Matt Rutherford set out from Annapolis, Maryland last June 11th with an audacious goal. He intended to sail single-handed entirely around the Americas in a 27′ Albin Vega. He planned to sail a counterclockwise loop up the East Coast, cross the the Arctic via the Northwest Passage, sail down the Pacific Coast of North and South America, around Cape Horn and then back north again to the East Coast of the US. He has nearly made it. He is currently off the coast of Brazil. His problem now is that nearly everything on his boat is either broken or just worn out. He is planning a resupply stop off Recife, Brasil and he could really use donations for new parts. Click the link below to learn more and/or make a donation.
Upcoming Resupply, Matt needs your help
From the Washington Post: Annapolis sailor on unprecedented, around-the-Americas odyssey
Thanks to Fernando Costa for passing the news along.
Wow, what a trip! But who paid for the trip in the first place? Is it privately funded or did he gather donations to pay for it before he set sail?
It sounds like a mix of donations and self-funding. The project appears to be run on a shoestring. The intent was to raise $250,000 for Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating (CRAB). According to the Washington Post he has raised about $25,000 and my guess is that most or all of that has gone to keeping the boat sailing.
Thank you very much in name of Matt Rutherford, master Rick.
I feel always very well visiting your excellent blog.
Congratulations and good winds.
My pleasure Fernando. All the best to you and Matt. He has had an amazing voyage. Quite an accomplishment.
Hello Rick
Did you read the last post of Matt talking about the resupply? Here is the beginning of it.
Recife (Day 262)
Posted on March 1, 2012 by Matt
A few years ago a watched a documentary on Recife on the Discovery channel during shark week. Evidently Recife is the shark bite capital of the world (Bull Sharks) – not that I’m planned on going for a swim. To take a step back, after my last update I spent three days trying to get my engine started. I took off all the wires and cleaned the connections with sandpaper. I was hoping it was a bad ground wire but unfortunately that wasn’t the problem. I tried to take the starter off but for some crazy reason it is connected to the engine with round bolts with a large Allen key fitting in the center. So I didn’t have the rather odd tool required to remove the bolts. Why they couldn’t have used normal hex head bolts is beyond me. So after three days of getting covered in engine grime I came to the conclusion that it is beyond my abilities to fix the engine. In order to get better access to the engine I removed my… (http://www.solotheamericas.org/?p=421)
Hey, there is another adventurer needind your help Rick. Woman, blonde, young, beautiful, brave and fighting for a noble cause! Look!
http://windsurf-transatlantic.com/en/portrait/qui-est-sarah-hebert/
Good winds Rick and once again thank you.
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Rick,
I imagine that you have continued to follow Matt’s voyage and are aware that he now plans to complete the voyage in Annapolis on April 21st.
Among those planning to welcome Rutherford on his arrival will be a contingent of sailors from the Ocean Cruising Club, an international club of blue-water sailors, who will present him with an award in recognition of his epic voyage.