ADVENTURE HUNTERS
It’s the 23rd night of our 29-day, 3,000-mile passage from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to Hiva Oa in French Polynesia. As I settle into my watch, I try not to be concerned about the secondhand parts I installed last-minute, parts that are now being stressed to their breaking point. A frozen sheave in the furling system is currently at the top of my worry list. Will it continue to allow line to pass over it when one of the many squalls we’ve been experiencing this past week pipes up in the next few hours?
It’s memorable enough to sail across an ocean under any circumstances. It’s quite another to be doing it aboard a 31ft sailboat originally bought straight out of college to save money on rent. Add in the fact that my crew consists of an older brother who’d scarcely sailed a day in his life before we set off and a non-sailing friend from work looking to take some time off, and I wonder if this is really the adventure I wanted.
If I had to do it again, I’m not sure I would have chosen , a 32-year-old Hunter 31, for this undertaking. Sometimes, though, you have to go with what you’ve got, and in my case, at 25 years old, I knew finding the “perfect” boat wouldn’t
