I've been reading the news of the enquiry and the stories coming out of it with increasing incredulity. Any sailor - particularly those who go out on the deep waters - has a healthy fear of the sea and its power. Just be out in one big storm, realise the truth in the old prayer "Oh Lord, the sea is so big and my boat is so small...." and you will never take chances again.

How did this get short-circuited in the case of the Bounty? The ship had sailed through a lot of bad weather in its time and this might have contributed to the feeling of invincibilty which was the captain's undoing.

I nevertheless have the feeling that the rotten framing, the use of household products to caulk the seams, all this is a sideshow. The seas the Bounty sailed into were more than capable of sinking her, even if she had just come new from the maker's yard. It was the decision to sail out into the hurricane that sealed her fate.