I sent the following letter to the folks at Queen Long.

On Wednesday March 25th, Ambition was supposed to have a great ride overnight from Dominica to Antigua. Apparently there was another plan in the works for us. At 3am 5 miles off the coast of Les Saintes in Guadeloupe plan B kicked in. We were sailing along between 8 and 10 knots in a 5+ foot swell and 20 knot winds, when all of a sudden the boat came to a complete stop. We had snagged a substantial fishing net and buoys with the rudder which was now jammed over to port (left) side. Furled the sails and after quick check, I realized that this wasn’t something I could fix. Being snagged by the stern, the waves crashed into us making a awful sound. The water flew completely over the cockpit enclosure and up to the mast. We called CROSSAG, the French Coast Guard. They dispatched a rescue boat that arrived an hour and a half later. They quickly surmised that they couldn’t tow us. Now we need to find a diver! The French Gendarmerie Maritime (Maritime Police Force) showed up 2 hours later with a 75 foot cutter and dropped a diver in the water. Not an easy task as the boat was bouncing up and down in the swells. Finally the netting and floats were cut free but the rudder remained jammed. Next was the three hour tow to Les Saintes with a hard over rudder making it harder to tow. Ambition was tied to a buoy awaiting the divers arrival the next morning. Upon further discussion with the rescue teams, they confirmed that it was not a fishing net  that was entangled in the rudder but a Flexible intermediate bulk container or FIBC. The fishermen create an artificial reef but stringing together many of these enormous bags so that hang vertically held up by some floats. These bags then attract small fish which in turns brings the larger fish that the fisherman catch.
What snagged between the rudder and the partial skeg on our boat was the lifting handles that are sewn into the bags to lift the 4000lb loads. 
Two divers arrived early Thursday morning and removed the remnants of nylon and junk that was jamming the rudder from moving. After a few tests around the harbour the rudder and autopilot are working just fine. I took a swim to inspect everything and all was completely fine. A real testament to how well the boat was designed and built. We finished the day off by completing the 100 miles to Antigua under beautiful conditions, the rudder performed as if nothing had ever happened. 

I can’t imagine the loads that were put on the rudder during the four hours that Ambition was stern to the seas and wind. All that remains to do is touch up the antifouling paint.

Again, please share this thank you with the whole team at Queen Long and thank them for building great boats!!!

Merrill Mant
Maryse Tetrault
S/V Ambition H46#40

When we needed repairs to our Mainsail (original on H56 #5) we were delighted to learn that the sail maker, Peter Grimm, despite having moved from Doyle to North still had all of our sail design and details. He came to our boat when we stopped in Ft Lauderdale, took the sail and had it back to us in fully repaired in 3 days! It was a big relief to be able to continue to deal with a knowledgeable, trusted and very pleasant expert! Highly recommend him.

We've used Markel in the Great Lakes and as we looked at adding in East Coast coverage, rate increases were pretty minimal.  Think our agent's plan was to look at other carriers as we talked about movement to the Caribbean.

Sorry to post about insurance, one of my least favorite topics  but here goes....

Who's your carrier and what do you pay?  I ask because my situation is changing this year and I'm not renewing with my current carrier, BRIT ($3500USD for coverage last year).

Last year I was covered for US coastal waters and Bahamas, but this year I'm joining the World ARC rally so I need to find more extensive coverage.  Interested to hear from anyone who has or recently had such coverage.  My broker who found my current policy has come up empty thus far.

I have a quote request in to Pantaneous any others I should consider?

Thanks for any help!

Yes that is correct, cutlass bearing on the strut is standard, the one exiting the hull at the keel is custom from QL.  My marina just ordered one to complete the work.  Essentially it's a standard bearing that has threads machined onto the end, with a mating flange allowing attachment by six screws to connect to the boat where the shaft exits.

One other thing we noticed (photo attached) it appears the bottom of the shaft tube wasn't fully glassed in when the boat was built by QL, this could allow water to get into the keel area (though unlikely with the bearing well sealed.  Looks like we were just fine when inspecting the area below this, but will be glassing this in as part of the bearing replacement.

Don't know if any others have run into this, but thought I"d pass it along.