Ocean Research Project - Learning to sail on the fly

How Matt Rutherford – record-breaking sailor and executive director of Ocean Research Project – learned to sail the hard way. After buying his first boat over the internet, unseen, he runs aground in the Chesapeake Bay within minutes of setting sail. Later that same day, he drags his anchor and comes within a few yards of being dashed on a rocky shoreline. On the return trip, along the Intra-Coastal Waterway, the boat is struck by lightning, knocking both Matt and his girlfriend to the deck. In many ways, this might be regarded as a cautionary tale; an example of what-not-to-do with a sailboat. But not long after the events recalled in this podcast, Matt Rutherford became the first person ever to circumnavigate the Americas, non-stop, single-handed – a journey of 27,000 miles, which took him 309 days. Matt’s story is a remarkable one. Hear more of it at www.boatradio.net