David Hows - Mid Tasman Sea steering failure & broken boom

4 days after departing Hobart Australia to sail 1,250nm across the Tasman Sea to Picton, New Zealand the crew of the Ocean Gem had to face a steering cable failure in the early morning hours, followed by two crash gybes that snapped the boom preventer and broke the boom in half. What followed 500nm later was the failure of the steel emergency tiller and then the autopilot, causing total steering loss and ultimately a call for a rescue tow from while mid Cook Strait and 53nm from Nelson. This is a tale of determination, resilience and creative thinking by a crew of six who faced 500nm of hand steering a 12 ton yacht in seas of up to 4 metres and winds up to 29 knots, using emergency steering constructed from 2 block and tackles, an emergency tiller and bow sprit before this eventually failed too. This episode was first recorded as a Facebook Live broadcast by Skipper David Hows. Visit Ocean Sailing Podcast for offshore sailing opportunities and podcast extras and follow us on Facebook.