Luisa Matias, 37, is from Portugal and was part of the crew on board Oceans of Hope for one of the longest legs of the voyage from Lisbon to Boston in August and September of 2014. Her crew call themselves the A-team because they crossed the Atlantic Ocean together. Since her return Luisa has given a number of interviews to Portuguese newspapers, magazines and TV shows. Around the time Oceans of Hope celebrated her first year at sea, Luisa reunited with her MS crew in Copenhagen to participate in the Classic ’Fyn Rundt’ Distance Regatta 2015.
This was originally an interview that has been rewritten as a blog.


During our time on board Oceans of Hope, my Danish crewmembers invited me to come and sail with them around this little island in Denmark called ”Fyn”. At the time it seemed like a crazy idea and I didn’t know it would become a reality one year later, so it was like a dream come true when it finally happened.

It was very special to meet again in Copenhagen, it felt like no time had passed, the connection between us is beautiful and very simple and it was easy to sail together. You connect with people because you share emotions, not because you share MS. Of course you have to be rational, but looking for happiness is an emotional journey. It was so important for me to feel that there are other people looking for adventure, because you can have MS and still be an adventurous person. When you are sailing you don’t remember you have MS.

It’s difficult to explain why this special bond developed between us on board Oceans of Hope. I would dare to say that it was the silence. It was all the things that were said in silence, the moments we shared, the things we saw, the smells, all the things that we perceived with our senses, you just look at each other and you understand. When silence says more than words you know the connection is there. It’s about feeling and I think everybody understands when we try to explain it – when you are in a special circumstance of your life, what you experience cannot be repeated. If Oceans of Hope goes around the world again the A-team will always be the first A-team, it is unique, this moment will never come again and we were there.

Mikkel Farver, who is part of the A-team, skippered the boat we sailed around Fyn, so we all quickly fell into our roles and knew exactly what to do. The landscape was awesome and it was good to catch up and have some of our great conversations. I had this sense of security, I feel safe with them because I know I can trust my life in their hands. On Oceans of Hope we did a little bit of everything and we all knew our place – each one had a role, which means that you get less fatigued. At least for me, it allows me to be present, I’m relaxed but also focused. It is clear what is expected of me and so I don’t get exhausted because I don’t worry about my performance.

I didn’t worry about anything on the race around Fyn either. Well, except this one time when I accidentally let go of one of the spinnaker ropes, but it made us all laugh and Tine Perlt, another crewmember from the A-team, just smiled and said ”seems you’re an even worse sailor than me!”

Coming home and continuing the journey
When I arrived in Portugal after the Oceans of Hope journey I was thrilled. I felt I could help everyone with MS to live better and after a while I went on TV and I was in magazines and had the proper acknowledgement for our journey, but then came the hang-over. It’s like you’ve lived in such a high place and you’ve seen what life can be. I think I handled it by comparing my life to sailing, I know now that I have to follow the weather: If a storm comes, I have to pull down the sails and go to the rudder and pay much attention, if there’s no wind, I just hold on and relax, if it’s sunny with a little wind, I just enjoy it as much as I can. It’s all about preparation and adapting to circumstance and it’ been a huge benefit for me that Oceans of Hope matched my life to sailing.

Another lesson that I learned is what teamwork means – alone I could not have understood these things. Usually, if people are too tired they go to sleep, but if I’m tired I try to work more to compensate. On Oceans of Hope the team helped me and sent me to bed. Now I use strategies to handle my symptoms instead of fighting them. You could say that I’ve changed from being in a fighting mode to a sailing mode and now I’m in a gratitude mode. I have always been looking for this and now I ask for help more.

I came to a point that was so beautiful just before going to Copenhagen. I did an interview for a TV station and they asked me the most difficult question: “What now?” I mean, should I go to the moon for MS? No, I said, now is the time to make the most difficult journey of all, which is to find my own heart and learn to follow it. The TV presenter knew what I meant because I could see that she was crying. Now I can say that I really enjoy my own company, I like to be me, I like being in my own company and that probably wouldn’t have happened without Oceans of Hope.

Even though it was forty degrees on Oceans of Hope no one had a relapse, which is unusual. If you change the circumstances of your life, you can lead a happy and fulfilling life – it’s like taking the rudder. I’m not talking about a cure, but you can live well.

When we all meet again in Barcelona the journey will be complete for me.