A Canadian Royal Navy veteran who served in the Second World War has warned that the Russian family the Bondarenkos should be encouraged to stay in Bermuda for the remainder of the winter rather than attempt to venture out into the North Atlantic in their small yacht and face ?an almost certain frigid death?.

The perils of attempting to reach Nova Scotia ? a six-day passage for the family-of-four?s 37ft long yacht ? are too great, according to Bruce Parsons, 80, who lives in the town of Lunenburg where the Bondarenkos have been granted permission to live by the Canadian authorities after 14 years sailing around the world.

Since last summer the family have been moored in St. George?s harbour, where they were granted special permission to extend their stay while waiting for clearance to take up residence in Canada where Vitaly Bondarenko has a job waiting and the family have a home arranged by friends.

Since their Canadian application was granted in October the family has been unable to sail away from Bermuda because of bad weather. The family accepted a ten-day extension at the end of the year to remain in Bermuda to celebrate the New Year.

On Tuesday afternoon Mr. Bondarenko met with Home Affairs Minister Randy Horton and, thanking the people of Bermuda and particularly St. George?s for their hospitality during the past seven months, agreed he and his family would set sail by January 17.

It will only be after studying weather forecasts that the family will make their decision on whether to risk a trip north to their new home or go south instead to the Caribbean and see out the winter until May when good weather should allow them to reach Nova Scotia safely.

?It will do Bermuda harm for them to sail. It is inhumane to send them away. They are not costing Bermuda anything. They have people supporting and helping them. To force them to go is something we can?t understand. Why not let them stay for a few more months, they will not hurt anyone,? said Mr. Parsons.

?The people who live here are very friendly towards Bermuda and we have close ties with Bermuda. I know from my time in the Navy that the Bondarenkos? chances of survival and getting up here at this time of year is zero.

?We are grateful for what Bermuda has done for them. But we are disturbed by this news.?

In a letter to he added: ?The Bondarenkos pose no threat to Bermuda. The North Atlantic will be merciless. Nova Scotia has offered the boys, and there parents, a secure future in Canada.

?Regardless of past, circumstance or nationality, sending our friends to an almost certain frigid death is not in the tradition of those who go down to the sea in ships.?

Mr. Parsons.is not the only one calling for the Bermuda Government to be lenient on the Bondarenkos. Veteran Bermudian sailor Warren Brown said it was foolhardy to believe that the family could sail north or south at this time of year.

?I have never met them but I have a lot experience of weather and the sea and it is foolish to leave Bermuda in a 37-foot yacht with two small children,? he said.

He described the option of sailing north as ?impossible? and sailing south as ?nearly impossible?. He added that the family was more likely to drown than reach dry land this time of year.

?Sending them away is not good for Bermuda?s reputation,?he said. ?The government should think twice before they send this family into the Atlantic at this time of year.?