Andrzej Urbanczyk alone across the ocean. one hundred years of solo sailing. Extreme experiment: crossing the Atlantic Ocean without food and water (4 photos) A difficult voyage across the ocean has begun
To vividly feel all the audacity of the human spirit, one must be on the open sea, when one thin plank separates us from blissful death.
On the morning of November 17, 1993, it became known that in the Bay of Biscay, approximately at the latitude of La Rochelle, a MAX-4 boat was found on the shore, but Evgeniy Smurgis, who had made an unprecedented circumnavigation of the world on it, was not on board. No matter how much everyone wanted to maintain hope for his salvation, every hour the belief in a miracle became more and more unrealistic. And so - on November 21, around the same place, on the beach near the resort town of La Tranblad, a body was found...
For more than twenty-five years he was true friend editors, our regular author, freelance correspondent. Now he has long been buried native land- in Lipetsk, next to my father’s grave. His famous boat became an exhibit at the Maritime Museum in the French town of La Tranblade, far from Lipetsk. In Lipetsk a street is named after him. Part of the diary preserved in the boat and comments to it, written by V. Galenko, were published in the magazine “Around the World” (see No. 8 and No. 9 for 1994). However, interest in this to a unique person so great that readers still turn to us asking us to talk about its last voyage, to try to answer the question, what happened in the Bay of Biscay?
More than two and a half years have passed since the tragic death of Smurgis. It just so happened that all this time we were not able to communicate with readers. Only now, with great delay, we can print the few materials at our disposal that give some idea about the nineteenth, last great voyage of Evgeniy Pavlovich.
We consider it our duty to thank the editors of the magazine “Around the World” for their assistance in preparing the publication, as well as our friend and like-minded person Evgeniy Pavlovich - coordinator of the oaring round the world, professional sailor, yacht captain Vasily Ivanovich Galenko.
Interview before the start
Before going to sea, Smurgis Sr. gave an interview to the correspondent of the newspaper "Soviet Murman" - the young journalist Angela Kovaleva.We publish the text of their conversation with some minor abbreviations.
A.K.: Isn’t it scary to go into the ocean on a simple wooden boat?
It's scary to get on such a boat for the first time. And when you have 42,000 difficult kilometers rowed behind you, it becomes your usual home, your fortress, you begin to feel part of it. When you know what to do in an extreme situation, anxiety and uncertainty dull and disappear. But in general, as long as a person values his life, he cannot get rid of the feeling of fear. It is inherent in everyone, they just need to learn how to manage it. And for this purpose the will and the mind are given. For this you also need self-confidence - faith in yourself, in your star. Without them, it is impossible to achieve success either on land or in the ocean.
A.K.: I can imagine: a huge ocean - and a small, small point - a boat. Perhaps, feeling like a speck in a vast and vast world, willy-nilly you believe in the existence of the Almighty?
Despite the fact that I grew up in a family of atheists and do not believe in God, sometimes situations arose when I called on God. I can remember two cases when there was nothing left to do but ask the Lord: “Help!”
A.K.: To be separated for a year and a half from big world Probably very difficult? How did you cope with loneliness?
Traveling by boat is a 24-hour watch. After all, this includes rowing, writing in a diary, and cooking. There is a goal, an idea - and everything is subordinated only to it. And therefore there is no time to pay attention to loneliness. But when it does come, the weather deteriorates for a long time, something breaks, does not stick together, and there is nowhere to wait for help; indeed, you begin to feel somehow abandoned, cut off from the whole. You try to drive away this feeling, you say: “This is all temporary, everything will be fine soon.” You remember something good and the loneliness recedes. On earth, in everyday life, we are all so enslaved by communication, responsibilities, and inconsistencies that sometimes we even stop understanding ourselves. At sea it’s the other way around. There is time to calmly think about everything, to figure everything out. You become wiser.
A.K.: You are not going around the world alone - with your 22-year-old son. Aren't you afraid for him? But you’re not that young, are you?
We tested our strength - we walked 9,000 kilometers together. When we were sailing from Dikson to Murmansk, we were caught in a cyclone twice, out of 43 days it was stormy for 37. There was a very great danger of capsizing, and in northern waters this meant certain and quick death from hypothermia. Sasha survived. Now we're off to the races. Every 1.5-2 thousand kilometers we plan stops specifically for recuperation. In London, for example, we will stay for two or three weeks, at the same time we will be re-staffing and preparing the boat for the passage through Biscay. And we consider everything that happens before that simply as another test of strength - a test swim before the throw across the ocean, for which we will prepare in Spain.
A few words about the start and route
The start was given a little later than the scheduled date: Evgeniy Pavlovich’s father died, there were organizational difficulties, and finally, we were just waiting for the weather. In fact, only on June 4, Evgeniy Smurgis and his son Alexander left Murmansk for the Kola Bay. Now their home for a long 16 months (according to calculations) was an 8-meter wooden boat; incessant and dangerous work awaited them in the seas of three oceans.Two words about the start. The squally north-west with rain could not extinguish the joyful relief - the torment of getting ready to go out was finally over. best traditions"times of stagnation. Now I was a witness, and to some extent a participant in an event that was important for all sailors and travelers - the beginning of the Atlantic stage of the first purely oar round-the-world voyage.
A sailor from the Deviator tugboat, dedicated to seeing off, calmly watched our actions, which meant saying goodbye to people on a small boat, and somehow casually asked: “Where are they going?” “Around the world,” I answered simply. And then the sailor assessed what was happening completely differently. And in particular - strange scenes at the pier with the arrival of an armed squad, with the removal of customs seals on the doors of the MAX-4 cockpits...
And I don’t want to remember about the official farewell a little earlier - on June 2, which, as the Soviet Murman newspaper wrote, “turned into a scandal.” But we have to. So that in the future there will be no such shameful relapses of the past with anyone.
Just before going to sea, you had to appear at the checkpoint and put a “departure” stamp on the documents of the only ocean-going rowing vessel of its kind. This word “ship” unexpectedly became a stumbling block. Three days ago, no one had any objections to the ship's documents - we were only waiting for the weather to improve. But it was during these three days that the maritime border guards discovered a secret instruction according to which “rowing boats do not belong to the class of ships.” This was not an innocent clarification of the term. From the fact that the MAX-4 was not recognized as a ship, it followed that the exit had to be re-registered...
We referred to the never repealed “Code of Merchant Shipping”, which considers as a vessel “any self-propelled or non-self-propelled floating structure” used including “for sport”, we presented a license giving the right to lift State flag"Ship ticket" with stamps and signatures. However, they could not convince the border guards. An emergency began with calls and faxes. I don’t know at what level, in the bowels of what system the issue was resolved, but two days later it was finally resolved. Two weeks later, Evgeniy called from the Norwegian port of Tromso. He said that everything was in order, and only casually mentioned that beyond the Rybachy Peninsula a strong storm had thrown the MAX-4 back to its native shores, and here they were... arrested as border violators. It took the border guards two whole days to re-solve the issue they had just resolved!
Having set out to sea again only on June 9, our sailors once again crossed the border, under the cover of the islands, despite the action of the Gulf Stream, they noticeably increased their speed and tried to enter into a greatly disrupted schedule, dreaming of the first big stop in London. Later, from their diary, I learned that they skirted the northernmost tip of Europe - Cape Nordkin (71°08" north latitude) (in the rain) late in the evening of June 15. On the approaches to Nordkin there were first meetings with people: When they heard that two people were sailing to London on a boat, everyone laughed...
Now I will answer questions related to choosing an unusual route for a trip around the world. All the highest achievements of rowers have so far been limited to crossing the Atlantic and Pacific oceans separately. To implement the idea of a round-the-world rowing trip, first put forward, if I’m not mistaken, by the Englishman Derek King in 1974, all that remained was to cross the Indian Ocean, located between the Pacific and Atlantic. But no one has ever tried to conquer it on a rowing boat. And it is no coincidence that this is a difficult nut to crack.
It seems to me that Smurgis found a way out by proposing an alternative option - a path to the Arctic Ocean that is much closer to Russians, completely covering the “longitude” of the Indian expanses and no less difficult. This is how the idea arose to start a circumnavigation from the Arctic section of the global route and, since it is impossible to travel the Northern Sea Route by boat in one short navigation, to overcome this section in parts.
The successful crossing of the greater western part of this Arctic route in three stages - from Tiksi to Murmansk - convinced both Evgeny Smurgis himself and all his like-minded people of the reality of the idea of circumnavigating the world as a whole.
The MAX-4 route did not include crossing the equator, which is traditionally mandatory for a “classical” sailing circumnavigation, but the sailing was also intended to be unconventional. The incredible difficulty of sailing in the Arctic zone deserves, in our opinion, more respect than the unnecessary throw to the south, beyond the equator.
The main milestones of the journey started were as follows: Tiksi, Dikson, Murmansk, Norway, Holland, London, Brest, San Sebastian, Lisbon, Cadiz, Canary Islands, Barbados, Panama Canal, San Francisco, Vancouver, Nome, Bering Strait, Pevek and finally Tiksi again.
So, a significant northern part of the journey had already been completed, the MAX-4 safely rounded Norway and crossed the North Sea (“We hang out all day, rising onto 4-5-meter waves and rapidly falling from them”). A grueling, difficult voyage began along the shallow coasts of Denmark, Germany, and Holland - in the crush of waves, against strong winds. It was on these shallows that our sailors lost the most weight. I never had to sleep for more than two hours at a time. There was so much water in the boat that a 15-liter bucket was used four times in an hour; the average daily march for 19 days was only 23 km, whereas before Evgeniy had never had less than 70...
All hope now was for a holiday in London.
The road to Biscay
88 days after leaving - on August 30 - father and son Smurgis, after three days of continuous rowing, reached the shores of England. The boat arrived in London pretty battered - “the frames were loose, the putty had spilled out, and a leak had appeared.” The Atlantic also dealt harshly with the crew: the sea “hard labor” cost the eldest one 9 kg of weight and the youngest one 6 kg. Much of the food supply spoiled and had to be thrown away. With such a harsh transition and heavy workload, the long-term lack of vitamins was especially difficult to bear.The parking lot in London - V. Galenko spoke about it in more or less detail on the pages of Around the World - was mainly occupied by repairs, which the “team” coped with on their own. They received guests - sailors and yachtsmen, compatriots and foreigners. They received special attention from both Russian and local journalists. On Saturday, September 25, MAX-4, among 196 boats, took part in the traditional rowing regatta on the Thames. This was the first time in the history of the Great River Race that a boat from Russia participated. To compete in the fours category, the crew had to be supplemented with two more rowers - these were Peter King and Dominik Kaprech. We came somewhere in the fourth ten and finished at Cutty Sark. Our boat was warmly welcomed by those gathered (these footage was shown on Russian television).
However, there were still not enough funds to continue the heroic voyage. We saved on everything, even on food. (It’s not for nothing that when the voyage ended tragically, one of the newspaper publications was called “The cheapest trip around the world.”) To some extent, gifts helped out. This is how a good fishing suit appeared on the boat. Andrew Thorne brought an excellent membrane desalination pump (providing 4.5 liters of fresh water per hour). A small-sized Magellan satellite navigation system was also a gift, which later turned out to be either faulty or simply not very necessary...
After London, the next major port of call was San Sebastian, a Spanish port on the border with France. Then, after resting, we had to go around the Iberian Peninsula and in Cadiz make thorough preparations for entering the open ocean, to the Canary Islands. In the south of Europe, a mild autumn awaited the Smurgis. Theoretically, it seemed that a repaired boat, a fresh supply of provisions, acquired equipment, and most importantly, the rest and experience gained promised to make the upcoming part of the route relatively easy. But all this is only theoretical.
The most unpleasant thing was that the question suddenly arose about the psychological incompatibility of the MAX-4 crew members. Speaking on the BBC radio program, Evgeny Pavlovich expressed himself cautiously on this matter, mentioning that the problem of fathers and children exists always and everywhere, even on a boat, and that disputes over everyday trifles are inevitable. However, it was apparently not a matter of trifles. It is not for us to judge what happened when father and son were alone in a London hotel room. One thing is clear. In the end, Sasha (according to the ship's role - "navigator") left his father and returned from England to his homeland, Evgeny Pavlovich was left alone and this was an irreparable blow...
It is no coincidence that the following entries appeared in Evgeniy Pavlovich’s diary immediately after his release on the English Channel:
- “We went to England with great hopes, but left alone, with a huge loss of time, without rest, without slurping salt” (10/21/93);
- “The boat is leaking, there are 10 days worth of food, the compartments are depressurized” (10/22/93);
- “Everything is raw. I haven’t undressed for three days” (10/23/93)...
Alas, everything turned out differently. Formidable at any time of the year, Biscay became doubly formidable now that, due to the increasing delay, it was necessary to cross it at the most unfavorable time - the season of autumn storms had already begun, when it was necessary to row alone and without getting a good rest.
In this regard, the option of changing the route was considered. It was possible to calmly cross France by inland waterways (as the famous Gerard d’Aboville advised) and, once in the Mediterranean Sea, enter the Atlantic in the subtropical zone through Gibraltar, having rested and prepared for the rush to Spain. However, Smurgis would not be Smurgis if he agreed to retreat. He said, “I won’t wet the boat in fresh water.”
So, on September 29, the MAX-4, after a month's stay, left London and a few days later found itself standing in Dover - next to the Comrade, which was stuck here due to storms. Due to bad weather, it was possible to go to sea only on the third attempt and only on October 8.
A seemingly simple 125-mile passage to Southampton lay ahead, but the current and headwind were so strong that we had to take cover behind the coastal spit and drop anchor. And at dawn the next day, during a force 8 storm, the boat standing in shallow water was flooded and then overturned by fierce waves. As Smurgis said over the phone, he barely brought the MAX-4 back to normal condition, threw himself ashore with the boat, lit a fire and again began to wait for the weather to improve. The bottom of the boat was damaged. Now a call to Southampton has become necessary for repairs.
During a few days of parking at the Lydda Rowing Club, Evgeniy Pavlovich managed to somehow bring his ship to a more or less “normal condition”, however, even after this, as well as after a “thorough” repair in Southampton, the grooves began to leak constant.
Late in the evening of October 21, Smurgis entered the English Channel. The weather was still windy and cold. In order to stay on the desired course, fighting both the opposite current and the east wind, which threatened to carry the boat into the ocean, it was necessary to work most of the time with one right oar. It was exhausting and, most importantly, it reduced the speed. (A short entry for the future appeared in the diary: when staying in Spain, it is necessary to make a rudder and keel fin). There was no way to rest. An unexpected loneliness took its toll. Involuntarily the mood was gloomy.
Here is an entry made on the evening of 10/25: “Gloomy thoughts are wandering around in my head. According to the ideal plan, Vasily should already be roasting his belly in the Canary Islands, and he hasn’t even set foot on the coast of France... In the morning the spirit plays, and with the onset of darkness and cold the mood drops ".
However, Smurgis would not have been Smurgis if he had not ended this recording, far from Superman’s optimism, on a completely different note: “No, the greatest work of life must be done to the end!” And on the same day when this entry was made, three points appeared on the horizon - the Channel Islands, and then the indigenous coast - the desired coast of France. The next morning he landed and chose a white stone typical of the French coast to turn into an anchor.
As V. Galenko noted in his commentary, less than 6 days to overcome the English Channel in far from the easiest conditions is quite a decent time; daily crossings amounted to 50-60 km.
When rounding the Brittany Peninsula and on the approaches to Brest, there are no entries in the diary. Let us quote V. Galenko again: “This is a dangerous area for any slow-moving vessel: if maneuvered inappropriately, it can be carried out into the ocean or thrown onto the rocks in a couple of hours.”
At this “French” stage of the voyage, there was never any communication with Smurgis; he was forced to save on the phone. According to press reports, it is known that on October 30, the MAX-4 arrived in Brest, a major port and the main base of the French Navy. The captain of the MAX-4 posed for TV and newspapers, stocked up on food and immediately, the next day, went out into the Bay of Biscay (Gascony).
The further journey passed along the coasts, which have long enjoyed the darkest reputation as “ship eaters”. Navigating a course around rocks and reefs during large tidal fluctuations in water level, on complex currents changing direction, among steep waves and whirlpools is very difficult. Walking in poor visibility is not allowed. It is not always possible to approach the rocky shores; it was not always possible to choose a more or less quiet place to stop. Thus, the newspaper "Telegram" published an interesting photograph: "MAX-4" hanging on rocks exposed with low tide, although when the anchor dropped in the evening it was "a patch of clear water."
One way or another, Smurgis passed through the Bay of L'Irois without any special adventures and entered the Bay of Audierne through the Strait of Ra de Seine. Following along the coast, he reached its southern part and before rounding the far from hospitable Cape Penmark, surrounded by rocks , decided to spend the night near the small fishing port of Saint-Genol.
Here Alexander Larchikov, a young teacher, met him French from the city of Vyborg.
Last interview
I was brought together by chance with Evgeniy Smurgis. I was visiting friends in Brittany. On the morning of November 2, when I opened the local Telegram, I discovered an article about a Russian traveler rowing around the world and making a stop in Brest. Since the navigator spoke only Russian, the journalists were unable to interview him; they learned something thanks to the documents on board, and, in particular, a folding book - a prospectus with English text.The message about this extraordinary event aroused great interest among local residents - mainly fishermen who know a lot about maritime affairs. Therefore, when it became known that Smurgis had entered the port of Saint-Genol, my friend Olivier Melennec, an employee of West France (the largest newspaper in France), asked me to go there and help translate the conversation with the navigator from Russia. Naturally, I agreed. The interview was assigned to the newspaper's correspondent Bernard Diloquer. He picked me up at Treffiagat, where I lived, and we went to Saint-Genol.
When we arrived at the port, it began to get dark and there was light rain. Having wandered along the shore in search of Smurgis’s boat, we came across a group of local fishermen, animatedly talking about just the topic that interested us. Various opinions were expressed. Some spoke of Smurgis as the Russian Gerard d'Aboville, who became national hero France. Others advised calling the police - you can’t allow a person to commit suicide, the port captain should prohibit him from going to sea! Someone talked about how, before his eyes, a rower who had sailed on the same boat from England was sent to a mental hospital.
They helped find the MAX-4. Indeed, compared to the background of the trawlers, the boat looked rather frivolous. It seemed incredible that it could travel from Dixon to Brittany. The boat was anchored about thirty meters from the shore. I shouted several times in Russian: “Is there anyone on board?” Smurgis was obviously resting, so he got out from under the awning and did not answer immediately. He answered with a question:
What is the fate of the Russian in these parts?
“We need to talk,” I said, “if you don’t mind.”
Where can you dock here? My keel is damaged, and there are stones all around...
I translated the question to the local sailors, they immediately pointed to a small beach about a hundred meters from the MAX-4 parking lot. Evgeniy Smurgis sat down at the oars, quickly rowed to the shore, got out of the boat, and introduced himself. He was dressed in high waders, rubberized trousers and a jacket, and threw another pair of the same trousers over his shoulders. He is short, thin, and has a coffee-colored face with a tan. He seemed very tired to me, one might say exhausted.
So what are the fates here? - was his first question.
“Visiting friends,” I answered, “and now I’ll try to interview you for a French newspaper.”
There won't be a long conversation. The tide begins to ebb, and the boat risks being left on the sand. I have to sail early in the morning, I'm in a hurry and can't waste another day. When will you be in Leningrad? In two weeks? Go to the editorial office of the magazine "Boats and Yachts", hand over the photographs, if, of course, they work out - it's dark, it's raining. Say the boat capsized in Dover. The keel is damaged and there is a leak.
So how will you swim?
The leak is small, about a bucket of water in about eight hours. Scooping it out. What bothers me the most is the dampness; I just can’t get wet anymore. After all, there is no dryer. I cook on a gas stove, but you can’t dry your clothes on it.
The fishermen said that there is a workshop nearby in the port where they can raise the boat for repairs.
I will be repairing it in Spain. I'm already behind schedule...
They write that you also took part in some kind of race?
Yes, I thought that taking part in the Thames Race would help decide financial difficulties, but, alas, hopes were not justified.
Listening to the little that I translated into French for Bernard, the fishermen standing nearby always tried to intervene - they gave advice and were offended that I did not translate them. Evgeniy Pavlovich’s words that he had been rowing for twenty-seven years, was mentioned twice in the Guinness Book, and that he had to sail in a storm in the polar Barents Sea aroused admiration and an even greater desire to help the sailor from Russia.
The Gascony Bay is very dangerous in the fall, it’s better to get repairs here right away, they insistently repeated.
I know, but my boat is made of wood and plastic. Before repairing a crack, the body needs to dry for a long time, and I can no longer wait for the wood to dry. I'll get to Spain and repair it there.
God bless you,” answered the fishermen.
We really didn’t have time to really talk: the water was receding, Evgeny Pavlovich began to say goodbye. He returned to his previous parking spot, and Bernard and I went to the office to write the text of the interview. (There is nothing interesting in the text itself for KiYa readers; it is intended for French readers.)
Our meeting lasted no more than 15 minutes, but I will remember it for a long time. For the first time in my life I met someone like this strong man. Strong in spirit and body. A real man. At the age of 54, going to sea on oars and finding yourself so far from your homeland, walking from Murmansk to Saint-Genole - this cannot but cause admiration!
Two weeks later, when I was already at home, Olivier Melennec called me and told me the tragic news: “MAX-4” was found empty!
Record cut off mid-sentence
One thing is certain - Alexander Larchikov was the last person to speak with Evgeniy Pavlovich in his native language.We can judge what happened then, after the interview, about how Smurgis felt during the last kilometers of this 48,000-kilometer rowing marathon, which began many, many years ago, only from brief entries in a diary preserved in a boat found on the beach of La -Tramblada...
During a two-day stay in Croix-de-Vie (November 9-10), he summed up the results of ten days. We walked in a straight line from Brest along the coast - 300 km, in fact - no less than 400! There are about 500 km left to San Sebastian. If you count in nautical miles, this is quite a bit. Only 270 miles. But in this incredible circumnavigation, at least 6,100 miles from Tiksi (to the west) have already been traveled - 220 times more! However, there is no more strength. Apparently, we will have to arrange a holiday in Royan, at the mouth of the Gironde.
November 12. La Rochelle. This is the last time he goes ashore in his life. Evgeny Pavlovich is in a hurry. I arrived at the yacht harbor at 14.00; a quick excursion to the city, bought some small things at the nearest marina (I was convinced that the “French gas” did not fit the existing cylinder and tiles), and at dusk I went out to sea again.
In the evening he wrote: “I worked for two hours and dropped the anchor. The accumulated fatigue somehow fell on my soul and body at once. It’s been the sixth month without a single day off, without rest. I wish I could get some warmth and have a full rest for at least a week, to restore my strength and spirit a little.”
The next day the entry is even gloomier: “There is no one to blame: he himself deliberately set out on an unprepared expedition.” However, even now there is not even a thought about even a temporary cessation of the voyage - about “ winter holidays", the possibility of which was not rejected in principle, although it was understood that they would be needed later, already in America. Three lines later, the mood is better: "There is money - there is no money, it’s cold, hungry - it’s hard, but the cause for which we came out is moving forward, although not as quickly as we would like. And with great losses." This refers, of course, to the separation from my son, which seriously disrupted the movement schedule and affected my well-being.
Evgeniy Pavlovich spent the night from November 13 to 14 “clung” to a fishing buoy near the three-story wall of Fort Bayard (now well known from French television broadcasts), “in restlessness - the boat was jumping on the breakers,” shaking “like on a vibration table.”
And the next “working day” went well - the boat was carried by three forces at once: a fair wind, a current and a rower. Finally, it was possible to “exceed the norm”! By 16.00 Smurgis was at the southern tip of the island of Oleron.
"Walked up to the mark and dropped the anchor. Settling until the next tide."
This last entry ends literally mid-sentence. I ate, sat down with my diary, heard the noise of a helicopter, and then the red helicopter descended and hovered, so as not to disturb, at a respectable distance (“not like ours”)...
Later, Galenko talked with these same helicopter pilots. They said that this was their usual flight around the coast before an approaching storm. There were no other ships in the strait. They flew up to Smurgis's boat, which they had seen standing at the fort the day before. They used a megaphone to warn about the upcoming increase in wind and pointed to the nearest shelter. From the boat he showed that “everything is okay.”
Let’s not speculate about what happened on that stormy night of November 15, while we were parked in shallow water exposed to winds and waves. Why did Evgeny Pavlovich end up in the water without a life jacket, but in heavy boots? Why wasn't the safety belt fastened? Why did he get out of the cabin? What threw him overboard? There are many questions. And we will never get an answer. A wonderful person who was not accustomed to deviating from his chosen path died...
Sailing across the ocean is considered an extremely difficult event, almost the pinnacle of yachting skill and even almost a feat. Lord, we are being fooled again! And their own. Well, okay, it’s too much to tell the young ladies, but among our own people, maybe we’ll already reveal this terrible secret, kept by so many generations of sailors?
The secret is that crossing the ocean in the right season, in the right direction and on a reliable, well-equipped boat is simple and, in general, quite monotonous, if not boring. Walking on the open ocean is much calmer, safer and more comfortable than spinning in an archipelago or at sea, not to mention coastal sailing, or, God forbid, rivers or suburban reservoirs.
What fears appear before your eyes when you imagine crossing the ocean?
Let's try to look them in the face.
Weather disasters - a storm with huge waves or a dead calm...
Is it possible to die from Russian frosts? Can. This has been experienced more than once by strangers who decided to go to war against us. Since then, everyone around firmly knows that there are terrible frosts in Russia. Fine. But you and I know that it’s impossible to freeze here in the summer. It's absolutely impossible. With all my desire. But we also “know” that a storm or calm can happen in the ocean! My friends, we are just as foreign to the ocean, and we are just as mistaken. I’ll tell you the most important secret of all sailors - in the right season, and with an understanding of the passage routes, it is impossible to get into a severe storm or calm on the ocean. No way. With all my desire. Well, at least as long as the climate of our planet remains stable.
After realizing this fact, everything becomes very simple.
Look carefully!
Even more careful!!
This is roughly what the transoceanic transition looks like.
In the right season, and when moving in the right direction in tropical latitudes, across a deserted surface stretching to the horizon, you will be carried around the clock, day and night, by an even tailwind or monsoon with a force of 15-20, rarely 25 knots, with waves of 3-4 , rarely 5 points. The (cruise) speed of the boat will be between 5-7 knots, and you will cover a little over a hundred miles per day. The wind will increase slightly towards dawn, staying within ten degrees throughout the day. Once you set the sails and adjusted the autopilot, you can go weeks without touching anything else. Make sure that the sheets, autopilot drives and sails at the points of contact with the rigging do not fray, and try not to lie down. I was mainly worried about my ear, which was crawling on the pillow all day long. The solution was an airplane pillow with a hole in the middle.
The seasons and directions of transitions will be discussed separately for each ocean, but there is one general and very important rule. The seasons in the ocean change very dramatically. This is very unusual for residents of mid-latitudes - there are no long off-season periods in the ocean when you can still get through, but with less comfort. It won't work like that in the ocean. If it is said that southern seas Pacifica is closed from December to March, which means that on the fifth of December something could fly in that could even take away the Saints. Don’t pull the devil’s mustache - if our website says that the season is over or has not yet begun, then there is no need to go out into the ocean. If you go during a favorable season, then (in tropical latitudes) it is IMPOSSIBLE to encounter a weather anomaly.
Still scary? It is clear that it is scary - this is a psychological barrier in front of the enormity of the Ocean, and no matter how much the experienced people talk and reassure, from one figure of two thousand miles of the upcoming transition one becomes uneasy.
What else could happen to you?
If you choose and equip a boat in accordance with the recommendations that will be given on this site, then even watches are not particularly needed on the open ocean. Don't believe me? Let's think about what kind of trouble can happen to a yacht, at least theoretically.
Danger of collision with ship.
On the open ocean, outside the zones of trade routes, meeting a ship is a fairly rare event. If a ship passes somewhere in the distance, it will be detected by electronics, which we will talk about separately when equipping our dream yacht, and this will not be a danger, but rather a reason for discussion. When does the “open” ocean begin? One hundred and fifty miles from the nearest shore, where fishermen and theoretically possible pirates cannot swim (the cost of fuel at such a distance begins to exceed the cost of the catch), we can already say that you are alone. Well, unless you're part of some stupid rally! And so, you just need to keep an eye on whether you are crossing (or walking along) trade route zones. We will talk about these zones separately.
Risk of collision with floating object or whale.
There is no way to protect yourself from this. No way. No amount of staring into the darkness, no amount of radar or echo sounder will save you. Thermal imager? Well, maybe. Only then you have to stare at it without stopping for a second, because the yacht will pass those hundred meters during which something flashes on the screen in thirty seconds. It's not real. It is much more effective to initially choose the right boat (we will talk about this in the “Dream Yacht” section), which, in the event of an encounter with a particularly large object, will not lose the rudder or keel, and will be strong enough not to crack like an eggshell. The good news is that the oceans are still fairly clear of large man-made debris, and whales generally have good hearing. So this scenario is more for films.
Yacht malfunction.
Rigging ruptures, autopilot and spar failures, electrical problems, hull troubles (especially in stressed areas), torn sails... Yes, this can and does happen. This means only one thing - you did not prepare your boat well, did not follow the recommendations that will be given on this resource, and did not test the boat before going out to the ocean. This is bad. It's their own fault - they should have worked better on the shore.
Preparing a yacht for a trans-oceanic crossing must be done seriously and slowly, conducting training trips, during which the yacht must be heavily loaded, testing its strength. This is especially true if you have just purchased the boat and you do not know its diseases! Unfortunately, this also applies to newly built yachts - the quality of work at shipyards leaves much to be desired, including from well-known manufacturers, where they run a conveyor belt, sometimes losing quality.
If you choose, equip and prepare the boat correctly, and don’t overload the equipment with extra sails, trying to set another stupid record, then, most likely, nothing will happen to your yacht - you’re good to go full course in moderate winds, which means that the load on all systems of the boat is thirty percent of the calculated ones.
Unexpected illness or injury.
Illness is always extremely unpleasant. But, you need to understand that there are no ordinary flus or colds in the ocean - where does the microbe come from there? And the number of unexpected (without early symptoms) diseases is not at all as great as it seems, and we will also talk about them. Let's talk about the first aid kit. But the teeth must be done in advance!
Injuries are a very real danger, especially at first, until the body has gained experience moving on a swinging platform. Therefore, every movement you make on the yacht should be thoughtful, confident, smooth and soft. Do you know how to immediately distinguish an experienced yachtsman from a beginner? A beginner stomps, but an experienced person’s movements around the yacht cannot be heard. On a boat, a person turns into a primate - you should always have at least three points of support. No running on two legs! You should always brace yourself with your hand, butt, thigh, back, or even your teeth. The surfaces of the yacht must be clean - your life may depend on a smear of slippery mucus left on the deck from a caught fish. Although, Annushka can spill oil on the Patriarchs.
Falling overboard.
May happen. And, with almost one hundred percent probability, this is a slow and painful death. Finding a person who has fallen overboard in the ocean is almost impossible. And in the dark it is absolutely impossible. But it all depends on you, no one will deliberately push you overboard. (Although, options are possible - watch the psychological climate in the crew!) ordinary life You're not standing close to the edge of the platform, are you? Do you wear seat belts in your car? This is exactly the case when fear is a good advisor. Better let your favorite baseball cap fly overboard, or let the fish fall off, to hell with it. We have made it a rule that before the onset of dusk, a person who goes on deck must be wearing a comfortable, fitted vest, equipped with a light bulb, a “man overboard” system, and fastened with a safety belt. We’ll talk separately about other rules that must be followed so as not to see your yacht disappearing at dusk.
Fire on the ship.
Despite the abundance of water around, a fire is really scary, especially on a plastic boat. Putting out burning plastic is extremely difficult, especially if a hard-to-reach compartment catches fire, where they love to live and where electrical wires rub against each other as they move. As on land, fires are usually caused by faulty electrical wiring, which is much more likely to occur in a salty environment, or by a cooking stove. We'll also talk about this separately. But you can buy a couple of good fire extinguishers now.
Lightning?— In the open ocean, the probability is low, but we’ll also talk about protection from God’s wrath.
What else? Meteorite? Sea monster? Aliens? Ghost ship? Don't worry, this won't happen to you. A submarine can surface, yes. This happened to us in Pacifica. Only we never saw it - just wild radar activity in the middle of the ocean - and there was no one. What else could it be?
So, one hundred and fifty miles from the coast, fish, read, write, draw, play the guitar, watch movies or listen to audio books. Think about the eternal. Love each other. Look at the ocean, admire it, remember these wonderful minutes that turn into hours and days. “With your eyes, mouth and skin, drink in the spaciousness.” Live! And you will not notice how the transition flashes by, and then you will remember it as one of the most pleasant adventures in your life.
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MOOLOOLABA /Australia/, May 31. /Special correspondent ITAR-TASS Pavel Vanichkin/. A Russian traveler has reached the coast of Australia. Thus, he managed to cross alone in a rowing boat Pacific Ocean without visiting ports or outside assistance. The next project of the Russian traveler will be a flight to hot-air balloon around the Earth...
From the coast of Chile to Australia
Konyukhov started on December 22, 2013 from the port of Concon (Chile) at 09:15 am Chilean time, covered over 17 thousand km on a boat called "Turgoyak" and finished in the town of Mooloolaba (Queensland) at 13:13 Eastern time coast of Australia. "Turgoyak" has a length of 9 meters, a width of 1.8 meters, the weight of its body made of carbon fiber is 250 kg, and its weight when fully loaded is 850 kg.
As reported from London International Society ocean rowers, Konyukhov completed the journey in 160 days. According to the society, the previous best achievement of crossing the Pacific Ocean in a single rowing boat in the southern half was 273 days.
This result was shown by the 52-year-old English rower Jim Shekdar, who started on June 29, 2000 from the Peruvian port of Ilo. Jim also competed and finished on March 30, 2001 on North Stradbroke Island.
Initially, Konyukhov planned to cross the Pacific Ocean in 200 days and nights. It was reported that in order to cross the ocean, a traveler had to make 4 million strokes.
Flight around the Earth
“The ground is not very hard yet,” said Konyukhov, who stepped onto the shore. ITAR-TASS. His very first steps were indeed slightly hesitant, but literally after a few moments he was already able to walk without assistance.
After the triumphant finish, answering a question about plans for the future, Konyukhov said that he planned to make a non-stop flight around the Earth in a hot air balloon. He intends to start in Australia, fly from west to east approximately along the 40th latitude and finish again in Australia. However, the traveler categorically refused to say when this might happen. “I’ve been traveling for more than 40 years,” recalled Konyukhov. “Previously, I did it mainly for scientific purposes and out of sporting interests, but now I’m thinking about the younger generation, to whom I want to instill a spirit of romance. I want people to dream more.”
Answering a question from corr. ITAR-TASS, about the difficulties during the journey, Konyukhov said: “At first it was difficult, and then even more difficult.” “The main difficulty of this kind of test is its monotony,” the traveler continued the story. “Every day I tried to row for 18 hours, slept for 20-25 minutes, but no more than two and a half hours a day.” “On the other hand, I I walked with God's help - all the biggest hurricanes passed me by, the boat never capsized, favorable currents helped me.
Happy ending
I sent a greeting to Konyukhov, which was read by the Russian Ambassador to Australia Vladimir Morozov, who took part in the meeting of the Russian traveler in the city of Mooloolaba. About five hundred people gathered to meet the famous Russian traveler on the city beach - his friends, local residents, visiting tourists, and journalists.
“I am glad to congratulate you on the successful completion of the expedition “On a rowing boat across the Pacific Ocean,” says the president’s greeting. “This unique voyage was closely followed by your colleagues, scientists and experts, members of the Russian Geographical Society, and maritime enthusiasts from many countries. Thanks “With courage and perseverance, extraordinary human and professional qualities, you withstood difficult tests and conquered the water element.”
“Today we can say with confidence that the first solo trip in history on a rowing boat from the coast of Chile to Australia was successful. And you continued the wonderful traditions of the great Russian explorers and travelers who made a great contribution to the study of the World Ocean. I wish you all the best and the fulfillment of new plans," the president said in his greeting.
63-year-old Russian priest Orthodox Church Fedor Konyukhov is the first person in the world who managed to reach the five poles of our planet: the North (three times), the South, the Pole of relative inaccessibility in the Arctic Ocean (the height pole) and Cape Horn (the yachtsman's pole). Konyukhov became the first Russian to complete the “Seven Summits of the World” program - to climb the highest peak of each continent. He managed to cross now two oceans on a rowing boat. In 2002, he single-handedly crossed the Atlantic Ocean on a URALAZ rowing boat, setting a world record of 3 thousand nautical miles in 46 days.
“In the future there will be quite a lot of skippers in skirts and this will happen for sure, especially if men continue to repeat endlessly that the ocean is not a place for women.” (Joshua Slocum).
Sixty three!!! years ago, on January 27, 1953, Ann Davison reached the shores of Barbados on her yacht Felicity Ann. She became the first woman to sail across the Atlantic alone.
In 1875, Alfred Jensen crossed the Atlantic alone for the first time from Canada to England on a fishing sailboat. Thus began the countdown of achievements in solo sailing: the first circumnavigation of the world, the first rowing passage, overcoming Cape Horn, a non-stop race... In the time of Alfred Jensen, no one could have imagined that a woman would ever be able to go to sea alone. No one even believed that a woman could ever become a skipper. But only thirty to forty years passed, and women gradually began to become captains, pilots, tractor drivers, and officers. But the first women's solo voyage was still very far away.
Solo swimming is one of the most difficult hobbies, because you have to fight not only with the ocean, which in itself is only possible for a select few, but also with loneliness and its inevitable consequences - chronic fatigue and depression. For obvious reasons, women find it much more difficult to fight. It is all the more surprising that at the end of the twentieth century, dozens of women became interested in solo swimming. But only recently have sailors gotten used to the fact that a woman on board is, in general, usually not bad at all. And after all, such women in Russian still have to be defined by the awkward phrase “woman yachtsman,” and in a country riddled with political correctness English language and completely empty: yachtswoman has not yet become familiar, and nothing else has been invented.
ALONE, WITHOUT A HUSBAND
Ann Davison was 38 years old when she decided to cross the Atlantic. But at first she didn’t even think about doing it alone. Anne Davison was a journalist and, together with her husband, also an amateur yachtsman, she hoped to take a romantic trip across the Atlantic and write a series of essays, and possibly a book. But in the English Channel, during a not very strong storm, they were unlucky. The yacht sank, Ann's husband died, and she herself was saved by a miracle.
On May 18, 1952, she left Plymouth alone. After the loss of a large yacht, she could not afford something like that and set off to conquer the ocean that had killed her husband on a small sloop, the Felicity Ann, seven meters long. She crossed the Bay of Biscay and, as much as she could, stayed close to the coast - first to the Portuguese, then to the Moroccan. But finally here is Gran Canaria, then all the way to Barbados there are only waves. She left Las Palmas on November 25; The decision to storm the ocean was not so reckless: for six months Anne tested herself, reflected and, after the hurricanes subsided, went out into the ocean.
She saw land only two months later; due to calm weather, the voyage was delayed. On January 27, 1953, she independently brought her yacht to one of the ports of Barbados. What followed was an equally difficult journey to New York, which took nine months with stops. But the main thing had already been done: the Atlantic was conquered by a woman for the first time.
TWICE THE ONE
Much has been written about Ann Davison in the newspaper. tah, she processed the diary entries and published a book. Until the end of the 50s, there were several more “female” attempts to cross the Atlantic alone. Inspired by example, women went out into the ocean, covered some distance, struggled, but lasted a maximum of a week - and turned back or called for help. There were no tragedies, probably because the sense of self-preservation in women is much more developed than in men.
The next woman to conquer the ocean was named Sharon Sites. But the idea of making a risky journey was brought to her not by the feat of Ann Davison, but by Francis Chichester’s book “Overcome Yourself.” Thirty-three-year-old Englishwoman Sharon Sites set out on the Sea Sharp yacht from a small town in California heading for Honolulu. Indirect evidence that the decision was not very thoughtful is the fact that Sharon Sites had only been familiar with sails for about a year before her start, and purchased her own yacht two days before the start.
The reason for such a hasty start was failures in his personal life, prolonged depression and a categorical refusal to communicate with family and friends. Sharon Sites did not take a radio transmitter with her on the trip, explaining that she did not want anyone to disturb her solitude. Of course, it was a gamble to travel 2 thousand miles across a treacherous ocean, especially in the summer, when strong winds and storms are inevitable along the route. And so it happened. After half a month of relatively calm sailing, Sea Sharp almost sank during a force 9 storm. The Sea Sharp was approximately the same size as the Felicity Ann yacht, but easier to control and maneuver. However, two days before the storm, Sharon Sites broke her right arm. She splinted herself, applied disinfectant ointment, and changed her wet bandages every day, but, of course, she couldn’t do anything with her right hand. It’s hard to imagine how she managed the sails with one hand, especially during storms. Butdespite everything, the 40-day voyage ended safely.
After returning, Sharon Sites got married and once again made a successful voyage across the Pacific Ocean, but this time from Yokohama to the shores of California. She did not take her husband with her, but this time she installed a radio station on board the Sea Sharp-2 yacht and no longer refused to communicate. Moreover, she now suffered from loneliness. The new voyage lasted 70 days. The route taken was twice as long as the first (about 4,500 nautical miles), Sharon Sites survived ten storms, but overall the journey was much easier than the first.
FIRST STAR
Another thirty years passed, and several more women conquered the Atlantic, including even female finalists in the transatlantic race. Some decided on completely desperate undertakings: in 1999, the Englishwoman Tory Marden crossed the Atlantic for the first time in a rowing boat, rowed almost 3 thousand miles, and then the Frenchwoman Peggy Boucher repeated her success. And in the Wendy Globe round-the-world race, two participants were announced at once - Catherine Chabu and Ellen MacArthur.
Ellen MacArthur is the most famous woman sailing alone on a yacht. She became famous in 1994 when she crossed the Atlantic from the coast of France to Guadeloupe in less than 14 days. Upon learning of this, the yachting world turned upside down. MacArthur's remarkable result showed that women may well be stronger than men. After her first major success, Ellen competed in two transatlantic races and finally achieved victory in 2000 on the 60-foot Kingfisher; now Wendy's Globe was in front.
How one can endure a race like the Wendy Globe is not fully understood by many male athletes. After all, there is practically no time to sleep, and to enter the top ten, you need to constantly monitor the wind and change the sails - five, ten, fifteen times a day. A modern single race is a test not only of the racer, the yacht and its contents, but also of coaches and personal consultants. As in any sport, yacht racing of this level requires long training, a carefully adjusted diet, and the ability to psychologically unload nervous system, meditate, calm down, fall asleep instantly and sleep no longer than 20-30 minutes.
At the Wendy Globe, Ellen MacArthur took second place and became the first star of solo swimming. And it is unlikely that in the near future any of the women will be able to improve her results and achieve the same fame.
***
“In the ringing silence of the mysterious rotten fog, I felt as lonely as an ant, carried by a rain stream into the middle of a pond and clutching at a straw. On such days, I was completely overcome, to the last bone, by a feeling of trembling and fear of the endless and bottomless ocean, but for some reason on such days I remembered all the other fears that I had ever experienced or that I had even heard about. All the worst things arose and mixed strangely in my mind. It seemed to me that if I stopped trembling and being afraid, I would die. Visions appeared before me, laughing and crying voices retelling stories from my life and about what I knew from somewhere or had ever read about.”
Ann Davison, 1953
***
“I love independence, and that’s why I managed to overcome all the hardships that await me every day on the road. The most serious difficulties were psychological, not technical. The loneliness was very annoying.
I saved myself by talking to the sun, waves, yacht and stars.
Very often I resorted to a tape recorder, recorded my voice, and then listened to the recording."
Sharon Sites, 1969
“The time will soon come when I will return home. Today I tried to read a book to get rid of severe obsessive thoughts, but I couldn’t read, I was very tired, so I dropped the book to the bottom, and now I’m trying to dry it on the engine box...
IN Lately I saw ships and even traces of planes in the sky, and yesterday a light plane with photographers on board flew past. It was great to see someone, they flapped their wings and flew over me again. They probably took great photos, at that moment I was sailing at a speed of 20 knots...
Last night the wind died down, and I swam for a while at full speed - the sea was calm, there were almost no waves, so I decided to take a chance...
I spent two hours searching for the mast, wandering the deck at night with a torch. How I want to get home...>
Ellen MacArthur, 2002
Katenkina Katya 02.28.2019 at 14:00
The tragedy of the Titanic shocked the world so much that it instilled fear in sea travel. However, in the USA there was a man named William Scripps, who in 1912 undertook to prove the safety sea travel. The route of the “proof” also lay across the Atlantic Ocean, however, the storm was challenged not by a huge liner, but by a small boat.
Small, but a proud boat
And it so happened that William E. Scripps, the owner of the Scripps Motor Company, which produced diesel engines that were not yet in use by 1912, decided to cross the Atlantic Ocean (from Detroit to St. Petersburg) on a boat with his engine - and make himself this is the advertisement.
Scripps ordered a boat that was 35 feet long and 10 feet wide, and more like a lifeboat, with the bow and stern raised and the middle lowered. The spruce mast, rising 24 feet above the deck, supported a 240-square-foot sail, and the Scripps-manufactured engine produced 16 horsepower. The ship's draft was five feet and its displacement was 14 tons. 960 gallons of fuel were contained in five steel tanks. Water tanks (300 gallons) were located under the crew bunks.
Beginning of the expedition
On June 25, 1912, the ship was launched. And yet, the brave Commodore Scripps did not undertake to lead the expedition. He chose for this role a native of New York, 50-year-old Captain Thomas Fleming Day, who had already crossed the Atlantic in June 1911 on the 25-foot skiff Sea Bird.
Before departure, Day made a short speech: “I must admit that all these years I have had a prejudice about offshore shipbuilding, but I can assure you that this little boat is impeccable in every way.
Armed with only the most basic precautions, we hope to once again prove to the world that traveling on a small boat is much safer than traveling on huge liners, which are always in danger of crashing."
Then the boat crossed the Great Lakes, the Erie Canal and along the Hudson River reached New York, where the fuel supply was replenished, and from where its voyage across the ocean began on July 12.
Crew
According to Day's notes, the crew consisted of "green newbies": mate Charles Earle, a twenty-year-old young man fresh out of Harvard (the captain had known him since he was a boy); Detroit native Walter Morton, a twenty-nine-year-old chief engineer who had never sailed before. And William Newstedt is the second engineer and mechanic whom Day described in his book of memoirs in the sense that he "proved to be worse than simply useless." Prone to seasickness, always afraid, he lay there, refusing to work. “Neither persuasion nor curses led to anything.”
The hardships of the journey
The swim was grueling. Day was at the helm for 36 hours without rest. They took food while standing, straight from packages and cans, trying to stay on the boat, clinging to anything with their feet and elbows. When the weather allowed, we rested in shifts. Day insisted that crew members sleep lying down to rest their strained spines.
It was so cold that Day was forced to wear five shirts, a sweatshirt, a coat and a raincoat, but he was freezing even in such clothing. But when the sun appeared, several layers of clothing were shed and travelers enjoyed the warmth. The lowered middle of the deck was completely flooded. The water was ankle-deep, so everyone wore rubber shoes without taking them off.
A few days after sailing, Captain Day managed to heat a bucket hot water and for the first time during the expedition I shaved with pleasure. To Day's disgust, his assistant did not follow suit.
“Dirt and stubble make me incredibly sad. The more stubble my face grows and the dirtier I become, the more despondent and apathetic I become. I am not the one in whom the spirit of a ragamuffin lives,” Day wrote pretentiously in his diary. He stubbornly continued to shave until the end of the expedition.
"One of the main disadvantages of Detroit" it was that we could not enjoy the conversation, because the noise of the engine and the roar of the waves drowned out everything. The only way to communicate was by shouting. How happy we were to enjoy a few minutes of silence when the engine was turned off to look around, and the terrible hubbub died down." Day lamented the lack of a muffler on the engine: "This device would have made our journey much more comfortable."
However, he admired the boat's speed, which he estimated was so great that the Detroit could cover 144 nautical miles per day. “What surprised me most was that a motor, which was the size of a couple of hatboxes, could make our rather heavy vessel move at such speed,” he wrote.
Elephant and pug
When they met the liner America, sailing east from Southampton, it seemed to them to be the size of a six-story building. Approximately two thousand people stretched from bow to stern, shouting and taking photographs of the small boat.
The captain of the liner reported that the Detroit was 1,000 miles off the coast of Ireland. He also offered Day tanks of water, but, unfortunately, there was nowhere to put them on the boat, and there was no bottled water on the ship. Later, the ship's captain expressed his displeasure that a tiny ship dared to stop a huge liner, calling it "American impudence." However, the passengers were very pleased and had a lot of fun talking with the crew of the small boat."
For the rest of the journey, Day reflected on the old ships that had been wrecked. “Just imagine all these old wooden ships that disappeared into the depths of the sea right here where we had just sailed,” he wrote. “Dilapidated and rotten wrecks of ships are scattered throughout the bottom of the sea to this day. And these horror stories about people who survived shipwrecks! The surviving crew members were found only after several days, weeks, or even months of terrible suffering."
Triumphant Arrival
The Detroit entered the harbor of the Irish port of Queenslow 21 days and 16 hours after departure. Then the following conversation took place between him and the captain of a small tugboat: “Send a man to guide the ship to the shore.”
"What will you give in return?" - came the answer.
"Don't worry about it. Swim closer."
“Okay, sir... Where will you be from?”
“New York, America,” Day answered, not very accurately.
"From America on this? That's right! You're not the cowardly kind, guys! Okay, I'll give you a free ride. Jump on board and take them in tow, Danny."
Word of the Americans' arrival immediately spread and a dozen Irish journalists came to listen to their story. The local yacht club and dignitaries took it upon themselves to organize a celebration in their honor. And the newspaper people thoroughly enjoyed Day's stories, a little more exciting than they actually were.