on the same passage. Listening to the radio traffic. They tried for four days to get the boat sailing without a rudder. There was (IIRC) a trawler standing by with them the whole time - it took them off.

Of my six times (approximate) sailing that leg that was the roughest. That passage, Canaries to Caribbean, is always a rough one. There were two far away storms sending crossing waves. It was like being inside a washing machine. We did not sleep for the last few days of that trip. We anchored in English Harbor, Antigua and slept for 24+ hours.

You can't fault he owners of First Light for not doing all they could to save their boat. Conditions were too rough to get any kind of jury rig steering to work..