Engine Failure, Part 2, Towing Rhapsody

This is the continuing saga of our engine woes. If you missed part one and want to read that first, click here.

After the death of our engine, many people asked, "Aren’t you a sailboat? Can’t you just sail?" Well, yes, but it wasn’t that simple. We faced two major challenges—one at the beginning and one at the end of our journey.

Rhapsody is located at the blue dot. The typical entrances to this anchorage are left and right, just north of where Rhapsody was anchored. The route due south was more direct, and shorter in the long run, but involved more maneuvering around reefs.

Engine Failure in the Remote Yasawa Islands of Fiji

The Alarm

We were less than five minutes out of the anchorage we had been taking refuge in for the past week. It was a calm, peaceful morning when the shrill sound of the engine alarm cut through the quiet. We immediately cut the engine and tried restarting it, hoping it was just a glitch. But no luck—the alarm came right back on.

Better Vision across the islands of Fiji

 "There you go, Mere (pronounced Mary)" "What do you think?" 

Mere was silent as she looked around the community center where we had set up our temporary eyeglass clinic. Suddenly she jumped up and ran outside. She began looking all around, looking up at the trees, looking at the buildings around her and a big smile broke across her face. 

"Wow,  I can see!"