Dr. Ned Cabot, 69, one of the early leaders of Sailors for the Sea and a former BWS author, was swept from his yacht Cielita in rough seas Saturday in an area about nine miles off Stephenville, Canada. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Cabot’s body was recovered Sunday by a helicopter.
A statement released by his family said Cabot, the father of four, practiced as a surgeon in the Boston area for many years and also taught at Harvard Medical School. Following his retirement, the avid sailor spent much of his time exploring the waters of the North Atlantic.
Cabot was returning from Iceland via Greenland and the Newfoundland and Labrador coast when a rogue wave struck. Peter B. Ellis, a friend of Cabot’s for 40 years, told The Boston Globe that the wave knocked the boat on its side, dumping Cabot and the helmsman into the water.
The helmsman was swept back on deck when the boat righted, but Cabot remained in the sea. His friends tried unsuccessfully to get him a rope, and couldn’t navigate the yacht to him because the wave had disabled the boat’s steering, Ellis said.
Cabot’s wife, Betsy Washburn Cabot, said her husband had a passion for adventure that he loved to share with others.
‘‘He was good at everything he did, and a great teacher,’’ she said in the statement. ‘‘You couldn’t get out of an invitation by claiming you didn’t know how to do it, because he would teach you how.’’
Cabot was the grandson of Godfrey Lowell Cabot, who in 1882 founded the Cabot Corp., a Boston-based company that manufactures industrial materials, the Globe reported. Cabot’s father, Thomas Dudley Cabot, was director of the State Department’s Office of International Security Affairs under President Harry S. Truman.
Courtesy of www.boston.com
Good sailors everywhere morn the loss of this Great Sailor!
My condolences to the family.Was he tied to a safety line, considering the weather which must have been terrible? I am not trying to be smart, but what a reminder to me, as I sail solo and get into troublesome weather from time to time.
As a 69 yr old sailor who has made more voyages to NF & Labrador than I care to count; several transatlantics; a transpacific; and voyaged in Patagonia I lament the loss of Ned as member of our sailing commuity. Never knew him but I had the priviledge to spent his last night on this ocean in the same anchorage in Bombay NF. Personally I rarely use a harness & safety line, but rely on the well proven motto “one hand for yourself & one for the boat” Maybe at 69 I will have to rethink this adage. Fair winds Ned.
Chris Law, Baddeck, NS.
We enjoyed having Dr. Cabot as a customer for many years. We supplied him the satellite phone and airtime he used on his voyages. He was an incredibly prepared person and actually had 2 satellite phones and service accounts in the event that he would need to ditch someday. We just found out about his tragic death and would like to send our condolences to his family and friends. He was a very nice person and he will be missed. Andy Cool, Owner, Explorer Satellite Communications, Inc.