Boat Trip Gone Wrong- Nature's power

My uncle travels the world on his boat, a 45’ catamaran.  My family visited him while he was stuck in Saint Martin a few years ago due to engine troubles. Once we fixed his engine (or so we thought) my dad, uncle and I attempted to sail from Saint Martin to Saint Barthelemy, which is only about an 18 mile journey. St Barthelemy, also known as St. Barts, is one of the most luxury islands in the Leeward islands, part of the West Indies in the Caribbean. Engine trouble, combined with a thunder storm and rough seas lead to one of the most frightening days of my life. A fire on board a ship is the absolute worst thing that can happen to a crew, and that is exactly what happened. While I have always had immense respect for the ocean and the weather, I have never been more terrified in my life after attempting to make that short journey. We didn’t make it to St. Barts, because we ended up turning back to St Martin. There must have been some higher power making sure that we didn’t go to St. Barts that day, because everything that could have possibly gone wrong, did.