Life at The Rail

Jake Tura, C Watch, Bourne High School

As someone who has done offshore sailing before, I did not expect to be one of the unlucky ones, hunched over the rail, watching their lunch leave them. As things would turn out, leaving Pago Pago harbor, I was the very first to break. With relentless waves and a strong force 5 breeze, nausea quickly took over and I made my way to the rail on the starboard side of the quarterdeck.

For the first three days, I struggled to go below deck to sleep, and help my watch group with sail handling and boat checks. One night, I felt so sick that I decided that sleeping out in the cold rain was a better option than attempting to go below deck to my warm bunk. My amazing watch group picked up my slack for me and made sure I was drinking water and eating enough.

However, not being able to help my watch, which is composed of some of my now closest friends, was really a struggle for me. A feeling of uselessness set in and it was extremely hard for me to just sit and watch while others were hard at work. While sitting at the rail, I thought back to a lesson my high school hockey coach, Coach Carpinito, taught the team.

That being that there are only a few things in life that we can control, one of those being our attitude and how we deal with adversity. From that moment on, I tried to keep the group around me in high spirits and in the best mood possible.

Today, almost every member of The Yack Pack has recovered and are feeling well. Right now we are anchored off of Hunga Tonga- Hunga Ha’apai, in the Kingdom of Tonga, and the views of the island are absolutely incredible. Earlier, a few of us went aloft and climbed the foremast to be met with an amazing view of the island landscape.

Thanks to the support of the stellar medical team of Emily B. and Rocky and the support of my amazing friends, I eventually began to feel better and was able to start helping out on deck and in the lab. I am excited for the rest of this amazing journey with our new captain, Captain Chris and I would also like to thank Captain Elliot for being such an amazing role model and teacher.

Sail Fast!

Jake Tura, C (Coolest) Watch