On our 11th day out of Honolulu we were de-masted. We had finally caught a nice wind and we were on a port tack when suddenly - CRACK - the mast broke off and our sails fell into the ocean. Apparently the port fore-stay snapped and the force of the wind just carried the mast away. Spent a few moments in shock and awe before Capt. Rick, in his grief and dismay could make a decision. At that point the broken end of the mast was threatening the hull and Rick decided that rather than try and haul the sails on board somehow (a very dangerous proposition) our best option was to cut it free and lose the sails and rigging. So our third crewman, Leszek Kotzian, crawled out on the bow with bolt cutters and set about nipping all the shrouds. We all just stood there dumbfounded as our sails slipped away to Davey Jones' Locker.
We were 1300 miles from LA at that point and trying to sift through options on how we were going to make it that far on 150 gallons of diesel fuel. So I'll leave you hanging on that question. The details of the rest of the voyage will require several pages to recount. At this point I'm enjoying an afternoon in the United Club at LAX awaiting my 6:30 PM flight home. Our total time at sea was 21 days and let's just say for now that the rest of the trip was all about survival.
More to come...
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