Diminutive Ethelbert Holborrow (53) from Bridport had a clear mission in life. He wanted to sail single-handedly across the Atlantic to Bermuda. Yet, he had never been to sea before. A gunsmith by trade, he was only able to get about with the help of crutches. Despite having no boat building experience, Ethelbert planned to do this in a small sailing vessel that he intended to build himself. For two years he worked on his boat on the beach at Burton Bradstock. His only construction tools were a butcher’s knife, a hammer and a chisel. Local opinion was strongly against the voyage describing it as ‘ fool hardy’ . Ethelbert Holborrow set sail from West Bay in July 1914 on his lonely voyage in his homebuilt vessel that he named the Burto n. On board the 14 feet long craft were 40 gallons of water and a hundredweight of biscuits. Five days later he had only travelled some sixty miles. The Burton was sighted by a fishing vessel drifting dangerously close to some rocks off Salcom...