Projo Sports Blog

The Bermuda sailor steaming solo from Bermuda to Newport, in an 18-foot boat with a 9.9-horsepower outboard, ran out of gas just 18 miles south of Point Judith today.

Bobby Doe, the 66-year-old boat builder, commercial fisherman, and professional sailor left St. George's Saturday afternoon with about 60 gallons of gasoline aboard his Bermuda dory, Huckleberry.

At around 5 p.m. today, the Coast Guard station at Point Judith received a radio call that a boat in distress -- Huckleberry -- was in the company of another vessel. Huckleberry had run out of gasoline, and the other boat had none aboard.

By 6:30 p.m., the Coast Guard reported that Huckleberry had received fuel from SafeSea, and was under way again.

Tina Barnard, one of Doe’s daughters, said her father plans to make the return trip with the fleet of sailing yachts competing in the Newport Bermuda Race, starting off Castle Hill Friday afternoon.

In 1970, Bobby Doe built the 72-foot yacht Christian Venturer, now called Rock Steady, and sailed it to many ports around the world, his daughter said.

“He walks his own path,” Barnard said. “If there are two roads to choose, he’ll make a third and take that one. He’s a bit of a rebel.”

Doe tried to make the 635-mile voyage from Bermuda to Newport last October. Halfway to his destination, he was forced to turn back when he hit foul weather and the Gulf Stream simultaneously.

He suffered a heart attack in November and had to be flown from Bermuda to Boston for treatment.

On this week's passage, he is trying to raise awareness and money for the Lady Cubit Compassionate Association, which provided the funds for his hospital care, said his son-in-law, Chris Barnard.

-- Journal outdoors writer Tom Meade

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