Things went wrong in the middle of the ocean: ‘Shaken back and forth for three weeks’

Sander (35) from Heerenveen set off on a world tour earlier this year with his girlfriend Yvette (35). Aruba was the starting point for the tour. “I pursued this dream from a very young age. Yvette has a passion for travel and came with me, even though she is not into ocean sailing.”

The couple reached the Galápagos Islands unscathed and the great crossing to French Polynesia began in mid-April. In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, with 2000 nautical miles (about 3600 km) to go, things went wrong.

“It was my turn to keep watch,” Sander said over the phone from the island of Hiva Oa in French Polynesia. “Yvette was sleeping. Normally, we hear the water gushing under the boat, because we are sailing. But then, suddenly, I heard terrible noises, creaks, rustles.”

The boat suddenly stopped. Sander rushed over and saw no more mast. It turned out to be broken, out of nowhere. “I shouted, ‘Honey, wake up. Put on your life jacket, the mast is overboard.’

Sore

Sander checked to see if there was more damage or if the ship was producing water. That didn’t seem to be the case. “You lose control for a while. Over everything,” Sander says of that cramped moment. “But because there was no immediate danger, I was able to act calmly and see exactly what was happening.”

The mast turned out to be unsalvageable. They must have left it in the ocean. Guess exactly why it broke. “Maybe there was a weak point. The wind was quite strong, but we were sailing calmly. It’s striking. And very painful, it was all new.”

After a phone call with his father, the couple works on a solution: a kind of emergency mast with a small sail. The ship was able to move forward again, but was slow at 3 or 4 knots. †

Hotsend and sloshing

Sander speaks of a “horror journey”. “You can’t imagine in advance what it does to such a ship. It sails so unsteady, we just rocked and tossed back and forth for three weeks. Every now and then, those high pounding waves. It was hellish, worse than any storm I’ve been through. Resting, cooking, sleeping…everything was difficult. It gave us big headaches.”

Fortunately, the couple had prepared well, they lacked neither food nor drink. “We had been stocking up on food for 3-4 months.”

After three weeks of “floating”, land was finally in sight. The two are now trying to recover from the adventure, as it has narrowed considerably. “You have to deal with that. Especially for Yvette, for her this experience was traumatic. It was far from her comfort zone. She is not used to sailing, especially not on the ocean in these conditions. It was a real survival. Admiring how she pulled through.”

Finding peace on Hiva Oa, one of the islands of French Polynesia, is still difficult. Because Sander and Yvette have another setback. “We need a new mast but the insurance won’t pay and I wonder if we can still get our ship out to sea. Cost is an issue. We remain positive. Friends of ours try to help us† Sure, we’re happy to have a little “tailwind,” but we also realize that some people around the world need it more than we do. We are very happy with all the support.”

Find a solution

The boat Beryl Blue Sander once bought in Malaysia. It was shipped to the Netherlands and Sander refurbished it there. A project of years, to be able to make this trip.

The question is whether Sander and Yvette can continue the journey. For now, the couple will stay where they are, looking for a solution. And at the same time enjoy the environment. “Up to this moment it was a dream trip, you see the most beautiful places on earth.”