training.”

Enthusiastic and committed, he also obtained his offshore license and MCA Certificate. He then gave KOMOKWA a bulbous bow converting her into a long-range vessel but left the interior untouched. It already appealed with its owner’s suite, lounge, office and private terrace located on the bridge deck, ideal for an owner-operated vessel. To O’Sullivan’s knowledge, he is the only owner in the world captaining a yacht over 131-feet. In his opinion, why have a boat if you’re not going to drive it?

“People say, oh it must be so hard to drive a 135-foot boat… are you kidding me? It’s easier than driving a speed boat!” he says. “The wind and current have almost no effect on the vessel because it weighs so much. And docking the boat is a breeze with a bow and stern thruster.” 

 In 2013, O’Sullivan set forth on a three-year, eight-month adventure around the world. Departing from Vancouver, he cruised down America’s west coast to Mexico. He spent 15 days at sea while navigating the Pacific Ocean to arrive in Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands. During that crossing, daily communication with a weather forecasting company kept him alert and even provided life-saving route adjustments. And the zero speed stabilizers came in handy when both engines were shut off for three hours due to an oil clean-up in the engine room after the top of an oil filter blew off. Other than that, it was smooth sailing, but those two weeks spent crossing the biggest ocean on the planet would set the tone for the remaining 54,000nm journey

“Being at sea for 15 days with no land in sight was one of those life events where, before I left, I called everybody who owed me money and forgave them their loans,” he says, chuckling at the memory. “I mean, it wasn’t a lot of money, but I thought, if I die at sea, I don’t want this to be confusing. So that’s how I prepared to cross the Pacific.”

After “bouncing around” Fiji, Tonga, Tahiti, Australia and New Zealand, he shipped the boat to Mallorca and spent time yachting around Europe, from the French Riviera to the Balearic Islands, on to Corsica, Sardinia, Capri and the rugged coastline of Croatia and Montenegro. Dockwise (now DYT Yacht Transport) then carried the boat across the Atlantic to Maine where he cruised down the east coast of North America and on to the Caribbean. After navigating his way through the Panama Canal, he journeyed up through Mexico and California, before finally docking at home in British Colombia.

He’d achieved what he set out to do – to cross the Pacific Ocean – and KOMOKWA proved to be a dependable and loyal vessel. Now, 10 years on, the 135-foot Horizon is looking for a new owner with dreams as big as the world. As for O’Sullivan, he’s after a smaller yacht that can take him on his next adventure — the Northwest Passage. 

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