23-4-23, the first night at sea consisted of four-hour shifts. 7:30 hrs, as daylight broke through the mist, I thought of what to prepare in the galley for our first of a few breakfasts at sea. Dreaming of grilled cheese sandwiches, we settled on lukewarm porridge with dates and oak milk. A more than welcome sight, smell and taste.
8:30 hrs, 100nm offshore, we experienced a series of alarms, resulting in a total digital navigation instrument failure. This meant the auto-helm had no data to function. With preparation for a minimum of eighteen days in front of us, we realise manual steerage would be exhausting in even moderate weather. This in mind, Captain Ahmed decides the boat has spoken, only eighteen and a half hours into our passage to Pape’ete.
Regardless of the favourable weather window ahead, our attempt to return ‘OM’ to Los Angeles, via Pape’ete and Honolulu, has failed. Now forced to return to Opua to diagnose the issue and consider an alternate plan.
While located at about 34S / 175E the boat had jibed and redirected itself 180° off our intended course. As fate may have it, heading directly back the way we had come. In response we simply adjusted the sails, that had been supported by the purposely rigged prevention lines, and settled into the site of the infamous long white cloud on the horizon.
19 hours later, back in berth F33, with a ginger beer in hand, we celebrated our gratitude for an uneventful safe return and for being 100mn, not 1000mn offshore.
What leviathan was avoided? The eddies hardly developed on our way toward the edge of the earth, we were brought back to land by means of a machine we were only part, not necessarily in complete control of. The consensus; it was fortuitous, we each needed to be somewhere else other than spending eighteen days at sea. It was the preparation of this trip that was required to see a little more clearly, the potential walked through, but not necessarily actioned. Instead of completing the passage itself, the failure allows other aspects of life to be attend to.
