this story was written for the Royal Cape Yacht Club Newsletter
Using your teeth as a
substitute for a self-tailer probably isn’t in the competent crew handbook. But
then neither is going cruising after only about a month of sailing experience.
And if there was a sailing handbook for double amputees, Dustin Reynolds would
probably have to be the one to write it.
Dustin, who was living
in Hawai, lost his left arm and leg after being hit by a drunk driver while
motorcycling. He was bankrupted by the
costs of his medical care. After a
difficult period of recovery he began reassessing his life.
He sold his business
and his charter fishing boat and had just enough money to buy himself a 1968
thirty-five foot Alberg sloop.
He’d never sailed
before so the two hundred mile inter-island delivery voyage, skippered by the previous
owner, became his training. Learning was limited because once they had set the
sails there wasn’t much else to do. Later he learned skills such as reefing by
watching YouTube videos. On his first major voyage from Hawaii to Palmyra
Island, an atoll over 800 miles away, he used only his headsail because he
hadn’t learned how to hoist his mainsail yet.
After three months in
the marina working on his boat a period of free mooring came to an end. He had
the choice of leaving for another marina or, well, just leaving, which is what
he did. In June 2014 he began his very likely record setting voyage as the
first double amputee to circumnavigate.
When asked for his
advice to sailors thinking of going cruising he answered: “Set a date and go.
Don’t wait for the boat to be ready.”
Dustin has had many
adventures on his voyage. His first boat’s engine had transmission problems. On
the journey from Indonesia to Thailand, lacking wind as well as use of his
engine he took twenty-four days to cover nine hundred miles. This was the most
difficult period of the voyage. It became clear that the old sloop wasn’t going
to get him around the world.
In Thailand he managed
to scrape together enough money through crowd-funding and a loan from a friend,
to buy his current boat, Tiama, a 35 foot Bristol sloop.
Dustin says that his
favourite bit of kit is his wind-vane self-steering. The thing he would most
like in his inventory is a self-tailing winch on his boom for his reefing lines.
Up until now he has been tailing with his teeth.
The highlight of his
trip? Catching a 90kg tuna. “It was one of the most difficult things I’ve
done.” It took him three hours to fight
and another hour and two broken gaffs to get it on board.
Since being
interviewed for the newsletter Dustin has received an award from the Ocean
Cruising Club for outstanding courage and seamanship. At the ceremony, Alan
Haefele and Pete Sherlock of the RCYC Cruising sub-committee presented Dustin
with a self-tailing winch. Hopefully this will reduce wear and tear on the
reefing lines caused by Dustin’s teeth!
From Cape Town Dustin
is heading to St Helena, Ascension Island and then the Caribbean.
The RCYC wishes Dustin
fair winds and safe passage as he continues on his record setting
circumnavigation.
Update: Dustin sets sail today in a good south easter.
Dustin is available for corporate speaking events. You can contact him through his website below.
Contribute to Dustin’s voyage on Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/thesinglehandedsailor
Follow Dustin Reynolds’ circumnavigation on
social media: www.thesinglehandedsailor.com
Instagram and Facebook: thesinglehandedsailor
For a great detailed interview with Dustin,
with clips of him sailing, check out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiCkCu4a37Y
