Mario Vittone, a retired US Coast Guard Rescue swimmer, spent his career rescuing skippers and crews at sea who had been unprepared and lacked the experience to face the problems the oceans threw at them. When he was invited to join Scott Evangelista and his crew for a trip through the Northwest Passage from Maine to Alaska, Mario knew it was not for his sea time but for his intimate knowledge of safety at sea and safety protocols.
Scott’s boat the Sarah-Sarah is a 64-foot Steve Dashew designed, aluminum long range cruiser built in New Zealand by Circa Marine and under Dashew’s supervision. While not rated for ice the FPB 64 with the 13 mm aluminum plate hulls, massive internal structure, water-tight compartments and 85,000 pounds of displace was more than up to the rigors of Arctic ice.
Moreover, Sarah-Sarah is a true long-range cruiser. At 10 knots her single diesel burns 4.5 gallons-per-hour which give her a safe cruising range of 7,500 miles. Throttle back to seven knots and that range increases to an astounding 14,000 miles. In either case, the boat had much more than sufficient range to make the journey over the top of North Ame4rica.
Long and narrow, like a bullet, the FPB 64 has mechanical stabilizers that so effectively control pitch and roll that the crew says they never saw her roll more than three degrees and even crossing the notorious Amundsen Gulf the off watch slept as though the boat was at anchor.
Mario has a lifetime of Coast Guard training that emphasizes planning, preparation and practice. Yet, once he got to know Scott and Sarah-Sarah he reports that he has never seen a vessel better and more thoughtfully prepared for the eventualities of a trip that would take them 1,000 miles from the nearest possible rescue assets.
Every system aboard has a redundant back up. There are two independent steering systems, two radars, two autopilots and more. Plus, each was supplied with multiple spare parts. At one point during the trip the engine failed and needed a new oil cooler. Scott had three spares aboard.
The trip through the Northwest Passage took two months and carried the crew thorough some of the world’s remotest regions. Mario wrote a wonderful article about the adventure for Soundings magazine, and it resides now on Soundings Online. If you want to know what it makes to successful make the trip, read on.
Read more here.
