SailBlog

Good morning, everyone.

Yesterday morning came without a text message or position update from Donna and INSPIRED INSANITY. My last contact was about 10 pm the night before where she assured me she was sailing fine, enjoying herself and bid me good night.

No contact yesterday was concerning me until my phone rang with an odd number and a foreign voice on the other end. It was the radio operator of a ship that was just then in contact with Donna. He confirmed my thoughts. The DeLorme position indicator beacon has stopped working. This was the only piece of communication equipment/locator still functioning following the knockdowns a few weeks prior. Now, even that equipment has failed.

The radio operator relayed Donna's message to me and to all that she is fine, sailing well and wants to continue on sailing north to the Panama Canal. He reported II's position as: 16*20.4' S, 084*22.0" W. She was sailing at 5.0 knots due north at that time. That position put her 1541 NM away from the canal entrance. With the lighter winds forecast for the equatorial latitudes, it will take several more weeks before her arrival. The exact date is still uncertain.

So, today and from now on, Donna and INSPIRED INSANITY are truly on their own until they reach the canal. I cannot help anymore with position, encouragement, repairs, etc., nor relay weather information from the fantastic weather forecasters and SSB net operators who have been at Donna's side throughout this journey. Thank you Bob McD, Peter, Wolfgang, Joan, Michael, Jeanne and others for all of your efforts.

She will navigate by the stars by sextant. Thank you, Halsey Herreshoff for taking the time to pass along this long-forgotten skill. Thank you to the gentleman from the Palm Beach Sailing Club for loaning Donna the best sextant she could ever hope to have aboard.

I hope to, and suspect I will receive many more telephone calls from ships at sea reporting II's position and Donna's condition. She will be entering an area of active shipping as II and hundreds of ships, large and small make their way to the canal.

I will update Donna's sailblog when I have contact from her by ship's relay and have a better understanding of her arrival. Please do not worry about Donna. I do enough of that for all of us. I ask you to keep her in your thoughts and prayers each day as she makes her way, alone at sea. She believes in the energy of thought and meditation and your energy will help her along her way. Thank you, all.

"Our language has wisely sensed the two sides of being alone. It has created the word 'loneliness' to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word 'solitude' to express the glory of being alone." - Paul Tillich

As many of you know, Donna started this adventure as a healing journey and to understand herself and her life. That healing and understanding require being alone. I can't help but think that this latest development is all part of life's grand plan for Miss Donna. Donna is now in her "solitude," basking in the glory of being alone.

Thank you, everyone.

Bob