Hey Max,

I'd have thought a custom design by Farr, a multimillion $ build by Lyman-Morse, at least would have been better sorted out prior to the departure on such a voyage... Certainly a powerful reminder of the virtues of simplicity over complexity in an offshore boat...

He had solar panels covering much of his deck and doghouse, two Superwind generators, and FOUR Watt & Sea hydrogenerators... And yet he STILL couldn't keep his batteries up, and had to turn off refrigeration and other stuff to keep going??? WTF?

Some of his troubles, however, appear to have been self-induced, and a consequence of that boat being quite a handful even for the fittest and most experienced 76-year-old... The episode of having his Code 0 blown out I don't understand at all - perhaps I'm mis-reading it, but why didn't he just furl the thing when it became overpowered? And, the pic below looks to me like some damage incurred with a major "assist" from an electric winch.. (grin)

Still, a real shame, the guy is obviously tough as nails... One of the saddest things to me, however, is the prospect of seeing such an ocean thoroughbred being SHIPPED back to the States from Capetown... One of the greatest offshore passages in the world, just doesn't seem right that such a boat won't be doing it on her own bottom... I would hope perhaps he might regroup in Capetown, get things sorted a bit better, bail on the whole "Green" thing and consent to run a generator, maybe pick up some crew, and sail her back home... But, given the frustration he's endured, perhaps he really just wants OFF the freakin' thing...

For me, however, there's one silver lining in this deal... Dodge Morgan's record still holds, on a battleship that was designed by Ted Hood, instead of being eclipsed by a flyer from Bruce Farr... (grin)

best regards,

Jon