Hi Max,

First...

"The crew recognized that the ship was moving too slowly, and that they would be caught in the middle of the storm.

Walbridge wasn't saying much anymore. Once, when Barksdale went on deck to get some fresh air, he discovered that the captain had changed course, and that they were now traveling to the southwest."

And, then this...

"At about 4 a.m., Barksdale realized that he had lost his battle against the water in the engine room. He climbed up to the lower deck, where he saw his fellow crewmembers, but not the captain. The others told him that it was time to abandon ship."

Given the chaotic conditions under which the BOUNTY was abandoned, it's a miracle ANYONE survived... But right from the start of this sad saga, one thing that never surprised me, was that the captain himself did not survive... I believe once he fully realized the consequences of his unfathomable decision to sail into that storm, there's a very strong probability he did not WANT to survive...

I don't believe it's yet been linked to here, but there's an interesting interview on YouTube with Walbridge that was conducted in Belfast, ME back in August... You can cut to the chase (and avoid the tedium of an interview being conducted by a complete idiot (grin)), and jump to around the 10:00 mark, where Walbridge begins blustering about his fondness for "chasing hurry-canes", and getting into the SE quadrant of a storm, "as close to the eye as possible" where "you can get a pretty good ride"... He also claims to have ridden out 70-foot swells from a storm several hundred miles distant, in complete comfort... Which would be complete and total horseshit, of course...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNDneMuO7-U

BTW, the Weather Channel will be airing a one hour special on the sinking of the BOUNTY, Wednesday night a 8 PM Eastern (check you listings, just going from memory, there)

best regards,

Jon