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Finally the van came to a halt and we were seriously stuck. The track was going a bit uphill to the north and there was no end of the sandy part visible. So we gave up the idea to drive to the northernmost tip of the island with its suspected point break and side-shore winds. Retreat was the new parole, retreat quickly onto safe ground and find a beach to set sails.
But first we had to get out. We collected branches and few planks, dug the sand by hand – we had no shovel – lifted the van with the jack, put the branches underneath the tire, did the same thing with the other rear tire, started the engine, put in the rear gear, managed to drive a meter and slipped off into soft sand again. We did this again and again. Despite the trade-winds having kicked in we drudged in almost unbearable heat. After about three hours we had managed to move the van for about 5 meters when the jack broke. That was it, there was no way to make it out of the sand field by ourselves.
So I grabbed my bike and pedalled south in search of somebody to pull us out of the sand field. After a while I saw a pickup that looked suitable for the rescue mission. As I saw nobody around I approached the truck, only to find out that inside there was a couple taking advantage of the solitude of the area in exchanging some body fluids. I apologized for the disruption and pedalled further on. I met another guy with a pickup but he was unable to help me because he had no four wheel drive.
In the end I had to drive all the way back to the junction with the paved road.
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