Windship,
I have delivered from the States to the BVI (one of many, many trips) as a sister ship to one that was captained by a man who had been on the water since before he could walk, grew up on the Thames. He carried only a sextant. During a spat of "bad" weather - it was overcast for a few days - we were still in
VHF communication with him. His crew had no confidence, and became insolent and abusive, not to mention totally whiny (these were grown men, with boats of their own, mind you). When we hailed him, he spoke of wanting to be off the ''ship of fools'', and quickly. I even heard a few times the crew being abusive to him in the background. We had a sextant, but we also had a
handheld GPS that I doubt many would recognize - an old Magellan that weighed 7 pounds and was big as a bag of sugar. Anyway, 10 days out we were no longer able to contact them. Since we were in bad weather, we gave a description to passing ships, just in case. On arrival, we went immediately to the base and asked them for information, etc.. The guy behind the desk pointed over our shoulders and said, "He''s right there." The SOB had arrived 2 days before us, and he had listed us in the lookout traffic. His crew was gone, having flown home, and I''m glad I never got to confront them and call them the cowards they had shown themselves to be (because I would surely have been arrested). A few years later one guy had the nerve to ask to go on another trip as crew, and was told that under no uncertain terms would he ever sail with the company again.
Just a story, but maybe one that applies.
MaryBeth