It is with deepest sorrow that we learned this morning of a tragic event on one of the fleet boats.

During the morning SSB net communications, it was relayed that the skipper of one of the vessels suffered a cardiac event and died.

It is a shock unimaginable, and our hearts go out to this crew and their families.

This man was young, athletic, and was sailing with his wife and nine year old son on board.

Not only did this happen like a lightning bolt, but their boat was far out to sea. This woman’s husband, this little boy’s father, was lying on the same boat as them, day after day until they could get his corpse home.

They managed to flag down a passing tanker ship, which we learned always carries body bags. The tanker captain tossed a couple into the water, and this sailing boat motored over to fish them out of the ocean.

The pain and shock of this. It hurts my heart.