Barrett recalls those ten years as some very rough ones, not only for he and his crewmates, but also for the Sword Coast in general. (Probably for all of Faerun, but he only knows for sure about his part of it.)
He would have been a sailor for just a short time (five to ten years) and, as a navigator’s apprentice, would have just about had the topography of the Sword Coast memorized; all the way from Icewind Dale in the north to the Forest of Tethir in the south, and especially all the islands and archipelagos in the Tackless Sea between the Sword Coast and Evermeet. He would have touched at most of the major port cities, both on the continent and on various islands.
He recalls that during the time of the Spellplague, peninsulas became islands, and whole islands mysteriously disappeared: Chult, Var the Golden, Luiren, Lantan, Nimbra, Selune to name a few. He recalls more than once his ship barely escaping a tsunami or a whirlpool created as an aftereffect of the massive tectonic shifts.
He recalls sailing near Neverwinter and seeing the newly created earthmotes there. He remembers passing near Waterdeep at one point and seeing the Walking Statues rampaging through the city in his spyglass. He heard plenty of stories about changes to the landscape even further inland, and even to the planes of existence.
He didn’t have many friends at the time who were users of magic – sailors don’t tend to such talents – but there were magic users and clergy of various types which sought passage on his ship and from the conversations he had with them, he learned that many magics that people took for granted: spells, magic items, natural powers, all became unreliable, unstable or failed altogether. He distinctly recalls magical compasses and other navigational aids on his ship were rendered useless.
Once, a cleric of Mystra’s had tried to explain it all to Barrett during a long voyage. Although he didn’t understand everything, he took away that two other gods, Cyric and Shar, had assassinated Mystra and caused the destruction of something called the Weave, which released raw magic into the universe. This caused the cataclysm which was later known as the Spellplague, manifesting as a wave of blue flames which swept over many areas. A side effect of this was that thousands of spellcasters were either destroyed or driven mad.
He recalls that roughly ten years later, around 1395 DR, things had settled into a “new normal” and people felt comfortable enough to return their attention to more mundane matters.