SukritiFirst Signs
On the third day, a 35-knot storm hit Hazana, the yacht which made its deck fitting came loose. As a result, saltwater flowed onto the single-sideband radio. They were not able to sleep but soon the weather was clear by the 6th day, the winds were pushing them towards the east which was described as “bliss” in Richard’s ship log. But this blissfulness would all be a memory.
Fun Time
It was the 8th day when their wind indicator stopped working. “I hope no more of this bloody equipment breaks down,” Richard said to Tami. However, Hazana, the yacht still kept on going for next three days and couple got time to complete their sleep, read and write. Once they crossed the equator, they celebrated that evening with fine wine, watching a group of playful pilot whales. For the next few days, many times they got the company of mighty whales and curious dolphins. The day 17 brought the least required natural weather with it.
Ran Into Action
When they found the weather suspicious, they got to know from the weather channel about the storm. They were going in the direction of Hurricane Raymond. “Storms come and go, I thought, often petering out,” Tami mentioned in her ship log. During midnight the wind blew and it was raining at a great speed. As soon as the wind diverted towards the north, Richard made a decision to save themselves which eventually was about to take both of them down.
Change Of Direction
They received the news about Hurricane Raymond, 75 mile-per-hour winds were now chasing them towards the north. Right after they heard the radio report, they started sailing at the maximum speed. In order to get rid of the weather, Richard decided to change their route. “If we couldn’t situate ourselves above Raymond, maybe within the next twenty-four hours, we could sneak to the south of the center and reach the navigable semicircle – the safer quadrant that would push us out of the spinning vortex instead of sucking us in,” Tami tells about his decision.
Encountering The Storm
It felt like Hurricane Raymond was chasing the couple in every direction they were heading. They were not concerned about surviving as they knew the strength of yacht will handle the storm “as we knew Trintellas were built to withstand the strongest of sea conditions,” tells Tami. They didn’t want to lose the rig as it’ll result in losing the path and not being able to head in any direction without a radio.
Scared To Death
Richard was scared and nervous and as per Tami, she was seeing him on his extreme for the first time. That day Richard mentioned in his logbook, “All we can do is pray.” The very next morning, they were caught up in the storm. With no way out of it, they had put down all their sails. The next words Richard said were about to be their last conversation.