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Red Dot on the Ocean: The Matt Rutherford Story, the documentary of sailor and Eagle Rock graduate Matt Rutherford’s journey around the Americas by sailboat, is now running on more than 100 public TV stations across the country. It is also streaming nationally on PBS.org/video.
In 2011, Rutherford set out to become the first person to circumnavigate the Americas solo, without stopping. Professional sailors called him crazy and declared the journey “a suicide mission.”
He spent 309 days at sea, traveling 27,000 miles in a 27-foot boat. Braving the icebergs of the Arctic and the stormy seas of Cape Horn is no easy feat for any sailor, but Rutherford, who was once labeled an at-risk youth, persevered.
Early in life, Rutherford struggled with learning disabilities and spent more of his early teens on the streets than in school. He began to turn his life around with the help of the Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center, a wholly-funded initiative of the American Honda Education Corporation.
Matt continues to make news, posting audio and video podcasts from his 2016 Greenland Summer Research Voyage. For more information on his journey, go to http://reddotontheocean.com.