Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
On the 27
th
of May, the log reminded me that a little breeze sprang up in the night, and
we were sailing at one knot having to steer by hand. At noon I took a mid-day fix putting
us six hundred and twenty miles east southeast of Hawaii. We were having to drink water
from the last container on deck now as the main tanks were dry. It rained a little in the af-
ternoon, but we were unable to catch any of it. The wind died again. We were back to using
the motor again, both of us furious. I made some more corn bread the following day and it
turned out well, though the log tells me we had a petty argument about something and the
effect of the bread was spoilt.
That night we were struck by a big squall. The boat heeled way over as we were heavily
canvassed and we crashed along like a wild horse for several hours. The storm subsided
into a steady ten knot wind and we were sailing again. Spirits shot up and we made a hun-
dred miles during this day.
The wind began to falter and we started the motor again. We have both run out of cigar-
ettes! I feel a bit healthier for it. Gavin made some corn bread, as we are almost out of
food now. I dropped a glass of sticky orange juice all over the sole and had a tough time
cleaning it up. We are both very thin now and weak.....
My walker log was acting up; I had noticed that the miles made good were not being
shown. I pulled in the trailing propeller and found that a shark had bitten it off! I did not
have a spare. I was depressed by this loss all day. I was smoldering with anger. Little things
now seemed to be magnified out of all proportions. Gavin was in a very foul temper with
no cigarettes to calm him down. He attacked the fish jerky with anger, chewing ravenously
through the calm. We had another one hundred and twenty miles to Hawaii.
The wind picked up a little during the night, and although we had to steer by hand, it was
infinitely better than slatting about in calm. I tried our radio and was able to pick up a com-
mercial station on medium wave. We listened to some rather civilized American accents.
Our spirits picked up considerably.
The 3
rd
of June dawned quietly around us. We were sailing along at around three knots, and
I predicted sometime in the morning we should see the tall volcanic mountain of Mauna
Loa. There was an isolated bank of clouds on the northwestern horizon, and my guess was
that Hawaii was in there somewhere.
By midday we were able to see the big mountain clearly with its halo of rain cloud, what
a beautiful sight, rising majestically from the ocean. We couldn't believe it! After fifty
days at sea through all kinds of weather and hardship, there was the big island of Hawaii.
The atmosphere on-board changed from morbid depression and futility to absolute excite-
ment! The radio was playing some popular Hawaiian music, and we could almost see the
