Outstanding Sailors Seamanship and Stunts

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by CatNewBee

How about Laura Decker, the 15 y/o girl singlehanded around the world in her Guppy after winning several court cases in Holland. This is dedication to sailing and seamanship.

https://youtu.be/BA60BScgmzw

Certainly!

She is a hero to many.

Very good example of determination to succeed at a high goal.

Remarkable person!

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

I didn't look at the you tube this time, but Laura Dekker certainly ought to be part of these outstanding sailors. It was not a stunt. She worked very hard both in the physical world of getting her boat ready, but also in the bureaucratic world of getting permission at her age to do what she DID accomplish.

Ann

Agreed!

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by Benz

Let's not forget Tim Severin, who sailed a leather Curragh from Ireland to Newfoundland to see if St. Brendan could have done so a few centuries earlier.
He then built a Dhow, I think--Sohar--and sailed across the Indian Ocean.
Thor Heyerdahl also built a reed boat (two, actually), to sail across the Atlantic.
And then there's Tilman, who's expeditions on small wooden boats are pretty legendary. Not the best writer, but a pretty good sailor.
If even 10% of Tristan Jones' wild tales are true, he deserves at least a mention.

Yes, thanks for adding their names to the mix.

I know more about some than I do about others, but I recognize them all as accomplished sailors who went far in notable ways.

And, while Tristan Jones may have told some tall tales, I enjoyed them.

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by hpeer

Steadman,

Another truly interesting fact is that at their time Bartlett and Stephenanson we some of the most well known people in the world. Rock stars of the day. That their names have faded while Shackelton remains well known probably has more to do with that they were of megar origins while Shackelton was it the upper crust. Not sure if this reasoning but I believe it is true.

That sounds like a likely reason.

Celebrity is fleeting. Fame can last or not. Often the supporting (and participating) people critical to a voyage or expedition are forgotten.

I also like to remember Mathew Henson (Robert Peary's assistant). He may not be known as a sailor but he was a notable explorer. He was there with Peary on his trek to the North Pole. His role in exploration was critical to Peary's success. He was later honored. I consider him a hero for several reasons.

Here is a short excerpt from Wikipedia about Henson:

Matthew Alexander Henson (August 8, 1866 – March 9, 1955) was an American explorer who accompanied Robert Peary on seven voyages to the Arctic over a period of nearly 23 years. They spent a total of 18 years on expeditions together.[1] He is best known for his participation in the expedition which claimed to have reached the geographic North Pole on April 6, 1909.

Henson was born in Nanjemoy, Maryland, to African-American sharecropper parents. He spent most of his early life in Washington, D.C., but left school at the age of twelve to become a cabin boy; he later worked as a sales clerk. One of his customers was Robert Peary, who in 1887 hired him as a personal valet. At the time, Peary was working on the Nicaragua Canal. Their first Arctic expedition together was in 1891–92. Henson served as a navigator and craftsman, and was known as Peary's "first man". Like Peary, he studied Inuit survival techniques and had a relationship with an Inuit woman, fathering a child with her.

During their 1908–09 expedition to Greenland, Henson was one of the six men – including Peary and four Inuit assistants – who claimed to have been the first to reach the geographic North Pole. In interviews, Henson identified himself as the first member of the party to reach what they believed was the pole. Their claim achieved widespread acceptance until 1989, when research published by Wally Herbert found that expedition records had likely been falsified and that they had fallen at least 60 miles (97 km) short of the pole.

Henson achieved a degree of fame as a result of his participation in the expedition, and in 1912 published a memoir titled A Negro Explorer at the North Pole. His exploits received renewed attention as he approached old age, and in 1937 he became the first African-American person to be made a life member of The Explorers Club; in 1948 he was elevated to the club's highest level of membership. Henson was awarded the Peary Polar Expedition Medal in 1944, and was received at the White House by Presidents Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower. In 1988 he and his wife were re-interred at Arlington National Cemetery.

SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Henson

[OldManMirage]

Not sure if this is the right place, but I recently watched a movie I found on my Amazon Prime called "Following Seas."

Its about the voyages of Bob and Nancy Griffith. I also found out they were awarded the Blue Water Medal from the Cruising Club of America in 1972.

When you watch footage of them sailing with all their kids, and the "seemingly" lack of safety, you tend to realize the world is definitely a different place now.

Also noteworthy is the lack of so many things modern cruisers consider "Essential."

There really is a difference in the level and intensity of cruising then and cruising now. I may take flak for this but, to me, it reminds me of when my wife and I first got married. We would hop in our little Bronco II and drive off. No GPS, no internet to tell us what we might find up ahead, no idea when the next gas station would come up. We just went. Yes we had maps, but paper maps just told you the roads, and sometimes they were wrong ! It was real adventure.

Now we almost always know just about everything we are going to see and do before we ever leave the house. Sure its comfortable and comforting, but it surely lacks some of that excitement of the unknown.

I feel that modern cruising just as surely has also lost "some" - I say some ! - of that same sense of excitement and adventure. With the internet you already know almost everything about where you are headed. With GPS, you know you are most likely going to get there. And we tend to take almost all of our modern conveniences with us, from microwaves to AC to BlueRay players and beyond.

I find myself struggling hard to keep my boat as simple as I can in the hope of capturing the purest essence of adventure that I possibly can. Perhaps it is a forgone hope, perhaps its just a old man's daydream. If that's the case, then my boat is truly well named.

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by OldManMirage

Not sure if this is the right place, but I recently watched a movie I found on my Amazon Prime called "Following Seas."

Its about the voyages of Bob and Nancy Griffith. I also found out they were awarded the Blue Water Medal from the Cruising Club of America in 1972.

When you watch footage of them sailing with all their kids, and the "seemingly" lack of safety, you tend to realize the world is definitely a different place now.

Also noteworthy is the lack of so many things modern cruisers consider "Essential."

There really is a difference in the level and intensity of cruising then and cruising now. I may take flak for this but, to me, it reminds me of when my wife and I first got married. We would hop in our little Bronco II and drive off. No GPS, no internet to tell us what we might find up ahead, no idea when the next gas station would come up. We just went. Yes we had maps, but paper maps just told you the roads, and sometimes they were wrong ! It was real adventure.

Now we almost always know just about everything we are going to see and do before we ever leave the house. Sure its comfortable and comforting, but it surely lacks some of that excitement of the unknown.

I feel that modern cruising just as surely has also lost "some" - I say some ! - of that same sense of excitement and adventure. With the internet you already know almost everything about where you are headed. With GPS, you know you are most likely going to get there. And we tend to take almost all of our modern conveniences with us, from microwaves to AC to BlueRay players and beyond.

I find myself struggling hard to keep my boat as simple as I can in the hope of capturing the purest essence of adventure that I possibly can. Perhaps it is a forgone hope, perhaps its just a old man's daydream. If that's the case, then my boat is truly well named.

I thank you for adding your comment above.
I enjoyed reading it.
I share some of your feeling about how the mystery of travel has been lost because of the abundance of information about the places one wants to see.

I used to read books (when I could find them) about sailing to the South Pacific. At the time (1980s) it seemed romantic, remote, and so different. Now, with Trip Advisor on a smart phone, Google Earth, Google Maps, internet blogs and countless YouTube sailing videos, it seems anyplace can be "familiar" and described to such a point that it looks like nothing new or "exotic."

So, I sense a change too. A change that I don't always like to see. Where is the mystery? I think the "unknown" is a big part of feeling a sense of "adventure."

[boatman61]

Personally.. I suggest Boat Alexandra..
Done a helluva lot with little.. a modern day Slocum as far as I'm concerned.

[OldManMirage]

Originally Posted by Steadman Uhlich

So, I sense a change too. A change that I don't always like to see. Where is the mystery? I think the "unknown" is a big part of feeling a sense of "adventure."

Yes ! That is an excellent way to describe it. Its as if the "unknown" is already known, or at least we know enough to take out too much of that mystery.

Sill and all, if I can make it happen I will go. Even if I already know what's there, at least it will be new to me. And of course I'll be getting there by my own little boat, which is sometimes adventure enough !

[nigel1]

Originally Posted by Steadman Uhlich

It has been a while since I posted in this thread, and I am sorry I missed some of the later posts. Yours included.

Shackleton was an extraordinary adventurer. And that voyage is one that we should all learn about. It shows the grit and courage to face bad odds and the will power to survive. Such an outstanding story of survival and courage, and seamanship.

Thanks for adding him to the mix on this thread.

While Shackletons's achievements were extraordinary, lets not forget Frank Worsley who was Master of the Endurance, and navigator on the James Caird. Without Worsley's skill in seamanship and navigation, Shackleton might well have sailed past South Georgia.
I guess part of Shackleton's great skills was recognising remarkable skills in others.

[Benz]

Originally Posted by nigel1

While Shackletons's achievements were extraordinary, lets not forget Frank Worsley who was Master of the Endurance, and navigator on the James Caird. Without Worsley's skill in seamanship and navigation, Shackleton might well have sailed past South Georgia.
I guess part of Shackleton's great skills was recognising remarkable skills in others.

I think when Shackleton is mentioned, the awesomeness applies to all in his party. It is not an attempt to leave them out, as though we were saying, "Shackleton but not his mates." His name is shorthand for the whole expedition, and every one of those guys was hardier than I'll ever be.
When we discuss Scott and the South Pole, well, the guys that went with him were pretty amazing--Apsley Cherry-Garrard and the rest--but they're included in the rubric of "Scott's expedition" without being downgraded for lack of personal mention.
I'm not against mentioning these guys by name, and it's obvious that Shackleton would have got nowhere without his team, but failing to mention them isn't a denial of their critical usefulness.

[Benz]

Robert Manry on Tinkerbelle did a pretty sick Atlantic crossing (13 foot boat), and Miles and Beryl Smeeton could be added to the list as well.

[Snowpetrel]

Originally Posted by DumnMad

Whoops. Naomi James was not non-stop but did the Chichester/clipper route in pretty good time.

She had to get her Sailormat repaired in capetown, and she also had some assistance, as some parts were delivered to her during a rendezvous at sea off the coast of Tasmania as I recall.

Funny story about her navigation, she used the the longitude scale for distance. Took her a while to figure out why the further south she got the faster she seemed to be going.

I went to the same tiny rural primary school. The parents of a lot of my friends went to school with her.

[Snowpetrel]

I'd have to say Gerry Clark of the 'Totore' definitely deserves a shout out. An incredible 3 year research voyage on the tiny Totorore around the world and to many remote subantarctic islands all on a shoestring budget. His bird counts in many cases form the earliest reliable baseline seabird and habatat data for many of these remote islands.

[seadago]

Little known internationally, but worthy of mention, Vito Dumas, whom circumnavigated the Southern Ocean single handed in 1942, with only three stops. Excerpt from Wiki below

Vito Dumas

Born September 26, 1900
Died March 28, 1965 (aged 64)
Nationality Argentinian
Known for Single-handed circumnavigation of the Southern Ocean
Vito Dumas (September 26, 1900 – March 28, 1965) was an Argentine single-handed sailor.

On 27 June 1942, while the world was in the depths of World War II, he set out on a single-handed circumnavigation of the Southern Ocean. He left Buenos Aires in June, sailing LEHG II, a 31-foot ketch an acronym representing "four names which marked my life". He had only the most basic and makeshift gear; he had no radio, for fear of being shot as a spy, and was forced to stuff his clothes with newspaper to keep warm.

With only three landfalls, the legs of his trip were the longest that had been made by a single-hander, and in the most ferocious oceans on the Earth; but most of all, it was a powerful retort to a world which had chosen to divide itself by war. He recounted the experience in his book Los Cuarenta Bramadores: La Vuelta al Mundo Por la "Ruta Imposible" (Alone Through The Roaring Forties).

[Sailorman Ed]

A compilation summary of all of these mentioned would make an excellent book for someone with writing skills!! MOst of these I had never heard of before.