Tomorrow will be the end of my third week at sea, the most I’ve gone so far. I’m still heart broken at the outcome. I felt ready in the sense that I have tons of spares, tools and stuff on the boat. Ready in the sense that the first few weeks were going to be a training ground to adjust and continue to learn the boat. And that did happen. What I didn’t plan for is that learning has a cost. I didn’t expect to be so far in the red so quickly. If any or all of this would have happened past Australia I’d probably carry on. This close from home it just makes sense to limp back against the trade winds, instead of limping around the world. There’s nothing wrong with not having spinnakers (I still have one, mind you). I have a few spare autopilots. The boom could have been sleeved with fiberglass, and the mainsail downsized. But that’s not how I envision a circumnavigation, maybe the end of one. Not the first 10%. I am grateful for the help I’m receiving from Tom, Randall and Skip. The only options for refueling or a short stop are in Oahu, which is a little off the route to San Francisco. My plan is to keep sailing north, past Big Island, all the while watching weather forecasts. If a good window opens up then I’ll probably carry on. If not then it’s probably another 2 days to make it to the south side of Oahu. In hindsight I might as well have sailed directly to Oahu; it would have been an easier sail than trying to round Big Island to port! Hindsight! Shitty concept!
It’s tough to call it quits, but you would have never started out from SF with the condition of your equipment as it is now. If you were more than half way, then obviously you’d keep going, and pull into a foreign port if it became impossible to continue. Better that you’re able to return home and plan for another day, with the lessons learned. Looking forward to following your next attempt.