Pitchpoled by guest writer Peter McGrath

A friend rings.  He's chief mate on a tug, working to bring the cash in to get his boat tarted up ready for his circumnavigation.   Stormbound.  Bored.  Missin' his woman.  Ring McGrath. He yarns about last years transat and some of the characters he met, and mentions that he's upgrading his standing rigging to 10mm stainless.  His is a 40-foot steel meanie, a tough boat but 10mm?  That's gonzo rigging.  He tells of meeting a boat that had been in the wars, a 45 footer, steel and with a curiously kinked mast.  They were, he said eccentric in their habits: it had a center cockpit (center cockpits are higher than aft cockpits) which they thought a perfect place to stow a 60 gallon fuel container.  (Only do the stability sums on this if on the heads.)  And it was a mess - lots of loose stuff lying around within. None of which suggested for a happy outcome when they hit heavy weather trying the North West Passage.  Somewhat beaten up, the crew decided to leave it in the microchip hands of the auto-pilot and retire below. They were pitchpoled through 360 degrees. The deck was swept clean - bolted, strapped or lashed down, didn't matter.  Gone.  The inside went mental as crew, galley contents and kit were tumbled about in reckless abandon.  However, as well-found boats will she came upright, her rig standing but her mast kinked.  The secret of the rig's survival?  The skipper puts it down to the well-set up 10mm standing rigging. My mate will be spending his spring re-rigging his cutter with 10mm stainless in anticipation of his circumnavigation.  He has invited me down for a 'catch-up'.  I suspect much of that catch up will be in form of sitting in a bosun's chair hauling 10mm up the masthead on gantlines....