After just finishing 66 Days Adrift, their 40 days of "rationing their sat phone use" just doesn't seem that impressive.

I don't know a whole lot about sailboats, as the only ship I've ever spent much time on was 844 feet long. But, in 40 days I'd have found a way to remove/dismantle the existing rudder and fabricate something to use as a new makeshift one. I have much faith in my skills to "MacGuyver" a solution to almost any scenario.

"...in 40 days I'd have found a way to remove/dismantle the existing rudder and fabricate something to use as a new makeshift one."

Underwater? Mostly one-handed? Can't brace yourself against anything? Without SCUBA gear? I would like to see that!

Sue

Yes, underwater. That's where the rudder is and I'm not afraid of water. On sailboats I've seen, the rudder doesn't appear to be very much below the waterline.

You'd be amazed what you can accomplish one-handed, I cut my right hand open and had to use only my left hand for 21 days last year. I did very well, considering I'm right-handed.

Brace yourself? Rope around both side of the boat, you're braced.

SCUBA gear hasn't always been around, use a hose as a snorkel or hold your breath.

In 40 days I can guarantee I'd have come up with SOMETHING.

Hmmm, I don't think I can find a cartoon of some guy shooting his boat like a horse because it broke its rudder.

Yes I suspect you would have found a way to haywire your way around it Red. It seems off to me that nothing could be done either.
I didn't see in the story if their boat was salvaged or just abandoned either.

"I didn't see in the story if their boat was salvaged or just abandoned either."

From the Daily Mail article:

‘The most poignant thing though was the fact that we had to let go of Sara. There was nothing to do but abandon her to the sea. We left a note aboard for anyone who finds her.

‘It would have been impossible for it to be towed all the way across the Atlantic so we both said a very tearful goodbye to her.

‘It had been our home for eight years and although we have now lost her, at least we still have our lives.’

Thanks, I see that.

I'd agree that it seems off that nothing could be done to free the rudder. But it may be that what those on baord knew how to do might have created a bigger problem. Perhaps it would have made a hole in the boat that would have sunk it. If that was invovled in the fix, then I might have left it alone too.

I saw a post on another forum about this. An experienced sailor said that the rudder is primarily used for pulling into and out of port and a sailboat will sail without one. He saw a sailboat in a port in Jamaica that had fallen victim to the same problem. They jettisoned the rudder, plugged the hole from the inside, and sailed over 1,000 miles that way until they got to where they could replace it.

I'm a strong believer in the concept that good old-fashioned ingenuity will get you through a lot of tough situations.

All in all, I'm glad to hear that they made it out of this scenario alive and in relatively good shape. They had food, water, and other provisions to make it through 40 days at sea even though their planned trip may have been no longer than a week or two.

An experienced sailor said that the rudder is primarily used for pulling into and out of port and a sailboat will sail without one.

That sounds right to me. Although my own sailing experience is limited to small dinghies, I know that sailing without a rudder is part of the Canadian Yachting Association's most basic qualification standards.

I learned to do it at about age 10.

But the design of their boat may have precluded jettisoning the rudder.