It’s Tuesday morning, we’ve been motoring eastward for 48 hours and we’re not yet halfway back to the Galapagos. As we come farther north the seas have mitigated a little so we’re not being tossed as violently as we were before but it’s still too rough to do any cooking. We’re both hungry but without appetite if that make sense. We force ourselves to eat what we can but it’s difficult.
I came out to the cockpit for my morning watch, looked forward and was shocked once again by the clear view over the deck. No mast, boom vang, sails, lines or wires obstruct our vision of the eastern horizon. East. Just the word makes me sad. We’ve been sailing westward for many months now and our minds were set on the “Faery Lands of the South Seas,” that cruisers’ mecca, the golden ring of sailing. Last night I watched the sun go down behind us and nearly cried that we are sailing away from the setting sun instead of toward it.
Jack and I can barely talk about it except for practical issues like compiling lists of what was lost and trying to figure out where we can get the work done, although without access to internet and a phone we can’t even begin to try and find a boat yard within range that can do the work. We had several emails from various people in the insurance company, some very kind and concerned, some officiously reminding us that we have a deductible and that replacement will be subject to “depreciation based on age.” What that means in real terms we will see. We hope this isn’t the end of our dream.
We received messages from our dear friends on Macushla and Flying Cloud who read about our misfortune and offered to help in any way they can. My family is behind us, too. We feel love and support and we appreciate it.