30 stories of sailors less fortunate than me during my ocean-sailing years on Sea Change
12 January 2026 · 29 min · 3K views
Dismasted Blue Barrel sails alone in rough seas at dusk
What this video covers
A Pacific Seacraft 34 solo circumnavigator recounts 30 incidents involving other sailors he encountered or learned of between 2017 and 2025 across the South Pacific, Indian Ocean, Atlantic, and Caribbean. Richard Carr vanished mid-passage to the Marquesas in 2017 after sending messages about pirates; no EPIRB alert was ever received.1:16 Armed boardings at Nombre de Dios, Panama in 2019 involved sexual assault on two separate crews.1:57 Four dismastings on the Panama-to-Marquesas passage are detailed: Blue Barrel (broken backstay on a new rig), Mini Wahooni (family of five rescued by ship while the father jury-rigged back to Mexico), Bavaria 44 Jaira (crew rescued by Sailing Zingaroo, vessel later found adrift), and Tayana 37 Quiet (solo sailor completed the passage under jury rig).3:09 A whale strike sank Rain Dancer in 15 minutes; a Sunfast 3600 named Orion survived multiple humpback strikes with a bent rudder and holed bow.9:53 A broken original chain plate dismasted Dance Me 200 miles east of Tonga during a maramū.12:29 The Fiji-to-New Zealand passage killed skipper Clive Notling when the top third of his mast struck the deck.15:43 An American couple, Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel, were thrown overboard off Grenada by escaped convicts in 2024.23:17 A Waukees Hood 38 named Water Music lost its spade rudder in the South Indian Ocean and was scuttled after a failed jury-steering attempt.25:10 Spade rudders, original chain plates, and backstay condition emerge as recurring failure points across these incidents.
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