With Flights Banned, Son Sails Solo Across Atlantic to Reach Father, 90 // NY Times

Real men wear masks,  After 85 days at sea Juan Manuel Ballastero meets his 90 y.o. Dad in Argentina

With Flights Banned, Son Sails Solo Across Atlantic to Reach Father, 90

An Argentine man stuck in Portugal because of the virus travels for 85 days the only way he could: in a small boat.
by Dan Politi // NY Times

BUENOS AIRES — Days after Argentina canceled all international passenger flights to shield the country from the new coronavirus, Juan Manuel Ballestero [IG: skuanavega] began his journey home the only way possible: He stepped aboard his small sailboat for what turned out to be an 85-day odyssey across the Atlantic.

The 47-year-old sailor could have stayed put on the tiny Portuguese island of Porto Santo, to ride out the era of lockdowns and social distancing in a scenic place largely spared by the virus. But the idea of spending what he thought could be “the end of the world” away from his family, especially his father who was soon to turn 90, was unbearable.

So he said he loaded his 29-foot sailboat with canned tuna, fruit and rice and set sail in mid-March.

“I didn’t want to stay like a coward on an island where there were no cases,” Mr. Ballestero said. “I wanted to do everything possible to return home. The most important thing for me was to be with my family.”


Sailing across the Atlantic in a small boat is challenging in the best of circumstances. The added difficulties of doing it during a pandemic became clear three weeks into the trip.




ImageMr. Ballestero, left, with his brother and his father, who turned 90 while his son was on his voyage. Credit...Juan Manuel Ballestero


On April 12, the authorities in Cape Verde refused to allow him to dock at the island nation to restock his supply of food and fuel, said Mr. Ballestero.

Hoping he still had enough food to carry him through, he turned his boat west. With less fuel than he hoped for, he’d be more at the mercy of the winds.



He was no stranger to spending long stretches of time at sea, but being alone on the open ocean is daunting to even the most experienced sailor.

Days into the journey, he became panicked by the light of a ship that he thought was trailing him and seemed to be approaching closer and closer.

“I started going as fast as possible,” Mr. Ballestero said. “I thought, if it gets very close, I’ll shoot.”

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