KINDNESS & Storms
At this point KINDNESS has carried Diane and I over 2500 nautical miles. We all have our own life journey to get to who and where we are and many have figuratively traveled. Considerably further distances than the KINDNESS crew. So question, "What is better, the journey or the destination?" I'll argue it is neither the journey or the destination. it is the company kept.
On KINDNESS we have Rule #1. Rule #1 is "Stay on the boat". Rule #2 is "Obey Rule#1”. When Diane and I travel across the open ocean 100 miles offshore at night, to leave the boat is death. When we are on watch at night, we wear a harness and clip a tether to the boat. Rule #1 is extremely important.
Diane and I sailed KINDNESS with a hired Captain from the British Virgin Islands(BVI) to Fort Lauderdale Fl. An insurance requirement due to our lack of experience. At the end of the sail, with the Captain's endorsement, we were able to have insurance and solo sail (without a captain) from that point on.
Our first solo sail, was from Fort Lauderdale to Charleston, South Carolina. We decided to cut across through the open ocean as opposed to going up along the coast. We got off to a great start. The wind, seas, and current, all in our favor, we were moving. We set our sails wing on wing, our head sail(Jib) out one way and the main sail out the opposite side with a preventer to keep it in place. We went through the first night without event and our confidence grew.
The next day Diane saw a water spout(tornado on the water) in the distance, fortunately not on our path. We started to see clouds forming with visible lighting far in the distance as we approached the second night. Based on the weather report we got through on our satellite based communication device(Garmin inReach), we put one reef in the sails based on the predicted sustained winds of 22kt.
On KINDNESS, we do shifts at night to keep watch. Diane does 9-12. I do 12-3(often longer) and Diane does 3-6. As I was coming up to take my shift at midnight, Diane mentioned seeing lightning and no sooner did she say it, we were in our first storm.
Traditional mono-hull sailboats heel(tip) to spill wind when there is too much wind. Catamarans due to their width can not heel. They have to reduce the exposed sail by what's called reefing. We were expecting 22kts of wind and as soon as we hit the storm, we were exposed to 30kts sustained and our sails are in danger of being overpowered. Overpowered means the sails could rip, the boat gets de-masted(loose what holds up the sails), or worse case scenario if the winds continue to increase, KINDNESS flips.
We are at least 60 miles off shore on our own in the dark. You couldn't see five feet from the boat and it is now raining hard with the wind and waves. At this point we had not purchased foul weather gear and the rain is cold. To reduce sail meant going forward out of the safety of the cockpit(rear portion of the catamaran) to remove the sail preventers and lower sails.
I made the decision based on training, to not to go forward(out of the cockpit) but instead to use KINDNESS' speed to reduce the power of the wind by sailing her down wind as fast as possible. In these conditions, KINDNESS sailed between 10 and 15 knots which reduced the wind accordingly as long as we kept her facing downwind.
This tactic would only work if the wind did not continue to increase beyond 30kts.. No longer did our course to destination matter. I stared at the wind gauge and did all I could to keep KINDNESS heading downwind. I was counting every minute. Diane was inside praying. She did not sleep even though her shift was over. Thoughts ran through my head, "Am I going to be completely humbled coming into port with a damaged rig and/or sails". Then I had a horrifying thought, "Am I going to be able to protect my wife." I was frightened and counted every minute waiting for the storm to pass over, staring at the wind gauge, hoping the wind wouldn't increase further in strength. This lasted 3 hours.
We talk to seasoned sailors when we can and ask, "What would you do in the situation we encountered?" Some like what we did and others say we should have gone forward and reduced sail. However, the wisest of answers was, when we saw lightning as the sun was setting, we should have reduced sail then.
This was not a hurricane. It was just a typical common lightning storm.
We all face storms in our journey through life. Maybe a few of us have experienced the category 5 hurricane in life. However, most of us, at one point or another, face the common lightning storm.
How do we handle storms in life? Do we white knuckle it ? How do we prepare for our storms? Will our foundation withstand the winds and the waves?
In the Bible, Peter was an experienced sailor who knew Rule #1, “Stay in the boat”. The boat is life. At night with wind and waves, invited by Jesus, Peter breaks Rule#1, he gets out of the boat. After going through the storm, my understanding and respect for this event has sky rocketed.
There are only two people in the Bible reported to be asleep during a storm at sea. One was Jesus and the other was Jonah.
Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from you."
He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here.
What was so special about Jonah's message for Nineveh? The message proclaimed was, "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown." Why would anyone listen to such a message from a stranger? Nineveh listened but why? They listened because of Jonah's journey. Nineveh worshiped a fish God and Goddess. Jonah was resurrected from the belly of a fish.
Jonah was the sign of his generation because of his journey.
Jesus was the sign of his generation because of his journey. Jesus was the greater Jonah. Jesus fulfilled Jonah.
Our journey is the sign for this generation. How we handle our storms is the sign for this generation.
The Bible speaks loudly about winds, waves, and storms. It says we are to be a shelter for one another. This sounds a lot like KINDNESS. Our journey is meant to have a great purpose and to be a sign of something greater as we persevere through storms.
In the book of Daniel, for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, God did not prevent the fire. He simply put Jesus in there with them.
He said, "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods."
God promises too be with us through every storm. Which is more important, the journey or the destination?
The company kept is what matters most.
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