Matt is doing very well in inspiring enough funding to make this trip a reality – but he still needs your help! Please see the How You Can Help page to contribute. So far the following organizations have stepped forward to support CRAB and Matt’s ambitious goal:
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The Rachel Rutherford Foundation for the Arts & Sciences.
I will be following your very tough adventure all the way. god speed and smell the roses. i also hope to do a singlehanded voyage of some duration with sponorship and tho I am 61 years of age look forward to the challenge. Score one for the older folks so to speak.
Well done, Matt. Your writing is delightful and sounds just like your talking. You reminded me of some of my Newfoundland memories of the sixties — great people, no navigational aids and the occasional availability of Screech.
Also — not one knew how to swim, something I found out when I dove overboard to retrieve a tool I had dropped off my 47 ft Newfoundland Jack Schooner. It was only 12 ft deep so the retrieval was easy — with such clear water and the fact that the tool was shiny. They kidded me so — for swimming in the cold water. When I asked them, not one could swim. When I asked why, they replied, “What’s the point? You freeze up in a couple of minutes anyway…” (Hypothermia) I believe it — it took me a couple of belts of Screech and a half hour in front of my coal stove in the galley in the forepeak before I thought my b###s might not fall off.
My vessel was a gaff schooner which could carry 22 tons, named the Phoebe & Meta.
She she had a 30 hp make and break two cycle Atlantic engine which had no transmission but ran backwards or forward. She turned a 30 inch three blade and could run at 8 kts as long as you fed her a gas/oil mix and had a strong set of batteries. (No generatot)
But that’s another story…. Don
Just to say that I have tried to make a donation, inspired by Matt’s courage and sense of exploration and wonder, and your website has refused all my credit cards with absolutely no good reason. Everywhere else is happy to take them. There must be some glitch with the system…which is very unfair to Matt and CRAB. Please sort it out.
Hello Matt,
Congratulations on your fabulous cruise and best of luck or the home leg.
I am the Annapolis Port Officer of the Ocean Cruising Club and I offer you any support I can give you upon your return. My own ocean sailing days are over , unfortunately, but I live on Crab Creek off the South River across from the London Towne House. For any boat projects of yours I have in my basement a small workshop set up years ago for building a 60 ft steel schooner in my drive way. Your friend Simon Edmards kows his way around my place.
If so inclined please feel free to get in touch when you return to Annapolis.
Cheers,
Wolfgang.
410 267 6540
2656 Greenbriar Lane, Annapolis, MD 21401
AS a mere sea kayaker and lover of sailboats (dreamed of) I wish you the very best in these closing days of you trip. Superb effort on your part!! Being a retired Army guy myself who supports the Wounded Warrior Programs I can certainly support what you are doing. Kayaking can bring core strength to some of these wounded folks as does horse back riding exercises. However, I can bet being on a sailboat it would be a challenge they would relish in experiencing the wind and movement on the sea. I know msot could probably tackle the tackle if in the right boat so your intentions are well sighted. I intend to talk your site up at our next meeting of the US Army Special Forces Association (Chapter XI – Arlington, VA) when we hang with or SEAL compatriots. Fair Winds – George Hewitt
Matt is now reduced to de-watering his boat with a can and a 5 gallon bucket, and he still has 5,000 miles to go. Will there be a “supply drop” coming up? I’d like to donate an electric, automatic bilge pump. Is there any way to get this to him?
Thanks for offering. I don’t know, but if you post on the most recent blog entry, Simon might notice. Simon is one of Matt’s guardian angels.
What most people do not understand is that Matt started this voyage on a shoestring budget. I believe that if he has to, Matt will make it back on a scrap of the boat and using a tshirt for a sail. This has not been a luxurious trip. He, also, has about $30 to his name and is prepared to go to work delivering boats ASAP when he returns to MD in April. That’s Matt!
And his home is his own 32 foot Pearson which is up on the hard.
I’m sure glad he got the re suppled. I do miss his posts.
Marlowe must be real pleased with him.
hope all is pleasant and you are well.can’t wait to see you safely in annapolis.Good luck. Ken
Amazing voyage!!
Fair winds for the rest of the trip.
Have watched CSPAN like once ever and today flipped it on after coming home from a funeral to relax but I heard your story from an Iowan congressman and just spent an hour on your web page.
Congratulation for your efforts to support your charity and make such a courageous trip!
Sent this link to my weekly days ailing blokes just now also with hopes to get you a few more dollars in your coffer.
Len
Portland, OR
Have watched CSPAN like once ever and today flipped it on after coming home from a funeral to relax but I heard your story from an Iowan congressman and just spent an hour on your web page.
Congratulation for your efforts to support your charity and make such a courageous trip!
Sent this link to my weekly days sailing blokes just now also with hopes to get you a few more dollars in your coffer.
Len
Portland, OR
Please delete the forgoing duplicate post with a typo on the word sailing without the s and this reply if possible.
Len
I certainly enjoyed seeing you hit 7.2 knots yesterday going in the right direction! I’m sure you were enjoying that ride…………….
I noticed how you had been battling winds etc for a week or so.
I’m hoping to spot you from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel in the next day or so since I will be visiting the Eastern Shore a few times from here (Va Beach)
What you have done is marvelous! I was the first female to skipper an all girl crew in the Annapolis to Bermuda race. That seemed a big deal, but what you have accomplished is much, much more. Welcome home!