Personal Reflections on the Loss of the RMS Titanic

One hundred and twenty-four years ago, the RMS Titanic was lost, and over 1,500 people died in the North Atlantic. It’s a date that’s stayed with me for most of my life. As a child, I remember trying to understand it—how something so large, so advanced, and so full of confidence could simply disappear. It didn’t quite fit into my understanding of how the world worked. Later, as a young professional sailor, the story took on a different weight. Cold water became real. Not theoretical—real. The idea of entering it, surviving in it, and what that actually means in practice… that changes how you see the ocean. Now, after years at sea—this being my 37th transatlantic and over 340,000 miles sailed, including two circumnavigations—I still mark the position of the Titanic on my chart every time I cross the Atlantic. Not out of sentiment. Out of respect. Because the lesson is simple, and it hasn’t changed: The sea doesn’t change. The responsibility stays the same.