Solo Around the America's Under Sail

Matt wins the OCC’s Jester award for 2012

admin — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 15:59:11 +0000

Matt was recently honored by the Ocean Cruising Club in their annual awards for seamanship on the worlds oceans. Each year the Jester award is handed out to a deserving single-handed sailor.

You can read all about the award and this years recipients in this press release:

http://www.oceancruisingclub.org/images/Bulletin/occ_awards_for_2012.pdf

Congratulations to Matt and all the other 2012 winners!

Back on Land

Matt — Fri, 11 May 2012 23:50:42 +0000

Things have been non-stop since I got back. It’s a good thing. In some ways it’s easier to adjust when you’re busy because you adjust without thinking about it. It took a week before I could sleep for more than a couple hours at a time and I struggled with sleeping in a bed. I do miss the ocean and have been sailing every couple of days. I raced on a boat in the NOODS that came in first overall (not because of me). So I’ve been slowing weaning myself off sailing as if it was an addiction. A good addiction. I’ve also been planning my next trip and writing a book. This is the first time I’ve ever written a book and it’s going to take a huge amount of effort, but then again I like a challenge. I’m also trying to start a non-profit called “tools for schools”. Tools for schools is a non-profit that gives school supplies to schools in third world countries that can’t afford chalk for their chalkboard. The idea is the more educational tools a school has the more diverse the education will be. I’m not trying to end world hunger or reinvent the wheel; I’m just trying to get basic school supplies to underfunded schools in impoverished nations. So between writing a book, speaking engagements, planning another trip to the arctic and starting an international non-profit I’m pretty busy these days.

The next trip (if I can raise the money) will be a trip back up to the artic. The idea is to have a few crew, one of which is a friend of mine who is a polar scientist. He will bring scientific instruments and we will sail to the extreme northern regions of the Northwest Passage and collect scientific data in places scientists usually don’t get to go. So it will not just be a trip to the arctic, it will be a scientific expedition. We will also shoot a documentary and raise money for a non-profit. So all in all I’m trying to sail back to the arctic on a scientific expedition and shoot a documentary that focuses on climate change and raise some money for charity. Sounds like a good idea to me.

Just to clear one thing up. A local newspaper miss quoted Don Backe about the amount for the resupplies. Then Fox and the Washington Post did the same. So the cost for the resupplies and sat phone minutes was around $8,000 not $40,000. The entire trip cost around $35,000, all things included. At this point we have raised over $100,000 for CRAB and the number is still rising. So thank you all for your contributions. Until next time.

Anyone who wants to help sponsor the next trip or help me get tools for schools off the ground please shoot me an email at rrutherford42@gmail.com

FORTITUDINE VINCIMUS

Matt’s Homecoming on TheSailingChannelTV

admin — Fri, 11 May 2012 23:48:44 +0000

Great video from TheSailingChannel:

Video of Matt on Fox DC 5

admin — Tue, 01 May 2012 15:20:59 +0000

Holly Morris – Solo Around the Americas: MyFoxDC.com

Video Available of Matt’s Homecoming + Contact Information

admin — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 13:01:44 +0000

Thanks to Donald Fletcher and icentv.com you can check out the video feed from Matt’s homecoming split up into easy to view videos on Matt’s YouTube Channel

Press or other inquires, please contact Rachel Rutherford (330-907-6044).

Matt on Al Roker tomorrow morning (April 25th)

admin — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 03:03:55 +0000

Matt will be on Wake Up with Al on the Weather Channel at 6:40 EST and then again on Your Weather Today at 7:40am EST on the same channel.

Matt’s Homecoming Photos

admin — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:10:42 +0000

An amazing homecoming event was held on Saturday under sunny skies with a perfect breeze to let Matt sail into Annapolis Harbor past a large crowd, fireboat, marching band, bagpiper and lots of media.

The following photos were taken by Mark Duehmig. They are licensed for feature news articles but not for resale. Please credit Mark Duehmig.

These are very high resolution photos, please give them a moment to load.

Livestream of Matt’s Welcome Home Event

admin — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 08:17:10 +0000

You can check out the video’s from Matt’s homecoming event on his YouTube Channel

Directions to Matt’s Landfall Event

Mike — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 22:05:57 +0000

Matt will be arriving at the Annapolis City Dock at around 12:00pm.

The City Dock is here: City Dock

Parking and Transit information can be found here: Downtown Garages and Parking

Hope to see you all there tomorrow! But if you can’t be there in person you can watch it right here on a live video stream. Just check this site tomorrow at 11:30am EST.

If you’d care to watch from an iPad or iPhone, please go to http://www.livestream.com/t2ptv

SUCCESS!

Matt — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 00:53:15 +0000

After my birthday fiasco power became a serious issue. The small solar panels I picked up in Recife had stopped giving juice and my wind generator was toast. I don’t know what it is about this boat but it’s like I have some anti-solar panel voodoo curse. On April 6th I lost all my ability to charge anything and my AGM batteries were only half full. I was hoping I would be able to finish the last leg of trip with relative ease but instead it was by the skin of my teeth. Simon was bringing a 54 foot sailboat up from Tortola (Helna, which coincidentally is owned by one of my sponsors, Tom Willbanks of EdgeSource). I was becalmed for 36 hours which is usually a nuisance but under these circumstances it made our “coming together” much easier. By the time Simon arrived the seas had calmed significantly. It was 3am when we first met so I had opportunity to shoot off some flares. For the recorded, 12 gauge flares that you shoot out of that little orange flare gun are a joke! It was my 300th day at sea so I had Simon toss me a strong drink to celebrate and then we both hove to about a mile apart. I told him that I had no way to charge anything and I asked if he could swing by in the morning and I could hand him my computer, hand held VHF, iPod and satellite phone as all these items were in need of a charge. So Simon devised a system where he would slowly pass by St Brendan throw me a line that was attached to a cooler and once I had the line he would gently put the cooler in the water and I would pull it over to my boat. Then I would throw the line back on his next pass and he would retrieve the now empty cooler (coolers float). Like I said the seas were calm or else this would have been impossible. I also got him to give me whatever fresh food he could spare and some rum. After a couple hours he had charged all my various devices sent them back via the cooler (they were placed in a waterproof bag when in the cooler) and said goodbye. He raised his sails and over the horizon he went. Two days later another frontal boundary passed with a 45-50 knot squall and on the leading edge of these winds was a wave large enough that when it broke on St Brendan it knocked me over 90 degrees. I had just turned off my good laptop (I have two laptops a good one and the one I’m writing on now which is junk). Anyway my good laptop was thrown so hard by the big breaking wave that it slammed up against the other side of the cabin and is now broke. It survived the whole trip just to die at the very end. To give you some idea, at the time the wave hit I was making a cup of coffee, when my boat righted itself I looked up and I had had coffee grounds stuck to my cabin top above my head. I’ve been knocked around so many times during this voyage that I was tired of it and ready to be done. I had a few days of head winds following the front then finally some good Southwest winds that let me pass safely and easily by Cape Hatteras, the last real obstacle of any merit.

I sailed past Virginia Beach and was at the mouth of the bay when the wind died. I could see the finish line (Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel). There is a semi-strong current at the mouth of the bay that usually runs around 1.5 to 2 knots. When the wind first died I wasn’t too worried because the tide was supposed to change. I also had a sailboat (Float On) come out to meet me and they handed me some cold beer. At first I was just happy to be sitting there having a beer waiting for the tide to change and some wind to appear. A very strange thing happen, not just did the wind remain dead calm but the current never changed and it just keep pushing me south. By 3am when the wind finally picked up I was 16 miles south of Cape Henry. Since April 6th when I lost my ability to charge my batteries I haven’t had the power to run my navigation lights at night. I was in an area with a lot of freighter traffic so I didn’t sleep much. The previous three days I hadn’t slept at all. Partially because of shipping traffic – but also because I was excited. So by 3am after going backwards for 12 hours I was well beyond frustrated. The wind built through the morning and by 10am I had 25 knots out the Northeast which gave me the ability to finally get thought the Bay Bridge Tunnel and finish the trip.

When it comes to sailing it’s difficult to say who is the first person to do what because so many people have sailed so many places. In the case of this trip it becomes easier because of the Northwest Passage element. Not that many boats have sailed through the Northwest Passage and every boat that has, is listed on the Polar Scott Institutes’ (Cambridge University) web site along with the number on crew. Out of these boats very few were taken through the Northwest Passage singlehanded and out of those few only a couple boats did it both single handed and non-stop. The very very few that have, did not continue non-stop to Cape Horn and then back to their original starting point. So – long story short I’m the first person in history to have completed a non-stop singlehanded circumnavigation of the Americas.

I knew this trip would be hard for any captain on any sailboat. Although my boat was small and my budget meager it was my unwavering determination and previous sailing experience that got me through. We are all capable of incredible things; all you have to do is believe in yourself. I thank you all for following along during the trip. It’s been a great adventure and although the trip has been hard it’s also been very enjoyable. I’ll write one final update in a week or so after I’ve had some time for reflection. There are also some new pictures coming. If you can’t make it to Annapolis on April 21st (by noon) then you can watch my homecoming live on my web site (11:30 to 12:30 EST) or you can view the live show on your iPhone or iPad from http://www.livestream.com/t2ptv.

This trip is a fundraiser for C.R.A.B (Chesapeake Regional Accessible Boating). I thank all of you who have already donated and we are halfway to our goal. There has recently been a challenge; the crew of Godspeed will match the next $21,000. We are trying to raise money on a money for mile basis, a penny a mile, 10 cents a mile, a dollar a mile, etc. Or a general donation of any amount is most welcome. C.R.A.B is a great non-profit that gives sailing opportunities to people with mental and physical disabilities. I’m proud to be a part of C.R.A.B. and I thank you all for your donations.

THE FINAL TALLY

I sailed 27,077 miles in 309 days, 18 hours and 38 minutes.

FORTITUDINE VINCIMUS

Matt Rutherford