Martin and his band of adventurers have had a rough few days. The mighty Amazon has claimed both motors and wrecked the steering column on the large boat carrying the team.
At last report, it was bouncing from bank to bank out of control with glass breaking and the crew being heaved from side to side. Eventually, it found a shallow spot and was stuck in the mud for almost 24 hours. While the big boat was sending out an SOS, Martin was swimming out of radio contact with the smaller escort boat.
He arrived at the edge of Pucallpa after a startling 127 km, swimming the final two hours after sunset. As darkness set in, we saw two boats approaching each other. Our Peruvian guides warned us to kill all the lights and be very quiet. The final 10 km were done without illumination as the crew paddled blind and listened for rough water ahead and Martin swam cautiously nearby. Martin reached solid ground in a seedy part of town with nothing except his wetsuit. The four of us did not have any money, and were dreading the idea of squeezing together in a 14 foot flat bottom boat to sleep in a questionable area. Martin and Gerardo guarded the dinghy while Jarvez and I walked to town to find Lady Henderson and her father Carlos who’ve helped us much throughout the trip.
