Leg 7: Emergencies & Luxury (Portimão to the Canary Islands)

When our generator and engine both die at sea, we contemplate what is a necessity and what is a luxury, and the life we left back on land. So much of our lives in apartments are luxurious but not necessary--we just think we need all these things and comforts because we are used to them. But what about more sustainable, community-based lifestyles? All these thoughts swirl around my head as I painstakingly stir the boat to catch as much of the low wind as possible. We sailed for 4 days only checking our navigation apps once or twice to make sure we were still hitting all our waypoints. It was secondary to the wind shifting, telling us we were in fact where we planned to be. It was exhausting, but we learned a lot about the boat and ourselves. The rough seas and rainbows are all part of the highs and lows of sailing. Finally, near the harbour, we turned on our electricity, which we saved for our VHF call for a tow. Very grateful to the rescue team. If you want to support this channel or read more about my thoughts on emergency and luxury, you can check out my substack here: https://substack.com/@taraapierce