SAIL.SailMagazine

“Jim! What’s wrong?” I shouted as I sprinted half-awake toward the companionway with Glen, our 11-year old son, close on my heels. The roar of our diesel engine thundering into reverse had yanked me from my sleep.

Servicing fuel injectors on a diesel engine is something most any boat owner can accomplish with a few basic tools. The job is especially easy because it really just involves getting the injectors out and sending them to a diesel shop.

I was singlehanding, bound for Ile à Vache, Haiti, 200 miles west along the south coast of Hispañola. Any break along the way would be welcome. So when I cleared out of the Dominican Republic in Las Salinas, I planned to stop over at remote Isla Beata...

After ten days of non-stop sailing from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, I deserved a night of deep sleep. So why was my crew awakening me at an hour that even a bishop would find ungodly?

"Matt Rutherford is a better sailor than you are." I wrote that in June 2010, right after Matt had returned from his second singlehanded transatlantic passage—which included runs across the North Sea and Bay of Biscay...