The boat took in water 600 mi. into a 30,000 mi. trip circumnavigating the globe, and the dad didn’t even know who to fix a freakin’ leak. USCG-trained my ass (maybe so, but those were just classes that any hobby skipper island-hopper can take and get a little diploma for — I’m a USCG Base San Juan brat)....
Maybe he should have tried stuffing a baby pacifier in the hole?
There was a retired coast guard guy here in Tampa that put his sail boat into the river to test the engine. Engine didn’t work.
He didn’t have an anchor, sails, or a radio on his boat. He floated down the river and into Tampa Bay. Then he floated all the way across the bay. He couldn’t radio anyone, or even signal anyone because he didn’t have flares either.
Fortunately his sail boat washed up on the beach at the very southern tip on the other side of the bay. He came quite close to drifting out into the gulf.