Frightened, desperate and with just enough water to last the next day Sammy made a life-or-death decision…
The tropical storm had lashed the catamaran for two full days and nights; Sammy doubted she had slept at all since the top section of the mast came crashing down on Lucas, who was attempted to reef in the main. He was still laying in the cabin comatose, his breathing shallow, a green-blue bruising spreading across his chest.
Without the sail and rigging, the boat had wallowed sickeningly in the lumpy sea, drifting at the mercy of the current. Lightening had crackled overhead all night while torrential rain lashed the deck strewn with ropes and shackles and a loose boom that swung malevolently from side to side. Helpless, The Albatross, their home for what was supposed to be an idyllic month of cruising through South Pacific atolls, was a wounded, wingless bird lying the open ocean.