A dad who is trying to cross the Atlantic in the smallest ever boat was forced to turn around on the first day.
Andrew Bedwell, 49, from Southport, said he was "quite chilled" about his 1,900-mile solo trip before he left St John's, Newfoundland, at 1.30pm local time on Saturday, May 27. But the dad was forced to turn around a head for land after his boat started letting in water.
The boat, dubbed Big C, had required late “modifications” before he’d noticed some “water ingress” just hours into his voyage. The glum mariner said he “wasn’t happy” with the state of his craft and had now returned to port to “assess the situation”, LancsLive reports
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He said: “We had to make some modifications prior to leaving yesterday on the boat. At sea, I noticed some water ingress.
“Wasn’t happy with it so come back in for safety reasons just to check it. We’re heading out to the boat now to assess the situation to see what we are doing."
Andrew, who delivers yachts around the world and works as a sailmaker, has spent most of his adult life embarking on hair-raising nautical adventures. He previously sailed non-stop around Britain and has taken his small 6.5m carbon racing yacht across the Atlantic and up to the arctic circle.
Andrew came up with his idea after reading a book by current record holder Hugo Vihlen, who made the dangerous crossing in a 1.6m (5ft 4inch) boat 30 years ago. He then spent years hand-building and self-financing his one-metre-long sailing boat, which he fabricated in the garage of his home, in Scarisbrick.
Speaking about his preparations prior to departure, confident Andrew had previously said: “Everything has pulled together exceptionally well. There’s nothing that I am apprehensive of on the vessel at all.
"Absolutely everything has gone to plan. I personally think I’ve gone over and above what I need to do for the whole trip.
“But you never know you could hit an iceberg. The Titanic was considered unsinkable but it hit one, and there are a lot of icebergs out there."
Should Andrew solve his leak, he’ll find out if his tough fibreglass tub will stand up to the worst weather the Atlantic can throw at him over the next few months.
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