Chester-born explorer Dom Mee was lucky to escape with his life when he attempted the world’s first crossing of the Atlantic ocean in a kite-powered boat but sailed into the vortex of a perfect storm.
Now he’s written a book about his adventure, entitled Kiting the Hurricane, that saw him clinging to a tiny boat in the North Atlantic for 30 hours as he survived 60ft high waves and 95mph winds.
All this drama must have made an earlier encounter with a 20ft shark on the same expedition seem like a walk in the park.
Dom, 45, who hails from Upton, now lives in Sri Lanka with his wife Anna and their three ‘beautiful boys’.
The blurb for his new book – available from www.amazon.co.uk – states: “2005 was the most powerful hurricane season ever recorded. It claimed thousands of lives in north America and the Caribbean.
"Hurricanes such as Katrina and Rita with the power of a nuclear bomb destroyed everything in their path leaving massive devastation in their wake.
“Dom Mee was attempting to cross the north Atlantic Ocean in the world’s first boat powered by kites until he was hit by the tail end of five hurricanes during the deadly season. In mountainous seas trapped on the notorious Grand Banks off Canada he battles against the elements and wrestles with his inner demons.
“Dom Mee finally tells the full story of his ordeal fighting the most powerful force on earth and living to tell the tale. It is a story of pioneering adventure, failure, survival and ultimate triumph against all the odds.”
Ex-Royal Marine Dom, a real-life action hero, previously told The Chronicle: “Crossing the Grand Banks took three weeks and I wanted to do it in three days. It was a fight to stay alive. I would not want to go through that again. Technically I shouldn’t be here.”
Fortunately, Dom’s emergency beacon alerted the authorities to his plight but there was little sense of comfort even when he could see a plane overhead because there was nothing it could do for him.
He capsized about 40 times, breathing was difficult in 95mph winds and there was a danger he and his vessel would get sucked into the 60ft high waves and dropped from the top like a stone, before the water crashed on top of him. His only hope was to focus on survival and wait for the storm to subside.
Finally, he was picked up by the coastguard in a small window of opportunity before the next weather system took hold.
Dom has not had much luck when it comes to exploring.
In 2001, he and pal Tim Welford decided they would row the North Pacific across 5,000 miles of ocean in a 24ft plywood boat named ‘Crackers’. Unfortunately, they were thwarted when a fishing boat hit them amidships with just 900 miles to go.
Dom had to dive as deep as possible so the trawler did not run him over while his friend struggled to get out of the sleeping compartment because of the water pressure.
Then there was the time in 2004 when he was attempting to retrace the steps of Victorian explorer Sir John Ross in a kayak when he found his way blocked by polar bears and arctic bison.
Dom had to pull out of that trip following an attack by a musk ox which left him seriously injured.
And in 2007 he missed out on the world record for rowing across the Atlantic, but his four-man team was only the third crew in the world to have rowed across the Atlantic in fewer than 40 days.
Today Dom enjoys a less hazardous life running a family business in the tourist sector in Sri Lanka and is an adviser on maritime and regional security. He has a new-found passion for writing and is busy penning two further books about his adventures.
