“For most people who have chemo it’s no big deal,” says man who sails around Ireland between bouts of chemotherapy

David Bevan guided his 31ft yacht into Broadhaven Bay on Tuesday evening, leaving behind him the turbulent Atlantic swells and about 230 nautical miles of a round-Ireland voyage.

Now there was just one thing to do before he could carry on: chemotherapy.

The father-of-two agreed to the odyssey after his friend Chris Egan was diagnosed with cancer. Last year, Bevan's doctors told him he too had the illness, or "the boyo", as the men irreverently call it.

"I actually think that for people who are suffering, having a goal or something to head toward is the most important thing," he said from the deck of the Inizi , as he navigated the jutting Co Mayo coastline earlier this week.

From Broadhaven, Bevan returned by road to his native Limerick and on down to Cork on Thursday before returning to Killybegs in Donegal where he would resume his journey yesterday evening in aid of cancer research.

Check-ups
He will have to break away again in three weeks' time, as will Egan who requires regular check-ups in the aftermath of his defeat of non-Hodgkins lymphoma cancer.

“It does take about two weeks to get sorted after chemo but I am hoping it will be shorter this time,” said Bevan. “I am feeling very well now. In actual fact this whole trip which I have been planning all winter has kept me very busy and now we are doing it. And I am delighted.”

So far the pair, members of Foynes Yacht Club in Limerick, have taken in Carrigaholt, Co Clare, Inis Mór, Clifton, Clare Island and Saleen Bay.

They have company in the form of their "minder" or "quartermaster" Gerry Hutton from Dalkey in Dublin and in between stints some others join them for segments of the journey.

While raising money (about €15,000 so far) is important, the main objective of all this for Egan is to create awareness and promote an understanding of cancer and its present-day reality.

“One day I was listening to Joe Duffy and a woman came on and she had been diagnosed with what I have and she was terrified. The words cancer and chemo terrified her,” he said.

"Up until I had it I thought chemo was being locked up in a big room and being zapped with lasers but for most people who have chemo it's no big deal. If you do have a reaction they change your tablets. They were excellent in Limerick Regional Hospital. The trick is to get diagnosed; that is your lucky day, the day you get diagnosed."

Humour
Whether it's calling the disease the "boyo" or joking that, should their boat lights fail, they will simply glow in the dark from their treatment, the men believe a healthy aspect of recovery is humour and in understanding the possibilities of treatment.

“I would like to promote awareness. It isn’t a death sentence. Some people are terrified about it but people don’t realise how strong they are when it comes to the crunch.”

Chris Egan, a postman in Ardagh, Co Limerick, was diagnosed in 2009 after discovering a small lump in his thigh. It had spread to his groin and stomach and so he was put on a maintenance treatment programme to monitor it.

“I had the idea last year and when I got my treatment I said I would do the trip,” he recalled.

“At the time Bevan said he would do it with me because his wife [Ann] had cancer. Next thing, about a month later, he rang me and said you won’t believe this but I have been diagnosed with it.”

Last November, in fact, the retired farmer had some pain and it had turned out to be colon cancer. They operated in the Mercy University Hospital in Cork and his chemotherapy course is due to finish next month. By then he may be navigating the rugged coastlines of Leinster or Munster.

Bevan’s wife Ann is well too, having recovered from breast cancer. “It knocked her back a bit, there is no doubt about that but she is very positive about this trip,” he said. “I do think and I hope that people will get a great assurance that so much can be done for all the different types of cancer now.

“Most people who have cancer are very lucky because there are so many ways to get out of it.”