Yvette and Sander float in the sea without a mast for more than three weeks: ‘traumatic experience’

For Rotten sailors Yvette Oeben and Sander Droog of Heerenveen, the dream voyage around the world was doubly traumatic. First, because they roamed the Pacific Ocean for 26 days without a mast, but the insurer – as it is now – refuses to repay the damage between 60,000 and 100,000 euros. “It was an extra dream,” Yvette says.

At the end of April, when Sander and Yevet go with their boat, things go wrong Blue berry On the way to French Polynesia. Suddenly at midnight a strange noise is heard and the mast seems to be broken. “We were not without a rudder, but we were without a mast,” says Yvette. As a trained sailor she praised her friend Sander who was ready for all the scenes. So with regard to this. “As far as the weather is concerned, there is nothing to worry about. We had four or five air forces, and a ship like that should be capable of handling it,” says Yvette. Can’t determine what the problem is. Because they had to leave the mast at the bottom of the sea.

They continued on the road with a temporary mast. The steering was possible, but all the stability was lost on the mast from the boat. This means they collide and tilt up to 2,000 miles (3,600 kilometers) in other ways. “It was horrible. We were swinging in all directions. We set up a spinnaker pole sail, but it was a toothpick compared to the mast we had. Fortunately the crust was firm and we were not in danger of life.” The backup has an engine on board, but it is not suitable for long distance travel across the ocean.

Time is much harder for Yvette than Sander. “I had a lot of trouble, panicked. I thought everything was going wrong.” Fortunately for both, they are not all alone. They are in touch with boats in the area via e-mail. They have enough food and drinks, but diesel for the engine is always welcome. “They brought sleeping pills in a bag.” Since the rocking is bad enough for the boats to touch each other, the luggage has to be moved through a long queue. “We did it four times. It’s nice to be able to talk to some people on VHF radio and take action in addition to popping.”

(Text continues below photo)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *