Land n Sand Jan / Feb 2014 | Page 7

John Levin Ian Henderson from ISLA ISLA was not able to obtain sponsors, so all expenses have been their own. Ian Henderson built and skippered the boat. Elske, his wife was the navigator. Their two daughters, Zazzie (7) and Lola (4), wore harnesses and lifejackets for the duration of the four day experience. They were seasick and mostly asleep during this entire ordeal. When awake, they were calm and resilient, although very weak and dehydrated. “We have renamed them the BBK’s – bounce back kids.” Within half an hour after reaching land, they each had an enormous chocolate milkshake! Elske was prepared for home-schooling as their plan was to have a year long sabbatical, starting with the race. “We have renamed them the BBK’s – bounce back kids.” The worst weather ISLA experienced occurred between 10am and 12am on Sunday. No one was injured, though the whole crew was severely seasick. ISLA hit a submerged object at some point during the storm, which damaged the propeller, and the saildrive was sufficiently displaced to cause water inflow into the starboard engine compartment. The engine seized, resulting in an electrical fire. Sails were dama ged and a number of lines were lost overboard. One of these lines wound around their remaining prop, causing the loss of the remaining engine. Their retirement from the race was a result of the water inflow into the engine compartment and the loss of the engines. During one ascent up the face of a wave, they were hit by a second rogue wave from a different direction – their built-in fridge fell out at that point.