Liam was making his way south from Alaska in late fall, dodging gales aboard his sailboat and home, Finch, after a successful completion of Race to Alaska (R2AK). Running later in the season than originally planned, he found himself navigating Johnstone Strait in the dead of night around 2 AM, waiting for the flood tide to carry him through Seymour Narrows. While cooking below deck with his autopilot steering, Finch struck a MASSIVE log—nearly 40 feet long and 6 feet in diameter. The impact was so severe that it completely tore off the rudder: “Never had I imagined that any log could tear off the rudder of Finch: a full keel boat with an outboard hung rudder, its forward end protected fully by the rest of the boat.”

With skill and determination, Liam jury-rigged control of his 5,500-pound boat, using only the outboard motor as a makeshift rudder. Fighting against whirlpools and careening currents, he navigated through Seymour Narrows—with only a few 360s from the whirlpools—and made it to safety at Campbell River just in time before the next gale. The collision that detached the rudder miraculously left the hull intact, but also meant that Finch was rudderless and immovable.

After 5 months sitting in Campbell River, a temporary rudder was put in place, and Finch has made it to Port Townsend and is hauled out. Now Liam faces the challenge of building a proper log-proof rudder for Finch but additional extensive repairs have left him in a difficult financial position, after he had already invested everything in the R2AK. Any support toward helping Liam get Finch back in the water would go a long way.