The Nation - News from Aug. 16, 1987

Jim Dickson, the sailor seeking to become the first blind person to make a solo crossing of the Atlantic, said in St. George, Bermuda, that unless repairs on his 36-foot yacht, Eye Opener, are made quickly, the hurricane season may end his quest. Dickson of Washington, left Portsmouth, R. I., for Plymouth, England, on Aug. 4, but was forced to make a 200-mile detour south to Bermuda when his sloop’s satellite navigation system and autopilot broke down on the fifth day. Work is also needed on the storm-damaged sails and rigging.