The relentless darkness of the night was finally swallowed up by the dawn; something we learned to appreciate this entire journey, even long for. Every sunrise just seemed to changed everything, even though everything remained the same. It had been ten hours since our last contact with Hazak, and as if the stormy night was not hard enough, we were now at the entrance to the Windward Passage.
The Windward got its name due to the high winds, heavy seas, and strong currents that occur on this stretch between Cuba and Haiti. Aleph Tav was reefed and ready to hunker down for another 14 hour beat down.
I didn’t know when we would hear from Hazak, yet I had peace since I accepted the fact that they were not in my, but rather in G-d’s hands. We motor sailed hard for several hours in the morning. Then way out in the distance, we saw a tiny white triangle appear and disappear in the waves. Some time later we finally made contact. Sure enough it was Hazak. They were beat. Compleatly exhausted, they decided to sail fast and hard through the windward in order to end their suffering. We were safely reefed, and as a result, were unable to keep up with them.
Another day and long night of hard sailing in heavy wind and seas came to a joyful end when the sun rise lit the coastline of Haiti.
“Land ho!!!” I announced with great joy.
We could smell the charcoal burning near the shore, and see the fishermen bobbin in their dugout canoes. It was difficult to believe we were actually seeing Haiti while sailing on Aleph Tav. Now that we were out of the Windward, the sea was calm with a very light breeze. It truly was surreal.
Hazak was about a half day ahead of us in a dead calm. Andre motored slowly to conserve fuel. We were all thrilled. It was over. This long and epic journey would finally end with a sweet and peaceful cruise.
I was so exited, I decided to bring our RPMs up a bit. At this rate, we would catch up to Hazak, and head into Ile a Vashe together in approximately ten hours. Thankfully, our diesel motor could run without electricity, so the fact we had lost our alternator somewhere along the way, didn’t affect us at all. That is, as long as we kept the motor running. Of course this also caused our batteries to be extremely low. Some beautiful brothers from Pastor George’s congregation, had blessed us with funds to get a wind generator. However, having to fill our fuel tanks with diesel took precedence over that.
Even though the temperature gauge read perfectly normal, I decided to check and see that there was enough water in the cooling system. And so I did what I had done countless times on this journey; perhaps for the last time. I removed the companionway ladder, rolled back the salon rug, opened the floor hatches, and climbed down into the oily engine room. I pushed the cooling fill cap down and turned it. Inside the cooling tank, the water level was ok, but I decided to add some water… Without warning, a geyser of steam and scalding water shot up into the salon, raining over me and everything else.
“DOWN!!! DOWN!!! DOWN!!! DOWN!!!” I shouted from down below. Gabriel who was at the helm, promptly pulled the shut off cord, and the motor went silent…
“Nnnnnnooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!” I yelled with my burned hands in the air.
To be continued