My worst nightmare!

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This is the continuation of my post " Trip to Ålesund" which turned into nightmare.

  This is the fast ferry boat we took to Haried island from Ålesund. Half an hour journey.

The forecast for that day and the day after were moderate breeze with a little bit rainshower. And my husband told me that there will be no problem to sail a boat in that kind of weather.

The boat owner was already waiting for us when we arrived in Hareid island. He then drove us to the place ( Fosnavågen) where his boat was docked. It was a half an hour drive by car.

               And this is the boat. An old boat. 1982 model, but the engine is new.

My husband testing the auto pilot!

After getting the information that we needed from the boat owner and checking everything was in order, my husband signed the sale contract. It means that we are going to sail the boat home. And then I wondered how we are going to manage that? I knew nothing about sailing a boat. My husband is a seamann, but never driven  a boat  like this alone. I said alone coz I didn't consider myself as a crew coz when it comes to boat, I am zero.  For years my hubby just watched others do it. But he was sure that we can do it. Do I have a choice? No! I have to be with him both in good times and hard times.

Anyway, we had with us bread that we got from the hotel and the boat owner gave us a basket of snacks and drinks so that we can survive during the trip, which my husband thought will take 6 hours to Kristiansund, where we are going to dock and stay overnight in one of a hotel there. Half of the journey.

We went to the bunkers station first to fill the boat tank with diesel before we started the dangerous voyage. 

And to be sure that I am going to float if the boat went under, I put on an overall and a life jacket. As if it will help me when I landed in a freezing sea water.....

My husband did not know how afraid I was. If he can just hear my heart beats. Then  I prayed to  God for protection, coz He is the only one I can trust.

The first hour went well, but when we passed through an open sea and the waves began to be rough, the boat swayed up and down. Then my world started spinning round. I said Lord, I should not be feeling this way. I can't afford to be seasick. My husband needed me to help him navigate the boat. So, I went out to the back deck to get some fresh air so that I will get better.

And sure enough, I felt a little bit better .

After sailing more than three hours, suddenly the weather changed from moderate bris to gale. 

                                                        The waves are now very rough!

And then the snow came and my nightmare began. I was cured of seasickness, but then I was so terrified. I thought that we were  going to die. My husband couldn't see a thing. It was snowing heavily and I tried also to help him navigate. Tried very hard to spot a vessel that we might meet or something along the sea.  I told my husband  that we must  find a place to dock. We have GPS ombord and we tried to navigate with it, but it was very difficult to see when the windshield were heavy with snow. Then I sent my sister an sms telling her to pray for us coz we were in crisis. She answered me back that I must not worry coz God is with us and my husband is an experienced sailor. And I really pleaded to God. Told him  that I still have many things to do on earth. I was not ready to die yet. 

The boat bumps up and down and so was my heart. Crying inside and doing my best to help my husband to spot the island that  we saw in the GPS. Finally after more than an hour battling through the rough waves and the snow, we spotted a boat harbor. Then we moored the boat.

 As you can see there is so much snow in the windshield. 

Yes, we found a refuge, but my nightmare does not end there. The place where we found haven is located far from the city. No place to buy food or to sleep over. It was Easter and every establishment were closed. We had no choice but to sleep over ombord. That will be no problem if it was summer. But the temperatur was below zero degrees. But we had no choice. As long as the engine runs, we have heater ombord. But we cannot let it run whole the night. My husband turned it off before we lay us down on the berth.

We were lucky then that there were blankets ombord and although they were not clean, it did not matter. Both of us were unwashed anyway.

My husband slept at once, but me, with overall and blanket, was still freeezing so much that I couldn't sleep. Afraid to sleep. I thought that I might freeze to death. Scared of what tomorrow might bring, coz we have many more hours of sailing to go. I begged  God to surround me with his arm and make me warm and give me peace, but it seems that I have to manage the situation alone.

                                                        It snowed during the  night too.

 No wonder it was very cold. It was like sleeping on top of the snow with just an overall and a blanket to make our body warm. 

I just have to move my hands and feet  so that I would not freeze. Can you imagined  the situation? A lady dancing inside the boat in the middle of the night? Lucky for me, no one was watching. Well, my husband woke up and wondered what was going on. He then put his arms around me to make me comfortable.  It warmed my heart, but not my body. So at four o'clock am he started the ingine so that we can use the heater ombord. He too began to freeze.

After that I slept for about one hour and awakened by drops of water on my face. The moisture in the windowshield becomes droplets of water. My husband was already awake, preparing for our next sailing journey.

The sun was up and although it was blowing a little bit, my husband told me that we need to sail again to find another harbor near a city, so that we can buy food and a hotel to sleep over.  So off we went.

But although the sun was up, the wind was blowing against us and the waves keeps crushing at the windshields that it was difficult to see what was in front of us. I told my husband that it was more than my heart can take. Either he changed the crew or his wife. It was up to him. But I won't continue this voyage to the sea with him. He choosed the first. So me and my husband looked for the nearest harbor we can seek haven to stop the journey. He will then pick up the boat later with another crew member.

                                              And this is the first harbor we found!

My hubby moored the boat in the place reserved for the guest in the harbor.

And this is the crew member who resigned not even half of the voyage. 

If you look at the map, you can see a place called Steinshavn. It was the place we found a haven. But it is an island and the problems were, how we are going to find someone to take care of our boat when we leave, to drive us to the ferry boat to the other side, and by car and another ferry boat, and by car again before we can take the bus to Kristiansund. It was Easter and it was an unknown place for us and all the establishment were closed. 

 Then it was time to sit down and be quiet with God. And guess what! God gave me this verse:

Psalm 41:1-2 Blessed is he that considereth the poor; the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.  The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth......

Since I know how it was to be in need, my heart longs perpetually to help people God sends along my life's journey, who also needed help and I always do whatever I can. And he reminded me that since I am doing my part, He will do His part.  I must not worry coz He will send help along the way. Oh my! I just felt that I was dead, but now I am alive again.

In my next post I will then tell how God sent angels in disguise so that we can come safely home. 

                                                               JOY

      Linking to " On Your Heart Tuesday" http://www.shandaoakleyinspires.com/