It was a two-day sail for the Spirit of Bermuda — and a life-changing journey for the crew.

The Charlotte Sail aims to help those who have suffered with alcohol and drug addiction, or who have been affected in some way through addiction.

Jim Roi, a New York philosopher and healer specialising in the treatment of “spiritual disease”, ran the charter programme along with an addictions counsellor at Pathways Bermuda, Roger Trott.

The sail is held in memory of Charlotte Watlington, a Bermudian woman who committed suicide in 2013 after battling with addiction and depression.

Some of the crew members shared their experiences of the sail in the hopes that it would inspire others who are now on the road to recovery.

Andre Smith has struggled with cocaine addiction for almost half of his life but has now been clean for more than five years.

He was 21 when he first tried the drug and from that point his life slowly started to fall apart.

Addiction affected his family life, personal life and professional life and in the end he had no where to turn.

He told The Royal Gazette: “The crazy part was I never would have dreamed it would turn my life upside down.”

“I functioned OK for a good, hot minute,” he added, laughing.

“I was in the hotel industry so I always was able to play that ‘looking good’ game. But soon I was living every waking moment to get high — that was as bad as it got.

“Twenty years ago I became homeless and I got to that place where I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I wasn’t living the other half of my life — I had gone 50 years old.

“In the struggle was the fact that my mother had Alzheimer’s and I said, ‘I don’t know how long she has got to live and I need to sort this out before she closes her eyes’.”

Mr Smith had been in and out of rehab, starting off with a programme at Focus before moving on to the Shelter and then the Salvation Army’s Harbour Light before, eventually, he managed to take control of the problem.

He got involved in the Charlotte Sail about a year into his recovery and has never looked back.

He said: “This sail is awesome because it lets me see life on a different scale. I never would have gone sailing before I heard about it — I liked fishing. It has helped me with the social part of my life and I can truly say this can be an opportunity for somebody who has struggled like myself and wants to be grounded.

“It takes away the boredom — sometimes we get into recovery and you feel like something is missing. Often you feel recovery is not happening quickly enough and we don’t have activities to help us get on with it.

“Fellowship is the most important part of recovery.”

Mr Smith is now employed and has been given responsibility of his own vehicle.

“Not all doors were closed on me,” he said.

Another participant, a woman who asked not to be named, had a problem with alcohol and cocaine for 20 years after experimenting in high school.

“My life became unmanageable, I was unable to focus or be productive,” she said. “I had no meaningful relationships with anyone, only with the drugs. Drugs took over my entire existence.”

She heard about an addiction programme based on the12 steps to recovery initiative of Alcoholics Anonymous.

“It is a spiritual programme that digs deep into each individual addict’s life and, if they are truly willing, transforms them to the healthy and productive person they were designed to be,” she said.

“Yes, it is a difficult process and a painful one. As recovering addicts we need to meet with others like ourselves, to share not only our struggles in recovery but our joys as well.

“The Charlotte Sail was an opportunity to do this as well as keep our memory green about our past lives, remembering those who didn’t make it, and coming together to help anyone new to the programme.

“The Charlotte Sail is a blessing to any recovering addict by letting them know that they can change and that there is help out here if they need it.”

Not everyone on the ship had personally gone through an addiction. One man, who also wished to remain anonymous, decided to join the crew as he has a “genetic predisposition to addiction”.

Both of his parents were alcoholics and his mother drank and smoked throughout her pregnancy with him.

“I have addiction tendencies but I have a good handle on it.” he said.

“Both my parents were alcoholics and I made a very conscious decision when I was young that I would have control over it rather than the other way around.

“Any time you go on something like this, you always gain much greater insight into yourself and other people and how their situation is reflected in yours.

“I have never come across a deeper thinker than Jim Roi ... this guy is extraordinary.

“He has created a core observation about how we behave and who we are once we accept that we can choose to let it go.”

• Anyone interested in taking part in future sails should call: 505-3820 or e-mail gordon.robert.johnson@gmail.com