Yachtsman Without Three Limbs Conquers the Pacific Ocean

Among the waves of the Pacific Ocean

Craig Wood set out from La Paz, Mexico, on March 25, aiming to cross the Pacific Ocean solo in his 41-foot aluminum catamaran Sirius II. An average speed of 5 knots would have taken him two months to complete the journey. But after six weeks, he had about 3,000 nautical miles to go and his speed had dropped by almost half.

What happened? Two gennakers were damaged. Craig recalls: “The first gennaker was a new furler, but the furler drum had a structural problem that hadn’t been diagnosed before – a small metal burr that had cut the sheet. As a result, the gennaker ended up under the bottom. There it got caught in barnacles and got a lot of little cuts.” 

It took about three hours to get the sail back on board, but it was no longer usable. Then an error in using the drum – the order of furling from top to bottom and bottom to top was mixed up – resulted in the spare gennaker also ending up in the water. This time Craig got it out faster, but the sail was still unusable.

"I'm already past the point of no return. I can't go to Guam because of the risk of hurricanes. Any other route goes through a tropical storm zone. The safest thing is to continue on to Japan and hope to make it before the typhoon season starts."

The catamaran now sails under jib and mainsail, a little slower and closer to the wind. In the light breeze of the central Pacific, where the wind rarely exceeds 15 knots, Sirius II sometimes barely drags along at 2.5 knots. Still, the one-man crew remains steadfast.

This article is adapted from the article "British Sailor and Triple Amputee Takes on the Pacific Solo" by Lydia Mullan for SailMagazine.com.

Family business

Craig Wood is the world's first triple amputee to become a certified Yachtmaster. He lost both legs and his left arm in an IED explosion in Afghanistan in 2009.

Wood recalls: “My dad taught me to sail when I was a kid. After I was injured, he gave me information about sailing and said, ‘You’ve always loved the sea, and this is something you can still do.’” The miles he’s logged have given Craig a new sense of freedom and purpose in life – and the experience he needs to cross oceans. Now with his own children, when he’s not sailing solo, he tries to pass on his love of the sea to them.

Craig says: “My son is always asking ‘why’. He’s 4 and I try not to tell him ‘because it’s the right thing to do’. I try to explain and sailing and yachting are such learning opportunities. He already understands things about the planet that most 4-year-olds aren’t even taught.”

The family of four lives on board for most of the year, and on solo crossings, Craig video calls home first thing each day. He is now looking forward to meeting his wife Renata and children at the finish line in Japan. Although the crossing is a rewarding and spiritual experience, Craig admits that being away from his family is hard.

“It was amazing, but I realized I don’t want to do this kind of trip alone anymore, especially when the kids are so little,” he says. “I was in a squall the other day and saw a rainbow. It was incredible. But I’d like to see it with my kids and my wife. It didn’t make it any better that I saw it alone.”

Routine on board

Life aboard Sirius II is pretty quiet these days, especially since Craig went into power-saving mode. “A lot of relaxed days and the occasional tense moment or two when something breaks,” Craig says.

“I wake up, turn on Starlink, make coffee, call my wife and kids. Then I check the weather forecast, go out on deck and see if I need to gybe. I look around, see if I can fix it or adjust it, and if I can’t find anything, I watch a movie, then feel guilty and look for something else to do.” Wood occasionally encounters other ships, which can be either pleasant or unsettling, depending on how early he spots them. An AIS glitch has already led to a couple of unexpected encounters.

“My wife planted a tomato plant on the boat, and I told her it would probably die. But I like having something to look after,” he says. The plant has already grown over the navigation table, and Craig jokes that it may be interfering with the AIS.

“Every evening, a couple of hours after sunset, I switch to manual control. This gives the autopilot a rest and allows me to feel the boat better. I was listening to an audiobook by John Kretschmer once, and he said that all sailors don’t like sharks. I thought about it, because I’m pretty neutral about sharks. And then someone grabbed my shoulder. For a moment, I thought that someone was hiding on board and grabbing me, but it turned out to be a flying fish that flew into me.” Despite such moments and indifference to sharks, communication with sea creatures became one of the brightest impressions of the trip. For example, for a long time, Craig and the catamaran were accompanied by a gannet.

Wood says the lack of three limbs doesn't affect his onboard routine too much. Locks are difficult to operate with one hand, but he's replaced them with soft slings where possible. And an electric winch makes the job a lot easier.

"Before we set out, I hadn't noticed one of the friction points in the rigging, and when it frayed, I had to pull the rope, luckily it was a repair that I could do myself. It took a long time. Nothing is impossible, but some things are just harder."

A look wider than the horizon

Craig began his seafaring odyssey on a 40ft ketch in the Mediterranean, but quickly found himself motoring more than sailing. It was time for a change.

"I took a Beneteau Oceanis 46 and instead of the classic route across the Atlantic to the Caribbean, I went to Patagonia. I always liked to go where there are no crowds and paved paths." Despite his love for the Beneteau, the constant pitching became a source of irritation. The solution was a new search mission - this time Craig was looking for a catamaran, preferably an aluminum one, so that in the future he could go to remote places and northern latitudes. And luck smiled on him - soon, on the recommendation of friends, he found a suitable catamaran.

"I believe boats have souls. Some are good, this one is... weird. But I love it to the core." Sirius II didn't require any major modifications, and thanks to the already comfortable bolsters and handrails, he didn't even need to adapt the boat to his prosthetics. Although, Craig admits, he and Renata are still looking at cosmetic improvements as they continue their round-the-world voyage.

The couple dreams of one day returning to where it all began – the Mediterranean – but without rushing. After all, it has taken them years to get to this point.

Outside the boat

In parallel to his attempt to become the first amputee to cross an ocean solo, Craig is raising funds for two organizations that help the veterans who supported him during his recovery: Blesma and Turn to Starboard. 

The former supports seriously injured British service personnel, helping them regain their independence and find meaning in life, while the latter uses RYA sailing courses to help those whose lives have been changed by war.

But Craig hopes the impact of his walk will extend beyond charity. “I want my story to reach two groups of people. The first is those who doubt and think that people with amputations or disabilities can’t do something. I want to change that mindset. Instead of ‘No, you can’t’ it should be ‘What can I do to help?’”

"The second group are those who have lost their bearings, are afraid to follow their dreams, or don't know where to start. Too many people just dream, but don't even try to make their dreams come true. It's worth trying. At worst, you'll end up where you are."

Despite the loneliness of the sea, in some ways the voyage made Craig feel closer to the planet and to people. Spiritually, the trip was almost a meditation for him. Sailing, he says, gives him a sense of connection to something bigger.

“I’m not a religious person, but if there was a creator, he would definitely be a sailor. I’ve been in perfect bays, as if they were made especially for a boat, at the right depth, and sailed under the trade winds - they are also perfect. This world is like it was made for sailors. And that helps me feel part of it all. I feel balanced.”

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15.05.2025