Round Two of the Shipwreck Creative Writing Challenge. Dan Sea Wolf

It was a glorious morning when I set off on my adventure of touring the Atlantic Ocean, on a small sailboat, all my friends thought I was crazy, but I had to try. For 5 years I have planned every detail of my trip, I have studied the weather, which is the safest route with the most favorable winds and currents; and I have prepared my "panic - bag". Finally, today I will leave as Christopher Columbus did in 1492.

Dan arrived on the 16th of November to the Canary Islands. From the port of Las Palmas he would leave in his small sailboat, his dream is to cross the Atlantic Ocean, emulating the same conditions that Columbus and his sailors, passed on their way to the "new world"; as they called it.

Dan an engineer, married and with 2 children, was born in Wales 50 years ago. His wife, a nurse, initially opposed what he called "her husband's madness.” Anne told Dan that "all the husbands of my friends, give them to buy a sports car, or a motorcycle, and you the crisis of middle age, you get to embark on a boat alone, in the middle of the ocean." To which Dan replied "Honey, it is not a crisis of middle age since I was a child I dreamed of this trip, I know you do not understand it now, but it is something I must do." Anne knew that when Dan decided something it was practically impossible to change his mind.

That conversation Dan had with his wife was 5 years ago, but he could remember every detail even today. Peter his friend would be responsible to inform them twice a day, weather conditions, through the satellite phone that Dan would take on his trip, along with GPS, radio, spare batteries, the bilge pump, life jacket and a boat Inflatable were the only modern objects on their trip.

Dan departed that afternoon, on the pier his friend Peter dismissed him with an old sailor saying that says: "South direction until the butter melts". Dan took the easiest and most comfortable route by the winds that are taken down to a latitude close to 20 ° N, 30 ° W. Dan knew that doing this route would be between 200 miles to 300 miles more, but could take the trade winds that would make his navigation speed between 3 to 4 knots.

The first week of his trip was quiet, Dan verified his route in the sextant as the old sailors did, he would not use the GPS unless it was strictly necessary, and as he had established he spoke with Peter twice a day, so that give the daily weather report, and inform you about your family. Dan's routine was monotonous, but it gave him a lot of time to think about his life and his wife Anne, they met when they were 20 years old in college, and they got married 5 years later, despite the normal ups and downs of marriage, Anne It was the best thing that had happened to him in his life, he loved her with all his heart and had given him 2 wonderful children. It was the first time they had parted since they had married and he missed her very much.

Dan's first stop would be on the island of Cape Verde, there would be provisioned for food, and then follow 270 degrees to the Caribbean, with winds at 180 °. For Dan to arrive to Cabo Verde it was a relief even though since leaving Las Palmas it had been a quiet trip, it affected him to be eating only nuts, pasta, canned and rice. The sailboat did not have a refrigerator or electricity. Fish was the only animal protein that he ate when he was able to fish, and he died for a good steak with potatoes.

After provisioning food and water, Dan left Cape Verde for the Caribbean, it had been about 15 days since he left Cabo, when Peter informed him that dangerous depressions were forming, that they could become a strong storm or hurricane. Dan was in the middle of the route to the coasts of Brazil when Peter gave him the alert, but he could do little except inform Peter of his location every 2 hours. Dan strayed as far as he could from the storm, but he knew that he would still face the storm.

Near midnight the strong waves forced Dan to be constantly alert to changes in the force of the wind and the height of the waves. The hours became slow for Dan when the storm started, the force of the wind and waves of 3 meters made the small sailboat look like a toy tumbling in the middle of a bathtub. Dan for the first time feared for his life, and what was a dream paradise, was quickly becoming a nightmare.

Tired, exhausted almost to the point of weakness, Dan struggled to keep the boat from wafting, but each time a wave hit him it seemed increasingly difficult to achieve it. When Dan thought that everything was over, suddenly the wind stopped, as did the rain and the strong waves. Dan unknowingly was inside the eye of the hurricane that started with a strong storm, but when faced with a cold front, it was transformed into a category 3 hurricane.

Dan sensed that what was happening was not normal, and that he had to prepare for the worst, took his panic-bag, and grabbed the liferaft, turned on the GPS to give his position and radioed emitting an SOS, then wrapped in plastic the satellite phone and dialed her home number, when Anne answered the call she knew something was wrong. Anne said: "Dan honey, what happens? You would not call at least something bad would happen. " Dan replied that: "I want you to know that I love you, and the children, they are my world. He regretted that you thought I was going on this trip because I needed to get away from you, it was the opposite, I wanted to find myself, and be a better person for you. "

Anne listened to her husband crying, and when she finished speaking, she made him promise to return home, that she would fight to stay safe. Dan promised to return and then the communication was cut off.

When the eye of the hurricane passed, the wind and waves lashed out harder, and after an hour the sailboat broke when it was hit by a wave of 4 meters high. In the water, Dan pulled the rope that inflated the raft and locked himself in it, praying that it would resist the onslaught of the waves. At dawn the hurricane had passed, Dan had survived.

It took about 15 days before a boat rescued Dan, 800 miles from the coasts of Brazil, he was dehydrated and malnourished but lucid. He knew how to manage his food and water rations. His satellite phone, along with other valuables, had been lost when a wave overturned the raft.

After being hospitalized for a week, Dan was taken out of hand with his wife and children, he was a survivor. When a reporter asked Dan that, if he regretted trying to cross the Atlantic Ocean alone, Dan looked at him with a wicked smile and replied that he was a Lone Wolf and would try again.