It's not often that a person decides to embark on a project that would involve working and living with two total strangers 24 hours a day for an entire month. Many people wouldn't even contemplate doing such a thing, especially if the project involved potentially life threatening situations.

However, that's exactly what Sue Wyatt did earlier this year when she sailed across the Atlantic with crew mates Ronan Harvey and Mario Velhuan (from the UK and South Africa respectively), whom she had met for the first time just three days before setting off on an unforgettable journey. It was a journey full of spiritual, uplifting highs and gut-wrenching, terrifying lows, which she says taught her lessons that she is now able to apply to her business and personal lives. And it all started with a note she made in her diary.

"It was the Newport-Bermuda race celebrations and I had been asked to help in the flag lowering ceremony," says Miss Wyatt, 37.

"I was so enthralled to be in amongst the atmosphere, seeing the competitors' adrenaline running high and so many boats taking over the harbour that I wrote a journal entry when I got home ? not something I do very often. I wrote about how it was a powerful reminder of how much I love to crew and all my other sailing adventures."

Miss Wyatt is the general manager/director of Bermudian investment firm LOM Asset Management, and her professional experience spans 14 years in the fund management industry with an emphasis on brokering and sales management. However, she is also an accomplished sailor, and her experience in that context includes sailing in the 2000 Tall Ships Race (Bermuda to Maine leg), crewing round the Whitsunday Islands in Australia and the Grenadines in the Caribbean and, in August 2003, representing Bermuda in the IOD World Championships in Maine, as well as sailing in a host of other races in the UK for many years.

"The boats (at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club) took my breath away and I felt such an incredible connection and seeing that made me want another sailing adventure," Miss Wyatt said.

"I wrote in my journal entry that I would offer myself as crew for the returning (Newport - Bermuda) leg when in reality I really wanted to sail the other way across the Atlantic, but couldn't see how that would happen."

A chance meeting while on a local sailing outing with work colleagues the following weekend would lead to the musings in her diary becoming a reality just ten days later.

"We got chatting to these guys and next thing I know they explain they're looking for crew to cross the Atlantic. There and then I volunteered and I see a work parallel here ? if you know what you want to achieve the opportunities become clearer."

Luckily her boss agreed on the spot to her having the time off.

"He could see my keenness to make a dream come true," she said.

There followed a rapid sequence of events over the following ten says before she set sail.

"I agreed on the Saturday, told family and friends on the Sunday, met the two guys on Monday to determine this was a serious proposition," she said.

"I helped them sail the boat from Hamilton to St George's to see the boat, discuss plans and safety issues and to determine if we would be suited to a month at sea together in a small space. I then needed to get everything organised to be ready to set sail on Wednesday afternoon ? ensure all work projects were covered for a month, all house sitting issues covered and all provisioning for a month at sea."

Their journey on the 52ft sailboat began on July 1, 2004 and would take them across the Atlantic from Bermuda to the Azores and onward to Portugal. Sailing is a sport that is synonymous with business in the minds of many people: a high level of teamwork is required, one has to be prepared for changing conditions and manage them effectively; planning and charting a course is vital, but being flexible enough to deviate from it if circumstances dictate is important as well.

Although as a veteran sailor she had made these parallels before, Miss Wyatt said that this particular journey brought them into sharper focus. The extremes in weather conditions they experienced on the journey, and the sheer magnitude of the forces of nature, made an even deeper impression on the crew, who would be totally dependent on each other for an extended period. For Miss Wyatt this level of dependence was among the greatest challenges on the journey, and took teamwork to a completely different level.

"The knowledge that there were miles of water below us and weeks of water on all sides of us would become suffocating in the realisation there really was no way out," she said.

"Added to that was extreme weather conditions with over 50 knots of wind, waves taller than houses and things breaking on the boat ? our largest sail shredded in the biggest storm and our rigging needed repair too. Also realising way too late that if these two guys didn't know what to do under pressure we were in serious trouble.

"Was I frightened? Yes; way more than I was prepared for. I've never experienced fear like it even though I've been in other fearful situations."

In addition to sailing Miss Wyatt enjoys adventure travel and refers to occasions on several of her 107 trips to 54 countries where she found herself in danger, such as staring down the mouth of a hippo whilst canoeing down the Zambezi River in Africa, experiencing an avalanche whilst skiing in France and looking down the barrel of a gun whilst backpacking in India.

On the Atlantic crossing Miss Wyatt's crew mates, like her, had apparently not experienced such severe weather conditions before "other than perhaps on the edge of a Typhoon in Thailand or in the Amazon basin, (which) didn't provide much comfort", she says, "especially when they're screaming at the top of their lungs over the sheer volume of noise that storms create when sails are flapping out of control, it's pitch black and you can't see past the bowsprit on the front of the boat! These were key challenges.

"Staying awake during watch was another challenge. During the night we do shifts on our own so I'd be responsible for four to five hours of darkness to ensure first and foremost we didn't hit anything and secondly to maintain course, boat speed, monitor wind speed and direction etc. The responsibility is enormous when people's lives are at stake and they're trusting me to look out for them while they sleep. The team bonding that occurred was incredible, that bond will never ever be broken. Creating that same team commitment in business, without having the risk of life or death, is a goal for me."

She started to think about how she could translate the lessons she was learning on the journey to her business life and work on her return after a particularly bad storm "when I made what felt like the biggest decision I've ever had to make.

"We were in the thick of our worst storm with all sorts of things going wrong around us. I was a split second from losing it, it was way more fear than I could handle, I imagined the worst and inside my head I was screaming 'Get me out of here; I can't cope with this. I don't care if I have to admit this is too much for me. So what I've failed, just get me out of here. This is hopeless; we're in over our heads'.

"Then in the same split second I made a massive choice. I chose to change my attitude recognising that how I felt would not change the outcome of the events surrounding us. I recognised I couldn't be another problem for the guys to try and deal with so I decided right there and then 'Right, let me focus and keep us safe'.

"Reflecting back, it was the make or break of the trip and possibly the biggest achievement I have experienced to date. No matter what is happening you still have the choice how you react to it. Owning the power to choose your attitude is so enlightening and something invaluable in business."

She began writing down her thoughts, drawing analogies between sailing and business and ended up collating an extensive list of what she calls "headlines" with supporting explanations that she has already used in a series of training seminars at LOM.

"The 'Maximising your Potential' sessions (are) encouraging everyone to be the best they can be, looking at key skills like team communication, personality profiling and choosing your attitude, and recognising that every member of staff has a marketing responsibility," says Miss Wyatt.

Her list of headlines includes instructions such as 'The time to grip on tighter is when things look the bleakest'; 'If nothing's taking your bait, change your bait'; 'Take the helm when others need direction'; 'You'll go nowhere if you're rudderless'; and 'To catch a fish you must have a line in the water'.

"That last one is courtesy of Mario," she says with a laugh.

The list also includes the curious phrase, 'Take some dolphin time for you every day' which Miss Wyatt created based on what she considers to be among the best highlights of the trip and a valuable lesson for the typically stressful business world.

"Every time we had dolphins by the boat we stopped what we were doing and just soaked in the beauty," she explains. "It seems to put life into perspective; no matter what problems or stresses we have they disappear during dolphin time. It was a wonderful time to just be at one with nature, to re-connect and re-balance. Now I am committed to re-creating that 'dolphin time' by taking the time to stare out to sea or up to the sky to put all problems and worries into perspective. It is a wonderful anchor to help me choose my attitude." And it's a practice she recommends to others.

She is clearly very appreciative of her crew mates and of the experience she shared with them taking her in new directions, both during the journey and currently, as she is now writing a book based on the material and information she has collated.

"I wanted to understand (from this journey) what it would be like to not see land for days on end, what would happen to my thinking, what my priorities would become and how contrasting that would be to normal life. I also wanted to see if I could stretch my comfort zone beyond all recognition," she said.

"Now I am writing a book, a new experience for me, and currently have 27,000 words written. I plan for it to be themed like 'Sails to Sales' and utilise my sales training work, my business experience and my experience crossing the Atlantic together."

Would she do a similar crossing again?

"Absolutely not; no amount of persuading would make me change my mind!" she said. "Because I feel like I used all my lives. I prayed so hard to reach Portugal in one piece that I did a deal with the universe. I promised not to put myself through such trauma again if I could just have extra help being looked after this time. I'm not about to test whether my 'help' allocation is all used up!

"I still want to sail and I still want to travel ? South America is next on my list - but I have no great desire right now to go all out 'extreme'. Although I think I have said that after every adventure to date!"