The boat was loaded for a short trip. There was food and water for the planned duration, plus the professional equipment — bait, ice, hooks, lines. What there was not, and what would prove decisive, was any equipment suitable for the scenario they were about to find themselves in.
Sometime after departure, a storm arrived.
## The Storm That Changed Everything
The accounts of the storm’s timing vary somewhat across different tellings, but the consensus of Alvarenga’s account is that a significant weather event struck the boat within the first day or two of the trip — before they had a chance to return to port, and at a point when they were already well offshore.
What the storm did, according to Alvarenga’s account, was several things in sequence. First, it pushed the boat off course and away from the coast, driving them further out to sea rather than allowing them to turn back toward land. Second, the combination of wave action and the effort to manage the boat in heavy seas destroyed or disabled the outboard motor. Without the motor, they had no propulsion — no ability to steer toward land, to maintain position, or to make any choice about where they went.
Third, the radio’s battery failed. Alvarenga had managed to send a distress call to Willy — his employer had received word that the boat was in trouble — but the battery died before a position could be established or a full rescue call be completed. When Willy raised the alarm and a search was initiated, there was no fix on where the boat actually was.