CALL HIM CRAZY

 14 June 2026: For the past week, it's felt (here in the U.S. northeast) as though summer has arrived in full cry! (95F + degree days), a few squalls that did little to cool things off and then suddenly, nice moderate weather, great for being on the water (which we took advantage of with a lovely one day cruise on The Last Word.) And speaking of cruising, this week's post - well, read it and judge for yourself: crazy, stupid, or VERY bold! From Practical Boat Owner:

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This sailor’s Atlantic crossing attempt in bonkers 100cm micro-boat has started. Will he make it?

With the favourable prevailing westerly winds now blowing, Andrew Bedwell has started his voyage. 

 Andrew Bedwell has left St John’s harbour in Newfoundland aboard his self-built 100cm boat, Big C V2 and is now heading out into the Atlantic Ocean. [for non-metric folks, 100 cm is 3.28ft]

 

The Lancashire sailor confirmed his departure in a message to friends last night, texting: “So, I cast off about midday (1530BST), and am doing well.”

Bedwell and his support team arrived in St John’s two weeks ago to make the final preparations ahead of launching Big C V2; for the past 10 days, he has been waiting for the wind to change to the favourable westerlies.

Atlantic crossing aboard his 100cm boat, Big C V2

He will now sail down the coast and into the Gulf Stream, hoping to avoid the worst of the weather in the Grand Banks area before starting his 1,900NM crossing and the finish line off the western point of Ireland.

This is the second time the microyacht adventurer has attempted an Atlantic crossing. In May 2023, he left St John’s but was forced to return to harbour after noticing water ingress into the 1m boat. As Big C was being craned out of the water, one of the strops broke and the boat was dropped onto the harbour wall, causing irreparable damage.

 

 

Atlantic dream revived

Just days later, Bedwell was busy designing a new version of Big C, building a life-size model of the boat out of cardboard boxes before naval architect Jérôme Delaunay made Bedwell’s vision a reality.

Big C V2 is built from aluminium, with 5mm of aluminium at the 115kg lead encapsulated keel and hull and 3mm at the topsides. It is 1.4m/4ft 6in wide which means Bedwell, who is 6ft tall, can stretch out his legs while inside the boat.

A watertight 10mm polycarbonate domed hatch with an 8mm polycarbonate washboard will seal him inside the boat in bad weather, and there are directional dorade vents and a custom snorkel system, which allows Bedwell to breathe while encapsulated and reduces condensation levels inside the boat.

Power onboard is via 50W solar panels and two batteries – one AGM and one lithium. His navigation station includes AIS, VHF radio, strobe and white lights and a sleep timer – all of which can be run independently on batteries.

The boat has a central furling system for twin Dacron sails around an aluminium A-frame. There is no liferaft on board, as Bedwell believes Big C V2 is “so solid” so will act as his survival capsule; volunteers are also on standby to rescue him, if needed.

 Extensive sea trials were carried out before the start of the challenge.

For food, he will be eating pemmican, a mix of beef dripping, beef and raisins – all dehydrated. He also has a water maker for drinking water and will be taking daily doses of vitamins and minerals.

A flannel attached to the outside of the boat will serve as his bathroom.

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And once again, someone sets out for what will likely end in either tragedy or rescue. But in an effort to remain positive, we wish him fair winds and the best of luck! And as a further potential problem, with only headsails and no mainsail, he can only go downwind.... 

In our last post we mentioned we were closing in on 400,000 readers; we made it handily, and now Maritime Maunder is read by 413,000+ folks worldwide... we continue incredulous.

Until next time, stay safe

                Fair Winds, 

                      Old Salt 

ROGUE WAVES ARE REAL

 31 May 2026: Summer looms, though the recent weather in the northeast US might cause some confusion about how close the lovely warm weather we look forward to might be! In any case, here's a bit about the phenomenon called "rogue Waves" that some of you might have experienced - fortunately, I have not in spite of many years at sea in different parts of the world. From SupercarBlondie.

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Sea phenomenon was always believed to be a myth made up by sailors until satellites stunningly proved it to be true

For centuries, sailors told terrifying stories of a sea phenomenon: giant waves appearing out of nowhere, but before satellites stepped in, most scientists dismissed them as exaggerations or an outright myth.

These so-called ‘rogue waves’ sounded too weird to be real, often described as towering walls of water capable of swallowing entire ships.

But thanks to modern satellite technology in space, what was once folklore has now been proven beyond doubt.

 

And the truth behind these ocean giants is even more mind-blowing than the myths that came before.

Rogue waves were dismissed as myth until science finally caught up

Stories of rogue waves go back hundreds of years, with sailors reporting massive, unpredictable waves rising suddenly in otherwise normal seas.

For a long time, scientists believed ocean waves followed predictable patterns, meaning such extreme outliers simply shouldn’t exist.

That all changed in 1995, when a massive 80-foot wave struck the Draupner oil platform in the North Sea, becoming the first scientifically recorded rogue wave.

 

From that moment on, the narrative shifted, and what had once been dismissed as tall tales suddenly had hard data behind it, forcing researchers to rethink everything they knew about ocean behavior.

Then came a major breakthrough: satellites.

 

In the early 2000s, the European Space Agency began tracking ocean surfaces from space, and by 2024, the SWOT satellite had captured waves between 65 and 115 feet tall.

Even more surprising, these waves weren’t always tied to storms; they could appear hundreds or even thousands of miles away from extreme weather, making them far more mysterious and dangerous than anyone expected.

So, how do these ocean monsters come to life?

Scientists now believe rogue waves are created when multiple wave systems combine in just the right way.

One key process is called constructive interference, where waves traveling in different directions and speeds align perfectly, stacking on top of each other to form a single, massive wave.

Another factor involves natural ocean dynamics that stretch and amplify waves, making them steeper and taller while flattening the trough beneath them, and this effect can boost a wave’s height by up to 20 percent.

Researchers analyzing decades of ocean data have found these waves are not as rare as once thought, although they are still considered uncommon and highly unpredictable.

Despite their intimidating size, the chances of encountering one remain low.

But the fact that they exist at all, once written off as tall tales, is a powerful reminder of how much we still have to learn about the ocean.

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Hard to imagine encountering one  of these monsters out on the deep - even in a large vessel, but I can not comprehend the feeling in even an ocean-going sailing yacht! 

As a matter of interest (mostly to us here at MM) we are only a few readers away from 400,000 readers worldwide. Still difficult to wrap our brain around that!

Until next time, stay safe!

                                     Fair Winds

                                       Old Salt