An adventurous couple designed and built a boat for their dream to circumnavigate the globe. Things detonated when their catamaran got ravaged in the South Pacific. On May 22, such a scenario left two members of the SMART-TD national legislative team, Dustin Leonard and Helena Franczak, on shaky ground. Fortunately, Carnival Splendor’s Captain Eduardo Ferrone and his crew were up to the task, performing what became a dramatic five-hour operation to rescue them—and their three dogs.
Leonard and Franczak embarked on a wild ride. It truly was their “journey of a lifetime,” as they sailed across the world on their catamaran. Their thrill-seeking expedition soon took a life-threatening turn when their boat was severely damaged, leading to a distress call. Looking back on that fateful day, Leonard would share that no one really knew what was happening or what they were doing.
Leonard encouraged people to settle down and hear each other. Today, we’re okay,” he said in an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America.” … This is a very precarious situation … in fact it’s terrible.
While they waited for help to arrive, the couple overcame their fears with the company of two crew members and their three dogs. Leonard said he was grateful for everyone’s safe evacuation, while Franczak painted in rich detail the day they first saw the Carnival Splendor coming their way.
We were on our tiny boat. We watched the colorful little floating city come toward us. Then all of a sudden the rope ladder was tossed down and I couldn’t look away. I’m thinking when we get out, OK, we’re gonna have to scramble up that and it was difficult, Franczak described.
He continued, “Coming in with such a big ship on such a little catamaran—If you don’t have every single thing dialed in, you’re going to mess it up, and they’ll sink you.
When Leonard and Franczak boarded the Carnival Splendor, they were brimming with enthusiasm. They took a selfie together with their dogs, marking a happy ending to an incredible rescue story and the beginning of their happy ever after. After the scary ordeal, Leonard took the engagement ring and planned to pop the question to Franczak on the cruise ship. He turned what should’ve been a tragic experience into a wonderful celebration. He joked it was almost a wedding on the boat, as they came so close.
As day two began, Leonard looked back on their joint journey thus far. We’ve long dreamed of sailing around the world but we set out on a rough vignette. However, despite the challenges they all faced, their love, resilience and positivity truly glowed throughout this one-of-a-kind journey.
