On March 19th at about 0500 we were bringing my sailing vessel into the USA from Guatemala. We had great weather other than being becalmed for three days. As we approached the Texas coast through the oil patch we followed the Safety Fairways. After motoring through about 200 miles of calm. The wind started to rise so we were sailing at a pretty good clip when suddenly the starboard Yankee sheet disappeared from the cockpit. Turns out the head stay had separated at the base and was flailing off the port side. We managed to secure the mainsail and got attach a halyard to the bow to help support the mast.

Next we tried to restart the engine. However the electric fuel pump failed and the engine was no longer an option. So we called the US coast guard. After answering their questions we soon quickly relished the batteries were also failing. At this time the Coast Guard requested that we set off the EPIRB.

Approximately 3 hours later we got enough solar power to reconnect with the Coast Guard. At that point they let us know they were sending a boat out to tow us into Galveston, Tx. They also sent a helicopter to help with locating us in the heavy seas. At the time of location we were in roughly 15-20 foot waves and winds blowing to 45-50kts.