So the plan is to make my first landfall in Annapolis on April 14th around noon. In order for this to happen I need to enter the Chesapeake Bay by the 12th. The trip ends when I cross the finish line at the southern entrance of the Chesapeake Bay bridge tunnel but I’m not going to step foot on land until Annapolis. I might pass though the Chesapeake Bay bridge tunnel at 3am, it’s really hard to say and if the wind is good I’m going to continue to sail up the bay towards Annapolis. I will be tying off to the Sailing Hall of Fame dock downtown. If I don’t make it to the bay by the 12th then I’ll be in Annapolis roughly 2 days after I enter the bay. If I get there early then I’ll just go slow so I can arrive on the 14th. It’s really not up to me – I’ve got a bunch of light winds and head winds coming up so I don’t know exactly how long it’s going to take before the ocean spits me out into the Chesapeake Bay, but that is the general plan.
I guess this is a good time to announce my plans for my next trip. In the summer of 2013 I would like to head back up to the Arctic and shoot a documentary. “Sailing though the Arctic with Matt Rutherford” well that title is a bit corny but you get the idea. I could film giant icebergs, pack ice, polar bears, narwhals, gale force winds, the massive waves of the Bering Sea and also just life at sea. The trip would cover roughly 8,000-9,000 miles and would take four to five months. I would like to explore the upper regions of Baffin Bay possibly and then the northern Northwest Passage. Ultimately I would like to sail though the NWP using a route that has never been taken by sail boat or pleasure craft. I would also take a small crew with me to help with shooting the footage. Whether or not I could make it through that route has more to do with a general lack of ice then my ability to navigate a boat. This would be a much more dangerous trip though the Arctic but it would make for one heck of a documentary. Wouldn’t you guys like to see that? I first have to raise the money which is always very difficult. I hope to convince a TV channel or production company that their profit would be greater than the cost. I’ve been working on the plans for this trip since August and there is no guarantee that I will raise the money or that the ice will open up in the far north. But it sounds like a good idea.
The engine is completely dead. The crank handle grips a pin. I didn’t have a pin so I had to make one by cutting the head off a screw. Well the screw broke and is jammed so the hand crank is useless. I tried to start the engine by wrapping a line around the flywheel and connecting that line to a halyard. I made a loop in the other end of the halyard, climbed my mast about 8 feet and jumped holding on to the loop. My body weigh turned the flywheel but after several tries the engine still wouldn’t start. So that’s it, I give up, the engine is just ballast.
It takes about 100 pumps to make 200ml of water. I made on average 3 liters a day, so I had to pump my water maker around 1500 times every 24 hours. I caught some rain and melted some ice in the Artic but I still had to make my own water around 270 days of the roughly 300 day trip. That means that by the time I reach the Chesapeake Bay I will have pumped a water maker at least 405,000 times in order to make enough water to rehydrate my food make coffee and quench my thirst. Running water never sounded so good!
March 30th marks 100 years since the deaths of Wilson, Bowers and Scott. Oates and P.O. Evans died shortly before. So raise a glass and give a toast to the fallen explorers of the great age of exploration in both the Arctic and Antarctic. Men who could suffer with a smile on their face, and died like gentlemen.
FORTITUDINE VINCIMUS
I’d watch that documentary 🙂
I’m going to do my best to be there, if not on the bay in my own 27 foot sloop, then at the dock. I expect a smile on your face but not your death like a gentleman, at least not for another 70 years and not in the Arctic, but in a house with a shower and fireplace and running water. I’ve told my high school class about this site, not to mention my sailing friends and my Annapolis friends. And to hear from the Pardeys! You are getting famous! I hope Crab-town puts on fireworks for you the night of the 14th. They would be well-deserved. My biggest worry for your arrival is your being able to stand un-assisted on a non-moving surface. Very best wishes, fair winds, following seas, and no freighters.
Have the same engine in Griffin (Vega 1690) … and it just developed an “electrical Gremlin” in the starting system … but I’m NOT going to climb 8′ in the air and jump whilst holding my halyard wrapped to the fly wheel! Man … talk about fortitude! I just sat in the rain and thought of you out there East of the Bahamas … so I don’t have any problems … just opportunities. Hey all the best in the coming weeks! … Like the idea of your documentary … but a little vacation time would be OK too, right? I know you have plenty of “sea sense” … like others, wish you well negotiating the landfall. Bravo Matt … enjoy your remaining time – the welcome home – and future endeavors. Engines are ballast aren’t they!
Sounds great. Beat of luck for the rest of the voyage. We will try to be there is Annapolis when you arrive.
Jack & Marti Detweiler
Matt
I’ve been following your jouney every day. You’re a brave and creative young man. I hope to meet you someday
You mention a little sailing history in your last post. For the record, your planned landing in Annapolis on April 14 is the day Lincoln was assassinated ( about 40 miles away). Safe travels !!
Gary
Matt, I have read many a sailing/cruising book. After following your blog for some time, I just thought a day ago, “If he writes a book about this adventure, I will surely buy it”.
Your present adventure would be extremely interesting in the form of a book, where you can elaborate even further on what your trip was like. I think you already have an adventure (the one you are just now finishing) that could raise funds for your next dream adventure. Great job on your trip so far; and I hope to read the book!
Matt,
I began following your adventuring as a Fellow at ERS in 2007 during Wednesday gatherings when Robert would read your letters from afar. The room was silent and I could only imagine what all of the students & staff were imaging….where you were, what sailing was like, and WHY you were out there. Your stories were an ever-present part of our year.
I grew up on the rural eastern shore of the Chesapeake with a deep appreciation (but not necessarily passion) for sailing. Regardless, there is nothing like the freedom that a sailboat gives you and you have exemplified this in word and deed. I have continued to be impressed with your passion, ingenuity, patience and Macgyver-like skills. I wish that I could be there to greet & congratulate you in Annapolis.
I look forward to following your journey forward as you continue live your passion and help inspire us to seek ours.
Buen viaje.
OMG Senator Tom Harkin is on CSPAN right now giving detailed information on Matt!
Here’s a link to the video the poster above is referring to:
The video includes the entire senate session for that day (about 8 hours), but you should be able to jump right to Senator Harkin’s speech about Matt and his journey, which starts at about 6:46:30. He spends more than 10 minutes discussing it. Very cool.
Your name in the congressional record — not bad, cuz 🙂
Sorry, that should have been:
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/SenateSession4991
Peter,
Thank you so much for referring us to the exact website. I am so thrilled that Senator Tom Harkin did what he did and I shall send him a thank you note.
I have been following Matt every day since he left. I wish that I could be there to welcome him home soon, but I live in Australia. An amazing journey, by an amazing man. I wish Matt well, in the last few days of his voyage.
“I guess this is a good time to announce my plans for my next trip. In the summer of 2013 I would like to head back up to the Arctic and shoot a documentary. “Sailing though the Arctic with Matt Rutherford” well that title is a bit corny but you get the idea. I could film giant icebergs, pack ice, polar bears, narwhals, gale force winds, the massive waves of the Bering Sea and also just life at sea.”
Matt Rutherford
Incredible, fantastic, extraordinary! I never saw this: a sailor talking about his next expedition, before the end of the current. Do you understand now, why I call him “Big Matt”! After spending almost a year at sea, Matt is already planning his next challenge.
Good, excellent winds courageous Matt !
FORTITUDINE VINCIMUS ! 🙂
Come on folks!!! Let’s help Matt reach his fund raising goal. Make a donation. Support CRAB!!! Help those with extra challenges in life enjoy sailing too. Spread the word.
Good winds Matt.
Matt has raised $62,000 plus funds already. His goal is $250,000 for CRAB.
Click on the “Crab” link to discover how to donate. It’s easy. $25. makes you a “crew” member. Or maybe a penny a mile that Matt has sailed? You decide…Let’s surprise him!
RE- Upper NW Passage trip – Arctic sea ice is currently at a decadal high hovering well above average. Hopefully 2013 will be a bit warmer. Regardless, ice melt this summer should produce some interesting bergs….lots of ice drifting around.
Ahoy, Matt!!
Oh how I’d love to be able to hail you across the water as you sail along north past Florida!!! But, I know that’s not possible since you’re so far east. But, according to PredictWind’s latitude report, right now you’re just about due east of Key West, Florida, and soon it’ll be Miami, and Orlando, and I’ll be watching your progress, and when you get to lat. 29, (around Daytona Beach), I’ll be thinking of you out there . . . finally, not so far off, and hoping that you have fair winds and smooth sailing all the rest of the way back to Annapolis, Matt!
It’s been wonderful having your amazing voyage to follow several times a day, and I wonder what we’re all going to do once you’re back . . . Hope you’ll keep us all informed, in some way, as to your whereabouts, as we will all be keeping you in our thoughts and prayers no matter where you are!!! You’ve got a whole lot of fans that have been following you all during your record-breaking Solo Around the Americas trip, and will continue to be interested in your future, so please keep us informed!!!
I know that this site has been donated by Mike McLinn, and, he’s done a wonderful job keeping it up and working, but maybe he can set you up with a permanent one so that we can keep informed, and you can let us know where you’re off to next. You have so many new friends from many places around the world who will have no other way to keep in touch, or to be kept up to date on you!!! (Thank you to Mike for making this blog site possible!!!)
Stay Safe, Matt!!!
Warmest of wishes,
Carol Florida U.S.A.
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Hey Matt before I even read this post I want to say something. As sailors we are all living vicariously through you. Following all of your ups and downs, records and challenges and it has been exciting. However, as a political activist I have to say when I watched Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) speaking about your trip in the well of the United States Senate yesterday I had only one thought. In the vernacular of an old hippie, That is too f***ing cool. Congrats, your trip is now recorded in the Congressional record forever. Now back to reading your post.
I know all the plans are not finalized Matt but I hope to be at the helm of of one CRAB’s Freedoms to escort you to the dock on the 14th. If not I will be dockside to welcome you home for sure. I see you are due east of Cuba. You should stop an pick up a couple of Havana cigars. I mean after all when you get home what better way to sit around and tell your tale than with a fine cognac and a Havana. 🙂
Matt,
I read the Washington Post article about your quest and instantly donated a bit of money in my brother in law’s honor. He suffers from mild-retardation, cerebral palsy and oppositional defiance disorder. He is a lovely man. I don’t know if he will ever be able to get on a boat, yet your mission to improve the lives of our loved ones is heart felt! May the stars shine brightly on you forever.
Matt I would watch a show like that in a second, and I’m sure I’m not alone. I can’t imagine that the National Geographic, Travel, PBS, or Nature wouldn’t jump all over that opportunity, especially with your achievement of this latest expedition for the ages. Perhaps a catchier title would be: “FORTITUDINE VINCIMUS: Rutherford Conquers the Arctic” or “Reaching the Naked Soul of Man: An Arctic Voyage” (got to step up the drama you know). I have been following your every move during your trip and I am truly inspired by your unbrideled bravery and, well, fortitude. I too am a Shakleton admirer, at least since Robert gave me a biography of him while I was sleeping down at Camp Ptolemy.
Congratulations Matt, and I can’t wait to hear what you will do next.
-Luke, ER21
All I can say today is WOW…..I have tears in my eyes. I have just listened to Senator Harkin speaking about “our Matt” on the senate floor. He spoke with passion about your courage and bravery Matt. The session yesterday was on health care and he addressed not only your remarkable journey but also the fact that this was not to gain glory or be in the record books( as you will be/are) but to raise money for CRAB. He explained it and talked about how wonderful it was to give those who otherwise could not have access to the freedom of sail that chance.
The ADA….American’s with Disablities Act is very close to his heart and you have touched that big Iowan heart of his in dramatic fashion. He also mentioned that he spoke with you via sat phone…..how cool is that? He is going to be there when you get home as so many of us in close proximity are hoping to do and he urged any there in the senate to send a donation.
He had a giant poster made of Matt..the one from this website and another of the map that is also here..GIANT that all might see. I wish he’d send them to your Marlowe. I kept thinking of how your heart must be suffused with joy and pride for your remarkable son.
I’m rambling but I am so thrilled for you Matt and echo the statements of those who ask that we all dig in for the first time or once again for CRABS! 62,ooo dollars IS not enough . Back I go to Facebook and the cal 25 group asking them to PLEASE contribute. I wish this could have been done via KICKSTART…..as that site reaches so many . Maybe for your new adventure although I could only think “OH Matt…….sit still for a minute! I agree with whomever said there are many organisations who might be interested in funding such a trip however.
As Senator Harkin ended his speech saying your last post had been called HOME STRETCH he wished you fair winds and following seas…..as do we all Matt Rutherford.
I add God speed to you and St. Brendan.
Kate
p.s. Senator Harkin noted that you have been entered into a book in London, I did not write down the name,along with all the other GREATS, as being the first to do what you have done with truly such grace under fire and indomitable courage.
I am waiting for my next paycheck and then I will give what I can to CRAB. Matt and Sen. Harkin are two great men that know the importance of helping those less fortunate and all I can do is show my support!
Kate,
Maybe we can get the senator to donate that poster to the exhibit in the National Sailing Hall of Fame when Matt is inducted later this year!
Thanks,
Marlowe/Mom
PS. I am hoping to be able to have Matt come and speak with the 3rd, 4th and 5th graders at my school. We have been following him since the beginning!
Dear Marlowe/Mom,
I did not know of that honor, the Sailing Hall of Fame but of course he SHOULD be in it and a fitting place for the posters.
I’d bet if anyone could get that young man to come and talk to some students it just might be his mom! After all without you 🙂
I can only begin to imagine the joy and anticipation you must be feeling. As a mom I have thought of your courage so often and said a few AVE’s for you as well.
all the best ,
Kate
I too got very emotional while listening to Senator Harkin talk about Matt’s commitment, strength, courage and fortitude on this phenomenal journey to help others less fortunate than himself. I am in awe! Truly!
Fair winds Matt, I know watching your course and speed for the last few days, you must be wishing for some wind too!
I hope I get the chance to be there for your arrival.
Really don’t know what to say that hasn’t already been said. I hope you make bank from your incredible adventure so that you can continue doing what you love to. And it’s great to hear you’re already making plans for the next voyage. I live and sail a Vega up here in Newport and have been spreading the word around while pointing to my boat and saying, “he’s doing it in one of those!” Best of luck on the homestretch!
EARTH HOUR 2012
Hi Matt !
Hi everybody!
All together this beautiful and important night?
I see you there!
🙂
Fernando Costa from Cabo Frio, Brazil
Fernando,
Are you planning on coming to Annapolis, too?
Marlowe
“Fernando,
Are you planning on coming to Annapolis, too?”
Marlowe
It would be a great pleasure Marlowe. But no, I can’t travel to the United States at this moment. Shake the Matt’s hands for me, please !
Have a nice day !
P. S. : Question from a reader of this page (Paulo Pinotti) : – Why Matt is advancing so slowly? Do you know why Marlowe. Is evething ok with him ?
*Do you know why Marlowe? Is everything ok with him ?
Matt called me a couple of days ago. He was in excellent spirit. He said that the winds were not in his favor and he wasn’t running in a fast current. He expected to have a few days of slow progress. That is all I know.
Marlowe,
Can you keep us updated on the date and time of arrival? Do you need to delegate any tasks to us locals?
Dave Sterling
David and Everyone,
CRAB has posted this information on their website. Click on the word CRAB under Matt’s picture at the right of this page. The word “CRAB” has a blue sailboat for the letter “A”.
This is what CRAB posted on March 30:
Matt is coming home soon! Join us in welcoming him home on April 14 at noon at City Dock in Annapolis, Maryland. There will be a big group of his friends and supporters cheering Matt as he returns from his incredible
(Sorry, I am having trouble with the reply box)
…his incredible, recordbreaking voyage. Join us as we witness Matt step on land for the first time in 300 days and 25,000 miles safe ans sound!-
Thank you a lot by the info Marlowe.
what is happening? The speeds are very low and the wind is good for meteorology.
For those that found it difficult or could not access the website for Senator Harkin’s remarks (from the Congressional record)
TRIBUTE TO MATT RUTHERFORD — (Senate – March 29, 2012)
[Page: S2218]
— Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to speak about a truly remarkable American–a truly remarkable visionary, a dreamer, an adventurer, a doer, and, most important, a young man who has devoted himself to the service to others far and above the normal call of duty. This young man’s name is Matt Rutherford. I will tell my colleagues about him and his remarkable adventure and his feat that has been unparalleled.
He is a 30-year-old Ohioan, and here is what he has been doing since June 13 of last year. On June 13 of last year, he set sail in his 36-year-old, 27-foot Albin Vega boat named St. Brendan. He left Annapolis, MD, on June 13, 2011, and is attempting to sail nearly 25,000 miles from Annapolis, MD, up the east coast, all the way around Newfoundland, up by Greenland, through the Northwest Passage, all the way over to Alaska, then from Alaska all the way down to Cape Horn, around Cape Horn, up South America, and back into Annapolis. Now, what is so remarkable about that? Well, it has never been done before. He is doing this solo, and he is doing it nonstop. Think about that. He has never touched land and has not stopped since he left here 289 days ago.
The trip has taken Matt through some of the Earth’s most treacherous oceans, including the Arctic Ocean, the oceans up around Alaska, Aleutian Straits, of course all the way down through the Pacific, around treacherous Cape Horn, and all this in a 27-foot boat, the kind of boat most sailors would maybe be comfortable on off the Eastern Shore in the Chesapeake Bay but not on a journey such as this. As I said, he has not set foot on dry land for the entire journey–a remarkable adventure.
If my colleagues wish to learn more about him, they can go to his Web site, which is called http://www.solotheamericas .org, and they can read all about his amazing journey. He updates his trip. The last update was yesterday. He is right now east of Cuba and the Dominican Republic, right down here, and his last posting was what he called “Home Stretch.” He hopes to enter the Chesapeake Bay by April 12, making his first landfall in nearly a year in Annapolis on April 13.
The Scott Polar Institute in Cambridge, England, has recognized Matt as the first person in history to make it through the fabled Northwest Passage alone, nonstop, and on such a small sailboat. It has never been done before. One would think that would be enough. No. He has continued on his incredible, remarkable journey.
Now, one might say: Why is he doing that? He is just doing it to set a record.
He has set a lot of records already. Why is he doing it? He is doing it to raise money for Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating. It is an Annapolis-based organization to provide sailing opportunities for physically or developmentally disabled people–for kids and young people who are disabled but who like to sail. And this organization, Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating, does just that–provides them that opportunity.
I had the privilege of talking to Matt Rutherford last week. He called me on his satellite phone. It was an exciting phone call for me because I have watched–I don’t know Matt Rutherford personally, but I have watched his journey, and, of course, I am very enthused about the Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating organization. So in talking with him by phone I was really impressed by his courage, his character, his audacity. Above all, I am impressed by the fact that he is doing this for a cause larger than himself to make it possible for more people with disabilities to share in his passion for sailing.
Helen Keller once said, “It is a terrible thing to see and yet have no vision.” Well, Matt Rutherford has the gift of sight. He also has the gift of vision and indomitable courage. He is one of those remarkable human beings who dream big, who are driven by big challenges, who refuse to accept the limits and the boundaries that so-called reasonable people want to place on us. What is more, he has placed himself in the service of others less fortunate than himself.
As the lead sponsor of the Americans With Disabilities Act, I am particularly impressed that Matt is using his voyage to raise money to help people with disabilities to partake in this wonderful pastime of sailing–something which I have enjoyed all my adult life since I was in the Navy. He is doing this so that children and adults can have the same opportunity. The reason I am so enthused about this is that one of the fundamental aspects of the ADA–the Americans With Disabilities Act–is that people with disabilities should be able to participate fully in all aspects of society, and that includes access to recreational opportunities such as sailing, which can be exhilarating and empowering for children and adults with a wide range of disabilities.
[Page: S2219] I salute Matt Rutherford for his courage, for his love of sailing, and being willing to share that with the disabled community, and for using this adventure, this almost death-defying trip. For anyone who knows what it is like to be on a 27-foot boat, to go from here all the way down to Cape Horn, that is incredible. Any one of numerous storms or anything could have sunk his little boat. He has had a lot of different adventures. He sprung a leak. He has been working on that leak ever since. Someplace around here, South America, he lost his engine, so he no longer has an engine, and he keeps patching his leak all the time. Every day he has to patch his leak. So he is fighting a leak every day in his boat. Just going around Cape Horn with the tremendous waves and cross currents around Cape Horn–to take a small boat through there singlehandedly is, as I said, death-defying.
Right up in here, right off the coast of Brazil someplace, he almost got run over by a freighter. At night, he had gone to sleep for a little bit. He has a light in his boat so people can see him at night. He woke up and he looked out and saw this red light and a green light with nothing in between it coming at him. Well, it was a huge freighter, and as the Presiding Officer knows, red on one side, green on the other, bearing down on him. He turned, and it missed him just by a few feet and almost sunk him in the bow wave of the freighter that went by. So those are the kinds of things Matt has lived with almost every day for 289 days.
Matt has great skill, great courage. He is making a difference. He is going to make a difference for a lot of people. I especially think of young people with disabilities who would like to sail, and because of this organization, Chesapeake Bay Accessible Boating, they will
have the opportunity to do so.
So, again, this is one of the nice things we see happening in America. We think there are no individuals with that individual kind of courage to take on the elements, to risk their lives. Well, we still have them, and Matt Rutherford stands in a line of great adventurers in our history. I applaud him for his brave spirit, and I wish him safe passage on his home stretch and on the final leg of his epic journey.
He joins the ranks of Joshua Slocum who, on Spray, was the first person to circumnavigate the globe solo. He wrote a wonderful book: “Sailing Alone Around the World.” He did it before the turn of the last century. He did it in the 1890s. He also joins the ranks of the next great person who sailed alone, Sir Francis Chichester, on the Gypsy Moth IV not too many years ago, who circumnavigated the globe. So to Joshua Slocum and Sir Francis Chichester we can now add Matt Rutherford, on St. Brendan, for an incredible journey around both of the Americas, solo and nonstop. It has never been done before, and it may never be done again. And he is doing it for the best of all reasons.
A courageous young man, Matt Rutherford. He is going to be back, as I said, hopefully by April 12. I hope to meet him. I have never met the young man, but I have followed his journey and his courage. He is the kind of person who just gives heart and spirit to all of us, to know there is nothing we can’t do if we set our minds and our hearts to it and if we have the willpower and the courage to take it on. So I hope to meet him when he comes back–again, this young man of great courage. I hope the home stretch is one with fair winds and following seas.
Before I yield the floor, I mentioned that Matt Rutherford was doing this for the Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating organization that provides boating for people with disabilities. I would urge anyone who is interested in this and who wants to see what a great organization it is, they can go to their Web site–it is very simple–www.crabsailing.org. It is a great organization that helps people with disabilities to take up sailing and learn the art and the craft of sailing.
So, again, hats off to a remarkable young man on a remarkable journey. I wish him fair winds and a following sea in his home stretch.
Thanks, Kate,
Having the full transcript is a great help, and something I’m happy to have now pasted into a document and saved! I did videotape (while watching it on my computer screen) just the 10 minutes or so that Sen. Harkin was praising Matt, but the during the first 6 or 7 seconds of it I had moved the camera a lot while putting it on full screen, so not good enough to share. I’m hoping to redo it so that I can post it on my facebook page! Unless someone else beats me to it!!!
Carol Florida U.S.A.
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Done quite well senator.
Kate, THANK YOU SO MUCH for posting the text of Senator Harkin’s superb speech! We’re sitting on our own sailboat in Marina Port Vell in Barcelona, and our bandwidth to access the internet is so low that I can’t ever get the video to load… so you did JUST WHAT I WAS HOPING someone would do! I tried reading the speech to my husband, but I kept blubbering. Matt’s accomplishment, his true grit is just so….. eMOTIONal!
– Hey Guys !
– Message in portuguese. Suggestion: Use Google Translate. It’s not perfect but…
…………………….
– Ei Matt !
– Passei a morar a bordo de um veleiro de 27 pés hoje.
– Exatamente hoje às 10:00 h.
– Hora de Cabo Frio, Brasil !
– A diferença entre o “meu” e o “seu” são as seguintes, dois pontos, um em cima outro em baixo.
– O “seu” é um “Albin Vega”, o “meu”, um “Guanabara” de madeira amplificado.
– O “meu” está ancorado na Moringuinha.
– O “seu” está cruzando o famigerado Triângulo das Bermudas a esta hora exatamente.
– Ia escrever fantasmagórico, mas mudei pra famigerado.
– Adjetivo mais adequado, não Matt ?
– O “seu”, praticamente já circunavegou todo o continente Americano.
– O “meu ainda não.
– O “seu”, pertence ao Crab.
– O “meu”, pertence ao nosso amigo “Paulão”.
– Mais uma vez obrigado “Paulão.
Bons ventos “Big Matt ”
Fernando Costa
sorry im going to miss your arrival in annapolis will be travling.sure have enjoyed your blog.be safe an hope to meet u around annapolis sometime.god speed bob at west river
We are really missing Grandpa right now! He would be soo very proud of you Matt. Godspeed all the way home.
Scott and Betsy,
I, too, am sorry that your dad and mom are no longer here to see Matt accomplish this amazing voyage. They would have been so proud of their red-headed grandson!
‘Arlowe/Mom-
Thanks so much Kate…. sitting here on our own sailboat in the Port Vell Marina in Barcelona Spain, my internet access bandwidth is too small to see the video. We really appreciate your taking the time. I kept trying to read it to my husband and kept choking up. I feel like his MOTHER at this point! It’s funny to feel so strongly about someone that I’ve never met. Anyway, I’ve posted the link to my facebook page, and Chuck has sent the links and the text to some publisher friends. (Atlantic Monthly,and Counterpunch.org) as well as to Senator Harkin’s partner from Iowa, Chuck Grassley. Hope it helps create a little money flow!
Allison,
Mom says, “Thanks for spreading the word.” And, as far as being the mother of an adventurous son…as we say in Texas: this is not my first rodeo!
Mom/Marlowe
To Mom/Marlowe, love the saying “This is not my first rodeo.” Never heard it before but I knew instantly what it meant.
Why is Matt zig-zaging off the coast of Florida today, April 4th?
Jerry,
The winds are not in his favor. He may not make it back as quickly as was hoped. It is almost as if Poseidon himself is unwilling to relinquish his hold on St. Brendan’s epic voyage.
Lately, I have been telling folks that my first pregnancy with Matt was easy…this last one has been more suspenseful!
Marlowe