on your MARK, get set, go!: Skirted with disaster out on The Pacific Ocean!

Mom and Susan, I am 100% OK

May 25-27th

There were 14 of us on board a 56 foot sailboat scheduled to sail for three days around the Whitsunday Islands off the coast of Airlie Beach, Australia. On or second night, trouble hit. It was 3am when we woke to a thunderous crack! In an instant, people and possessions were pin balling all over the boat! Our captain just started screaming F*ck over and over again. Nobody had any idea what was going on. My fellow passengers were from all over the world but none of us had trouble understanding the captain's language. There was no doubt that we were in some kind of real trouble. Earlier that evening, we had anchored in a quiet cove within swimming distance from one of the islands we were to snorkel around the next day. We now found ourselves out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean getting tossed around in 6-10 foot swells and we were hitting something! And hitting it hard! From my bunk below the bow, I watched out my window as the first mate jumped into the lifeboat with a flashlight cutting through the night sky right into my eyes. At this point, I was living out a horror movie. Not having a clue how to sail, I really didn't know what to do. It was pitch black out. We were in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and slamming into god only knows what. Our Captain had 30 years experience on the water and he was panicking. Not the most comfortable sign. There were a few of us that scrambled up to the deck to ask the captain and first mate if there was anything we could do. We got a look from the Captain and it didn't take a genius to know what it meant. "Get the ____ down below and let us handle it.

Up until this point on my travels, running into baboons while hiking Mount Rochelle in South Africa was the most scared I had been in a long while. That pales in comparison to living out this situation where I truly thought we were on a sinking boat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Somehow, our anchor failed us during the night and we had drifted several miles out into the unforgiving Pacific. We had crashed into a reef of some sorts. The anchor was tangled and we just kept slamming into the reef over and over again. The steering mechanism on the boat was also jammed. It seemed like chaos ensued for about 10 hours. My best guess was that it was probably 30 minutes. 30 minutes I never want to live again. Thank goodness for the quick thinking and experience of our captain and first mate. They managed to get us away from the reef and sailed us back to calmer waters.

I set sail the other day thinking I'd have an unforgettable experience sailing/snorkeling around the Pacific. Well, I had an unforgettable experience all right. There were 11 of us on board as passengers of The Habbabi. I no doubt have 11 friends for life. We experienced something that nobody should ever have to. Yet another reminder that nothing is guaranteed in life and we need to make the most of every day that we are given.

To my mates aboard The Habbabi: Way to stay strong. Love you guys.

Mark/Chops

PS. I am boarding another sailboat in a few days that is scheduled to sail around the outer Great Barrier Reef up off the coast of Cairns. I'm not about to back down to The Pacific. I came here to do something, and I am going to do it. End of story.