Help!! Shipwrecked on Uncharted Reef in Roatan

My father, Robert Nuttall, retired and departed Vancouver on his 38 ft C&C sailboat to pursue his dream of circumnavigating North America. He was an electrical contracting project manager and is an expert sailor with a lifetime of sailing experience.

On Friday, February 15th, my siblings and I received a most disturbing distress message advising that he and his crew were aground on an uncharted reef. They were entering what was supposed to be a 60’ deep safe passage into Róatan’s French Harbour in Honduras.

They were rescued after three hours of uncertainty by the local Park Ranger and his Navy escort. All crew members were emotionally shaken but physically uninjured. His sailboat, FredAgain III lost its keel, rudder and there are several holes in the hull. The boat is a total loss. My dad put everything he had into this boat; it was his home.

He has spent many long hours battling the reef’s surf in his efforts to remove all valuables and equipment from the wreckage while the surf mercilessly pound his vessel. Staving off keeping ahead of the looters continues to be difficult.

There will be high costs in removing the boat from the reef as the port and marine authorities are very serious about damage to their reefs and the nearby protected habitat for conch, lobster and other reef animals which contribute to their main industry of tourism. There are expensive consequences for damaging the reef. He is working tirelessly in his efforts to mitigate the damages.

This campaign is an effort to raise funds for the salvage, to help bring him home safely and to rebuild some of what he has lost. He is tired but not beaten...we are proud of him and of the fact that his dream lives on.