Toronto man abandon ships crossing the atlantic

Neil Hetherington has decided to abandon ship crossing the atlantic. Details here.

In happier days

So, have you read it? Its too bad that CBC turned the comments off on this story.

Here are some the relevant quotes from it:

Hetherington said the Boundless encountered strong winds and waves about six metres high.

We had an excellent sail from Baddeck going over a thousand miles and were right in the middle of the Atlantic. A wave hit the boat in a fashion that snapped our rudder. The rudder is made of aluminum, it's a heavy duty aluminum rudder, and it snapped in half and it was parallel to the surface of the water. We knew at that point that we were in complete distress.

Are you kidding me? I have been on the atlantic in tough conditions, tho never lost a rudder. BUT, BUT, I have read enough and know enough that losing a rudder is probably the most common item to prepare for!

Here is a quote from one of my favorite author, Don Casey:

After hull integrity, rudder integrity is the most vital component of a seaworthy vessel, yet most sailors pay more attention to LED lighting or smartphone apps than they do to their boat’s rudder. Before you shrug off rudder failure as a remote concern, consider that the incidence of mid-ocean rudder failures is close to 1 percent.

Any trips across an ocean should have components (woods, fibreglass, epoxy, etc) and tools to jury rig: rudder, mast and sails and more. Just like you had tools and item to fix breach of water intrusion, from leaks to actual holes.



Check this document for dealing with rudder failures. Will it still be a challenge? Of course!


I guess I am of the opinion that if you go out to sea, if situation is not life threatening you should deal with it and be creative about finding solutions. Yes, it will take you much long, but generally you'll arrive safely.


If you wanted to cross the atlantic without any adversity, take a cruiseship!


Am I too harsh?