Five years ago, UNC alumnus Brown Councill and his wife, Eileen Councill, decided to set sail and travel the world. At the time, they were living in China, content to stay for a few more years. However, once the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, they decided to jump-start their journey.
Only one problem: they did not know how to sail.
Brown Councill graduated from UNC in 1986, and he knew he wanted to sail since he was a kid. Brown married Eileen in 2011, and since then they have dedicated their lives to traveling the world. Nonetheless, Brown’s parents still live in Chapel Hill, and he visits from time to time.
At the beginning of their sailing journey, they hired a captain for two weeks to teach them how to sail. Eileen said that after those weeks, they barely had enough of the skills required to sail and had so much more to learn in terms of weather, navigation and all of the various systems on the boat.
“[The first night] we got on the boat, and it became dark, we didn’t even know how to turn the lights on,” she said.
Regardless of their inexperience, Beverly Pappano, Eileen’s sister, said that she was not surprised when the Councills set off on their sailing adventure, as they are both free spirits and have always been on the same page as a couple.
“[The COVID-19 pandemic] kind of gave them some traction to do something, probably a little outside the box, and so they took advantage of that situation and I honestly supported them one hundred percent,” Pappano said.
As they continued sailing, they became more self-sufficient and learned how to work and upkeep their boat. Brown said there are some really smart people out on the water, like engineers and pilots, and the community is strong.
“With our know-how, our pantries and our sailing parts, we can conquer the world,” he said.
