Rescue of the Bounty: Disaster and Survival in Superstorm Sandy (32 page)

Douglas A. Campbell

Jan Miles, co-captain of the tall ship
Pride of Baltimore II
, wrote a scalding “open letter” to Captain Robin Walbridge and posted it on the Internet a month after
Bounty
sank. In that letter, Miles echoed the sentiments of many in the maritime community when he asked:

“Why did you throw all caution away by navigating for a close pass of Hurricane Sandy? I was so surprised to discover that BOUNTY was at sea near Cape Hatteras and close to Hurricane Sandy Sunday night October 28th! That decision of yours was reckless in the extreme!”

Few among the dozens of individuals—other than
Bounty
crew members—interviewed by Mike Tougias and me disagreed with Miles. One who did was Cliff Bredeson, an occasional volunteer
Bounty
crew member who had made numerous ocean crossings with Walbridge.

Bredeson said that in his opinion Walbridge’s decision to leave New London was appropriate. Had the pumps not failed,
Bounty
would have been fine, Bredeson told me.

I am a sailor of small boats and have logged numerous miles offshore—far, far fewer than Robin Walbridge. In that limited experience, I have made my share of decisions to sail that I’ve later regretted. I’ve been lucky. While some of those decisions have led to discomfort, none has led to disaster.

When I heard
Bounty
’s story in October 2012, I—like most other sailors—wondered why a captain would think his crew would be safer at sea in a hurricane than onshore. To be absolutely clear, the safest way to deal with boats is to stay off them. There are always risks in going to sea, some of which cannot be anticipated. But the ocean floor is littered with the wreckage of ships—particularly old, wooden sailing ships—and the bones of crews that left port and didn’t make it back. There was no question in my mind in October that Walbridge should have anticipated problems with Sandy and that
Bounty
should have remained at some dock, someplace, and should not have ventured out toward an approaching hurricane.

I was grateful, then, when Mike offered me the opportunity to investigate
Bounty
’s saga and ask what to me was the critical question: Why did Robin Walbridge take his ship to sea?

I found a handful of individuals who knew Robin Walbridge well and could tell stories that transported him from a caricature that a news story makes of anyone to a real person with unique qualities, passions, and abilities. Those tales showed me why this man could be adored by so many, respected by almost all he met. They also gave shape to an intelligent, driven man who was, in the end, trapped by his own success, almost universally unquestioned, and, perhaps as a result, unaccustomed to being challenged.

I owe a debt of gratitude to these people and hope that in repayment of that debt our work will provide readers with an honest portrait of a man whose enthusiasm for his life touched many, often young, people and no doubt changed their lives in positive ways.