Hi Gene,

Good argument in favor of steel or alloy, I suppose - when you abandon your boat offshore, and it eventually fetches up on shore near your intended destination, metal stands a better chance than fiberglass or surviving the "landing"...

This is the J-44 FIRST LIGHT, abandoned 1000 miles east of the Lesser Antilles, after their rudder fell off on passage from the Canaries to St. Lucia, if memory serves...

The boat was assumed to have sunk shortly thereafter, but about a month later, she fetched up on a beach on Barbados... Probably a better feat of navigation without using GPS than many of us here would have been able to manage... (grin)

best regards,

Jon