tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81717741814394142202024-03-05T10:59:12.686-08:00Nelligen Yacht ClubUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger165125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171774181439414220.post-61402322723437887762023-12-09T12:47:00.000-08:002023-12-09T12:48:28.624-08:00More from Captain Kevin<P>
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Having followed Captain Kevin across the Indonesian Archipelago, I couldn't help myself backtracking his voyage across the Pacific.
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YwgeTMpCfwU" title="SV Moana #31 - Sailing Alone across the Pacific - Tahiti to Palmerston Island" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-a_JRLqXKlA" title="SV Moana #32 - Sailing Alone across the Pacific - Palmerston Atoll to Niue" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/21jR0rOSRek" title="SV Moana #33 - Sailing Alone across the Pacific - Niue to Tonga" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sl05Tls6-gs" title="SV Moana #34 - Sailing Alone across the Pacific - Tonga to New Caledonia - Part 1" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/y3cFrZnFH-o" title="SV Moana #35 - Sailing Alone across the Pacific - Tonga to New Caledonia - Part 2" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ab8btEfvfvY" title="SV Moana #36 - Sailing from Noumea to Brisbane, Australia through some nasty weather." frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171774181439414220.post-43643077252769825072023-12-08T21:03:00.000-08:002023-12-09T12:13:37.573-08:00My sailing days are over ...<P>
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... but there's no harm in following Captain Kevin from Portland, Oregon, as he single-handedly sails his Hallberg Rassy 36 "Lena May" around the world.
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/18flS6SlogY" title="Sailing Moana #41 - Island Head Creek to Whitsunday Island" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4WEHrXPxeFo" title="Sailing Moana #42 - Exploring Trinity Inlet and dodging killer Crocs!" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dxBTAHHuzZQ" title="A visit to Morris Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia ...Moana, is now Lena May :) #43" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/70Tyfyove-o" title="Moana's Australian Update and Future Plans" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DypB5uW0M-0" title="Cairns City, Australia - Beautiful street scenes" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_tqbkgx3Pv4" title="Part 1 - Sailing Singlehanded. Cairns to Thursday Isl. Australia" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vY9tKGekcas" title="Part 2 - Sailing Single Handed. Cairns to Thursday Isl. Australia" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/br7djzeCTvQ" title="Sailing Single Handed from Thursday Isl. Australia to Tual Indonesia" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XDzMTxMNRmo" title="Sailing Single Handed #47 - Tual Indonesia to Triton Bay, West Papua Indonesia" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RhsBJPlF_Hc" title="Anchored in Selat Rosenberg - Tual, Indonesia south anchorage" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vNfCCyLIN7Y" title="Lena May - Sailing Single Handed - Tual Indonesia to Flores Island - Squalls and Hazards" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FZR14Fgg0pM" title="Sailing Single Handed - Indonesia - Sagu Bay, Adonara Island to Labuan Bajo, Flores Island" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bMKBkVD3oDg" title="Single Handed Sailing - Indonesia - Labuan Bajo, Flores Island to Lombok Part 1" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9m9vsjNgSjc" title="Sailing Single Handed - Indonesia - LBJ, Flores Island to Lombok, Part 2 BASHING!!!" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/r44avK5VFiA" title="Sailing Single Handed - Indonesia - Hauling out at Medana Bay Marina for bottom paint." frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gnlM4Yd-wDs" title="Single Handed Sailing through Indonesia - Medana Bay Lombok to Belitung (+ 3 bad words)" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/R-zTMloGwr8" title="Sailing Single Handed - From Belitung Indonesia to Puteri Harbour, Malaysia (Part 1)" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yrPJhA0KQYo" title="Sailing Single Handed - From Belitung Indonesia to Puteri Harbour. Malaysia (Part 2)" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171774181439414220.post-70810733466507035892023-04-28T22:58:00.004-07:002023-12-09T14:34:33.636-08:00Castaway - no, not the one with Tom Hanks!<P>
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<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/castaway-1986_202310" width="500" height="325" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<!---<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qYefmkZLw1M" title="Oliver Reed in Castaway (1986) Full Movie HD 1080p" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>---><BR>
<FONT SIZE="-2">Click on <U>'Watch on YouTube'</U> to watch this full-length movie.<BR>"Castaway" is a 1983 autobiographical book by Lucy Irvine about her year on the Australian tropical Torres Strait island of Tuin, having answered a want ad from writer Gerald Kingsland seeking a "wife" for a year in 1982. Her book was the basis of the 1986 film "Castaway", starring Oliver Reed as Gerald Kingsland and Amanda Donohoe as Irvine.</FONT>
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<span style="float:left;color:silver;font-size:200px;line-height:170px;padding-top:2px;font-family: times;">A</span><I>n infinity of sea and sky bluer and more brilliant than in any dream. Our wake made a white streak across the blue so struck with glittering points of light it smarted the eye. We passed islands to our left and to our right; bottle green bosomy mounds frilled about with white sand rising out of that electric world of blue."</I>
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Lucy Irvine and her "husband" Gerald Kingsland spent a year in 1982 on the tiny uninhabited island of Tuin in the Torres Strait, some five years after I had lived and worked on nearby Thursday Island.
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV5CM8W2OKVLepsn_0Wqe02NhTK-1roM21IgApa8aIa6mMiqM8o98QBoELCGAAFybfBXq8n2vU7AoPziqjucFFaoS_Pt_Sb9jMek1zrd083ix1C5iTvyM-Kk-zzSYJuHX46x61jsRQvzaxN_Qn_dU1c8I2TUAw9U_1zZLniJz5Bqj4mKbnDWfekWZmoA/s715/bookcastaway.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="700" data-original-height="715" data-original-width="536" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV5CM8W2OKVLepsn_0Wqe02NhTK-1roM21IgApa8aIa6mMiqM8o98QBoELCGAAFybfBXq8n2vU7AoPziqjucFFaoS_Pt_Sb9jMek1zrd083ix1C5iTvyM-Kk-zzSYJuHX46x61jsRQvzaxN_Qn_dU1c8I2TUAw9U_1zZLniJz5Bqj4mKbnDWfekWZmoA/s600/bookcastaway.jpg" width="500"/></a></div> <FONT SIZE="-2">Read the book online at <A HREF="https://archive.org/details/castaway0000irvi_g1e1" target="_blog"><U>www.archive.org</U></A><BR>
And <A HREF="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0t2ES6RhaA" target="_blog"><U>here</U></A> is the audiobook read by Lucy Irvine herself</FONT>
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Lucy Irvine was born on 1 February 1956 in Whitton, Middlesex. She ran away from school and had no full-time education after the age of thirteen. She was employed as a charlady, monkey-keeper, waitress, stonemason's mate, life model, pastry-cook, and concierge, and also worked with disabled people and as a clerk at the Inland Revenue.
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She has written "One is One"; an account of her early years, aptly named "Runaway"; "Castaway"; and - which is where our paths crosssed again - "Faraway" about her year spent on remote Pigeon Island in the then British Solomon Islands where I almost took a job myself in late 1969.
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<FONT SIZE="-2">Location maps of Tuin Island</FONT>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijcZEeQtted3Tvhq9dbu0L9PfqlI5lmPm3yc_tsSvG9U8726wX6_811XUA6s5pO3OoJt0S5jVasLgp-amb5Bh0kJuSc1C-5ueWvy6s22E9S_xBJAP2TgDj4aQXbWGEqIaYDXUyQLr0d8307u-GTqs2f_kVkHHhLTuUpZ_VvOJLnDRP5ThLRvf7i5VlRQ/s587/castawaytorresstraitmap.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="500" data-original-height="587" data-original-width="556" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijcZEeQtted3Tvhq9dbu0L9PfqlI5lmPm3yc_tsSvG9U8726wX6_811XUA6s5pO3OoJt0S5jVasLgp-amb5Bh0kJuSc1C-5ueWvy6s22E9S_xBJAP2TgDj4aQXbWGEqIaYDXUyQLr0d8307u-GTqs2f_kVkHHhLTuUpZ_VvOJLnDRP5ThLRvf7i5VlRQ/s600/castawaytorresstraitmap.png" width="500"/></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2DYATJxK001uhi9TseR9yLlIkoo0orU6NSi952cQ02QLp7rmriHDdsVfwxg5XdBXJaXZC3VBAS8YUs3O2jkwUpII1CwevvGM2IiyaEg0OuE2oSDwQFJq3QR8tn9vttWh2ZtdUuUFenq23Jnf4sM2aE8YFWv0pBY1p7OCeeLidDn-mjohX9_YftmsccA/s651/castawaydetailedmap.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="500" data-original-height="651" data-original-width="557" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2DYATJxK001uhi9TseR9yLlIkoo0orU6NSi952cQ02QLp7rmriHDdsVfwxg5XdBXJaXZC3VBAS8YUs3O2jkwUpII1CwevvGM2IiyaEg0OuE2oSDwQFJq3QR8tn9vttWh2ZtdUuUFenq23Jnf4sM2aE8YFWv0pBY1p7OCeeLidDn-mjohX9_YftmsccA/s600/castawaydetailedmap.png" width="500"/></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCw03OKzWP4gL7zWAz2xeVVjkT1ci8DPmKVj51_7NKGYBYogTO3oijwhRJdaPBGlAU3VEvyjZuOnAxf2xtTrMI9SJw2YDVY8RsDApXm2z6ss3TGBZOyQUCOcni-sdpEIqokPj_nl3Q2798_wzcae9lag5p6dQ-aGyo0iuhmq5Bd8D8ZcxciOw6dX3u8Q/s729/castaway1.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="500" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="729" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCw03OKzWP4gL7zWAz2xeVVjkT1ci8DPmKVj51_7NKGYBYogTO3oijwhRJdaPBGlAU3VEvyjZuOnAxf2xtTrMI9SJw2YDVY8RsDApXm2z6ss3TGBZOyQUCOcni-sdpEIqokPj_nl3Q2798_wzcae9lag5p6dQ-aGyo0iuhmq5Bd8D8ZcxciOw6dX3u8Q/s600/castaway1.png"/></a></div>
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Forget Tom Hanks! Read about real castaways, and watch the movie!
<P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171774181439414220.post-81906782449311780292023-04-28T14:01:00.006-07:002023-11-12T14:30:19.927-08:00Where is Steve Gates now?<P>
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uZtVnmSARns" title="Telekivava'u Island" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe><BR><FONT SIZE="-2">To read more about Telekivava'u, click <A HREF="https://athomeatriverbend.blogspot.com/2018/04/in-memory-of-villa-mamana.html" target="_blog">here</A></FONT>
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I first heard about Steve Gates and Telekivava'u Island during my visit to Tonga in 2006. Steve arrived on Telekivava'u in November 2003 aboard his own Searunner 37 trimaran "Manu-O-Ku".
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc4BWNh3OfDUtknrVNadY4m8dlPzJrLBrCMtjwC1jNgo49Ys6q8vKq1WGxQIVZOIQYYoH0QjO8UngF28wwaXBeaZx_DS8A-xpzpSXRAzU6QxDKDbcYjOKN1a6QovIn83_3b8xSVdNTf6Iq/s1600/telekivavauaerial.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc4BWNh3OfDUtknrVNadY4m8dlPzJrLBrCMtjwC1jNgo49Ys6q8vKq1WGxQIVZOIQYYoH0QjO8UngF28wwaXBeaZx_DS8A-xpzpSXRAzU6QxDKDbcYjOKN1a6QovIn83_3b8xSVdNTf6Iq/s1600/telekivavauaerial.jpg" data-original-width="800" data-original-height="533" width="500"/></a></div><FONT SIZE="-2"><A HREF="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Villa+Mamana/@-20.3147813,-174.5241014,2958m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x77f6d49ed3535d5d!8m2!3d-20.3136483!4d-174.5228655?hl=en-AU" target="_blog">GOOGLE Map</A></FONT>
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Steve became the island's longest-serving caretaker, staying there for three years. As he wrote on his website: <I>"I sailed to Tonga in 2003 for a unique job to be caretaker of a very remote 40 acre private island in the already remote central group of Tonga, Ha’apai. It was rather idyllic, pristine island, Manu-O-Ku anchored in the lagoon, spending weeks at a time totally alone on the island. I did that for 3 years ..."</I>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcY_WkJFVqXn42665NQabfzxwt0z_twNLbbHh_V5en8EzRRzbfrEWvBHPy5oX_PlgUGw9o0Kxg1UxSZpboPWIiOgq-edGTHzHt-fkIbYgEwZ8AXjlXGEhiI8PGnLfjMcn6eYnu-axcbak/s1600/stevesboat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcY_WkJFVqXn42665NQabfzxwt0z_twNLbbHh_V5en8EzRRzbfrEWvBHPy5oX_PlgUGw9o0Kxg1UxSZpboPWIiOgq-edGTHzHt-fkIbYgEwZ8AXjlXGEhiI8PGnLfjMcn6eYnu-axcbak/s1600/stevesboat.jpg" width="500"/></a></div><FONT SIZE="-2">Steve's boat 'Manu-O-Ku'</FONT>
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Afterwards he ran a charter business for some 4-1/2 years in Vava'u and finally left Tonga in June 2011 (after category-4 cyclone Rene in February 2010) for Fiji (July 2011), Vanuatu (September 2011), Solomons (November 2011), and Palau (February 2012). He arrived at Port Barton in the Philippines on New Year's Eve 2012 where he then lived to continue his charter business "Manu-O-Ku Sailing Adventures". His <A HREF="https://web.archive.org/web/20140306075136/http://www.manuoku.com/Manu-O-Ku/Home.html" target="_blog">website</A> has since gone "off air" and so I quote from it here:
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<I>"Originally, I created this website in 2008 for the business I began in Vava’u Tonga, taking couples on 3-7 day sailing trips. I singlehandedly operated the business until June of 2011, when I sailed out of Tonga, returning to a nomadic lifestyle, and headed west: Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Palau, Philippines. During this period of cruising I had the pleasure of sharing it with a few different old and new guests.
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Manu-O-Ku is a Searunner 37' trimaran designed by Jim Brown. I have owned her 30 years, have sailed her over 35,000 nautical miles, and is my only home. This lifestyle works for me ... a nomadic self-reliant lifestyle, on the oceans, among islands ... sailing your home, wandering the world yet sleeping in your own bed."</I>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPiL4p3Qa9SpEeDPhgdpu2wq1oqHE71Ukter-ghEF-f0UxedAf7W701z0MbJ6BNzVQpcFARVq1T8lf5WhWDjFoLJuPgTkNWEfpuSIvZhZAQNEBGPDrI1CBKfos34ZjwxSlIGaJvFFv8vzE/s1600/manuoku.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPiL4p3Qa9SpEeDPhgdpu2wq1oqHE71Ukter-ghEF-f0UxedAf7W701z0MbJ6BNzVQpcFARVq1T8lf5WhWDjFoLJuPgTkNWEfpuSIvZhZAQNEBGPDrI1CBKfos34ZjwxSlIGaJvFFv8vzE/s1600/manuoku.jpg" data-original-width="960" data-original-height="960" width="500"/></a></div><FONT SIZE="-2">Steve's 'Manu-O-Ku' somewhere in the Philippines</FONT>
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On another page of his now defunct website, he wrote: <I>"I have always tried to live one day at a time. I lived in Tonga for nearly eight years, but it took me only the first six months for me to 'upgrade' that life philosophy to 'one moment at a time'. The Tongans truly live this way, and the western world could learn a lot from them. Plans? Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."</I>
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His latest YouTube clip in 2021 was from the Philippines which suggests that Steve is still "wandering the world yet sleeping in [his] own bed":
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNuLBhdfkKunbGUJBSLN5f2R0g8oTvxpP83HVvNYDCIXGqW9tjd0S2KZrqD2F9GR3b_BmSodQokgDgfeQ0bzFsBnCHHx_AvsAbRkTZV5NCkFLO8fHE5SFumrmYSA3dKD83zO0AK7Wr4xhfJj9TXVLmKJNxoXr6iF0jxee8cdgXXQm3sV6gKQgLTBsbMA/s1291/stevegatespalau.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="500" data-original-height="828" data-original-width="1291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNuLBhdfkKunbGUJBSLN5f2R0g8oTvxpP83HVvNYDCIXGqW9tjd0S2KZrqD2F9GR3b_BmSodQokgDgfeQ0bzFsBnCHHx_AvsAbRkTZV5NCkFLO8fHE5SFumrmYSA3dKD83zO0AK7Wr4xhfJj9TXVLmKJNxoXr6iF0jxee8cdgXXQm3sV6gKQgLTBsbMA/s600/stevegatespalau.png" width="500"/></a></div>
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To watch the clip, click <A HREF="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poHfpmJOYrM" target="_blog">here</A>.
<P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171774181439414220.post-74242120233157056852023-04-28T13:52:00.007-07:002023-11-12T13:51:22.344-08:00Faraway<P>
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GOlBgi8_NBI" title="Episode 32 Sailing to "Faraway"" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe><FONT SIZE="-2">Episode 32 Sailing to "Faraway" uploaded in January 2020: "We set sail from the island of Santa Cruz after completing the entry formalities of clearing into The Solomon Islands. We had heard about a fascinating group of islands about 30 miles away. The Reef Islands also known as Swallow Islands and Matema Islands are a group of 16 islands with a population of just over 5000 people.
We were particularly interested in one of the small islands, where an English couple settled in the 1950's, obtained a lease, traded and raised a family."</FONT>
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I first heard about Pigeon Island and the Hepworth family when I tried to find work in the islands back in 1969. Tom Hepworth had written a very enticing letter in response to my classified advertisement in the backpage of the PACIFIC ISLANDS MONTHLY, offering me a job as 'book-keeper' in his growing enterprise, Pigeon Island Traders.
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He described to me in vivid colours the sort of life I would lead if I were to join him and his family on Pigeon Island. He wouldn't be able to pay me much but, as he put it, neither would I need much money and I would have plenty of time to pursue my own interests and continue my accountancy studies.
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I was sorely tempted but I was also concerned about my professional career and what "career" would there be with something called "Pigeon Island Traders" located on one of the remotest islands in the South Pacific? Instead, I accepted another offer from a firm of chartered accountants in the then Territory of Papua & New Guinea - and I have never looked back!
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It was only in retirement that I began to recall my many wanderings throughout the South Pacific and around the world which led me to ponder what might have happened had I opted for one and not another of the many choices that had come my way. And so I also thought again about Pigeon Island and on the spur of the moment wrote a letter to "Tom Hepworth, care of Pigeon Island Traders, Pigeon Island, Reef Islands, Solomon Islands."
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFdx_5gvFmrvIJ3fgQVR-_FKWhPdddVWLITJd0qOixR0daMCxbrFpKMbJxFmP7KYS_sUOOHMeMsmuB8ex2fJdi0UHgy86XfzL5_7x50u63NvXcM73bwxPKHgBuj-LxwI6en2LO8GF4ogxIJaTsLse94umnJI0AyO1H-Zc07qFhAOo953LX-fkuRVr-kA/s338/pigeonletter.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="500" data-original-height="164" data-original-width="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFdx_5gvFmrvIJ3fgQVR-_FKWhPdddVWLITJd0qOixR0daMCxbrFpKMbJxFmP7KYS_sUOOHMeMsmuB8ex2fJdi0UHgy86XfzL5_7x50u63NvXcM73bwxPKHgBuj-LxwI6en2LO8GF4ogxIJaTsLse94umnJI0AyO1H-Zc07qFhAOo953LX-fkuRVr-kA/s600/pigeonletter.jpg"/></a></div>
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Some months went by and I thought no more of it until one day I received an envelope covered in a lot of colourful Solomon Islands stamps. In it was a letter from Ben Hepworth, the now grown-up son of Tom Hepworth, who told me that his father had passed away some years ago but that he and his twin brother Ross and his mother Diana were still living on the island. He had enclosed some photographs and told me a good deal about the island and invited me to visit them.
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Ben, who was some five years old when I had been offered a job on the island by his father, was now in his late 30s and, apart from his secondary schooling in New Zeland and a short-lived attempt at a career with the Mendana Hotel in Honiara, had never lived away from the island. I was amazed at how this family had clung to their dream of living on a small South Pacific island for so long! From the time they set sail from England in November 1947, times had not been easy: their daughter Tasha, born 1958, was mentally retarded and is living today in an institution in New Zealand; they have had several fall-outs with their two sons, Ross and Ben; there has been continued trouble with traditional land-owners over their 2-pound-a-year lease of the island (signed Christmas 1958) which officially runs out in 2052; then there was the destruction caused by Cyclone Nina 1993 and again by Cyclon Danny in 1999 ... the list goes on and the words 'CAN'T GO ON MUCH LONGER' and 'SEEM TO HAVE RUN OUT OF STEAM' appear in Tom's diary more than once.
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They tried to attract caretakers to the island but failed repeatedly (the Austrian Wien family in 1964 was a particularly dismal failure; the Pearce family family ran off at the beginning of 1980 leaving the message 'JUST COULDN'T GO ON' hung in a bag on the cargo-shed door); they tried to sell the island in the mid-80s for five hundred thousand US dollars but 'the chains of Pigeon' kept Tom until his death in 1994 at the age of 84. 'Blue skies, fair winds, hot sun and beaches by the miles,' Tom once wrote about Pigeon, but 36 years was a long time for a man with cultural leanings to spend on an isolated island. We all have our fantasies but for most of us reality intervenes - but not so for the Hepworths!
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<TABLE align=center width="90%" bordercolor="#632910" border=4 cellpadding=20> <TR> <TD background="http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/images/bgtapete.jpg"> <FONT SIZe=2 FACE="Courier New"> <CENTER> <br /><STRONG> Imagine living on a South Sea Island,<BR> far from civilisation's worries,<BR> and MAKING MONEY from it!</FONT><br /><br /><FONT SIZe=3 FACE="Courier New"> Ngarando-Faraway is For Sale! </FONT> <P><FONT SIZe=2 FACE="Courier New"> This small resort on beautiful Pigeon Island only needs capital to become a money spinner. <br />Uniquely, Pigeon is leased until 2052; Tourism will take off when an airfield only 3 miles away is completed in 1988, and NOW is the time to invest.<P> US$500,000 will purchase everything on the island, including a profitable store, bar one acre to be used in their retirement by Tom and Diana Hepworth. </STRONG> </CENTER> </FONT> </TD> </TR> </TABLE> <CENTER> Tom's advertisement in the mid-1980s <BR>Click <A HREF="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Pigeon+Island/@-10.3035171,166.2926835,777m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x6f1d57c0232d0437:0xb00927b6e88c637e!8m2!3d-10.3035037!4d166.2947936?hl=en-AU" target="_blog">here</A> for a GOOGLE-view of Pigeon Island</CENTER>
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Thankfully, they were now in contact with the world through the Internet and we began to send each other emails. Ben's mother, Diana, emailed me to suggest that I should come and 'house-sit' the island while she and Ben would go on what she felt may be her last chance of a 'round-the-world trip, planned for the year 2003.
Again, reality intervened for me but I did offer to put up a webpage for them to try to attract some other suitable 'house-sitters'. She mentioned that in early 1998 a Lucy Irvine had come to Pigeon Island and during her year-long stay on Pigeon Island written the book "FARAWAY".
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhog8dEaTe0-xBRGap5dXCL4_9ZWvvQrwOxK85I7mTD_0shNlUz3nAJqftfxUBYIbXUeMhzMVi2rHxWv2c7KhvJbN1iFcGo8WoT_zEINzb9kq5A8bIkx0e8NAqk-cEQ8eZcIIOrDiYesa9N8WRQmSM6Rc_btZ_hx__pZPJbLoKvEMpMjbeEunBUwB5_jg/s500/bookfaraway.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="600" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhog8dEaTe0-xBRGap5dXCL4_9ZWvvQrwOxK85I7mTD_0shNlUz3nAJqftfxUBYIbXUeMhzMVi2rHxWv2c7KhvJbN1iFcGo8WoT_zEINzb9kq5A8bIkx0e8NAqk-cEQ8eZcIIOrDiYesa9N8WRQmSM6Rc_btZ_hx__pZPJbLoKvEMpMjbeEunBUwB5_jg/s600/bookfaraway.jpg" width="500"/></a></div>
<FONT SIZE="-2">In 1999, Lucy Irvine took her three children to the farthest corner of the Solomons to live for a year on remote Pigeon Island. The invitation came from an intrepid 80-year-old, Diana Hepworth, who set sail from England in search of a faraway paradise. This work tells of both their experiences. Read the book online at <A HREF="https://archive.org/details/faraway0000irvi_o4v4" target="_blog">www.archive.org</A></FONT>
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Had I heard of Lucy Irvine? I had indeed! I myself had spent ten months on tiny Thursday Island in the Torres Strait to the north of Australia in 1977. Lucy had 'marooned' herself and her 'husband' on even tinier Tuin Island just north of Thursday Island, for over a year from May 1981 to June 1982 and written a book about it. I had read that book, <A HREF="https://archive.org/details/castaway0000irvi_g1e1" target="_blog">"CASTAWAY"</A>, and also seen the <A HREF="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYefmkZLw1M&t=41s" target="_blog">movie</A>. Now I rushed out to get her book "FARAWAY" to read about Pigeon Island. After having read the book, I was somewhat relieved that I hadn't gone to Pigeon all those many years ago because far from living in a 'tropical paradise', the Hepworth family seems to have had more than their fair share of troubles. I have since had an email from one of the Pearces mentioned in Lucy's book: <A HREF="http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/anothertale.html" target="_blog">Another Pigeon Island tale</A>.
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Since I heard from Ben in late 2001, I have been in regular contact with Pigeon Island. Diana was able to find some suitable 'house-sitters' and in June 2003, she and Ben and his daughter went on their overseas trip during which they contacted me from the U.K. and the US.
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Then, while Padma and I were holidaying in Bundaberg in 2003, Ben called us from a motel in Brisbane before leaving on the next day's flight to Honiara. It came therefore as a complete shock to us when a few days later we received the following email:
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<TABLE align=center border=1 bordercolor="black" cellpadding=10 width="90%" bgcolor="white"><TR><TD bgcolor="white"> <font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Dear All, <P> My mother passed away at about 2.30pm on the 27th of August 2003. We were in a canoe, having left Lata about 15 minutes earlier, heading back to Pigeon Island after a 3 month around-the-world trip. We were still within the sheltered waters of Graciosa Bay when her spirit was taken. Mum and I had been talking 5 minutes earlier, but she left in a manner she had always wished for, suddenly. To me she appeared asleep, so it took a minute or so to realise what had happened. I felt her presence close by me as the others in the boat and myself tried to find her pulse. <P> She was buried next to Dad on Pigeon Island, according to her wish, in a funeral which reflected her long standing in the Reef Island community, with an overflowing of grief. Ross took quite a lot of video tape of the event.<P> Many of us have known the death of a loved one, like a hole that cannot quite be filled, a loss that cannot quite be redeemed, a reminder of man's mortality and God's omnipotence. Those of us who have a hope in eternal life can nonetheless put our trust in that some day, these tears will be wiped away forever. <P> It has been several days since Mum passed away, but I have not been able to inform anyone but our closest relatives until now. <P> To end on a bright note, Mum was able to see many of her friends, and her sisters, on the three month trip before departing this earth. It is a pity she did not get back to Pigeon Island before leaving this world, but our choice to leave is rarely left up to us. <P> God bless,<BR> Ben Hepworth </FONT> </TD> </TR> </TABLE>
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With Tom and Diana gone, that should have been the end of Pigeon Island, but according to the above YouTube clip which was uploaded in January 2020, one of the Hepworth twins, Ross, still lives on Pigeon Island. Perhaps I should write another letter, this time addressed to "Ross Hepworth, care of Pigeon Island Traders, Pigeon Island, Reef Islands, Solomon Islands."
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_vo4k1Wb1kunSQMuK_8166-O_0OLBENbyf06oQ5URPe39MlOowvud0BHWYJmVcfaKu3IIYEdtLptkZLZaacCorRq6AtRPvIgXEEdY9BUCa42ppcGgkXTSpJYl2M0AoMaHCQDYy0if7LNn/s1284/benhepworthcard.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="500" data-original-height="792" data-original-width="1284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_vo4k1Wb1kunSQMuK_8166-O_0OLBENbyf06oQ5URPe39MlOowvud0BHWYJmVcfaKu3IIYEdtLptkZLZaacCorRq6AtRPvIgXEEdY9BUCa42ppcGgkXTSpJYl2M0AoMaHCQDYy0if7LNn/s600/benhepworthcard.jpg" width="500"/></a></div><FONT SIZE="-2">Drumming up business for Ben? Why not! He could use it! Click <A HREF="https://www.visitsolomons.com.sb/tour/ngarando-island-resort/" target="_blog7">here</A><BR>(if h4e241a@sailmail.com is hard to reach; try tavakie@gmail.com)<BR>(for a brochure, click <A HREF="http://www.nelligennet.com/downloads/pigeonisland.pdf" target="_blog8">here</A>)</FONT>
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<P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171774181439414220.post-9805094651514492092023-04-28T13:49:00.002-07:002023-12-17T20:26:09.352-08:00Dedicated to Paul Erling Johnson and all the wandering souls out there<P>
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NJTdu309d3E" title="The Sailor | Biographical Documentary | Paul Johnson" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<FONT SIZE="-2">Click on FULL SCREEN and enjoy!<BR>This is a cautionary tale. By the time this movie was made, Paul Eling Johnson had become a bit of a sad sack who still lived on his boat alone, had nobody and no-one and his boat was in a barely floating condition, and he didn't sail anymore. He had found an accepting and non-judgemental community who treated him lovingly and with respect, despite his addiction and often wandering about in an enebriated state. A story of freedom bounded by alcohol and poverty. As the filmmakers stated, "This film is a contemplation about his choices after a lifetime of freedom before he embarked on his final journey of no return."</FONT>
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<span style="float:left;color:silver;font-size:140px;line-height:110px;padding-top:2px;font-family: times;">Y</span>ou know, when you go to <A HREF="https://www.youtube.com/" target="_blog">youtube.com</A>'s front page to search for something and you see a whole list of their latest "suggestions" which you normally ignore and move on from? ("This is the sort of nonsense up with which I will not put", I hear you whisper.)
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This morning I was going to type in "Yuval Noah Harari" to see if I could find something about his latest book "Unstoppable Us - How Humans Took Over the World", when I was facing their latest "suggestion" of <I>"The Sailor | Full Movie - What is the price of freedom? Paul Johnson sailed the world all his life. He loved, drank, and lived foolish, never truly living on land. Now he is turning eighty. What is at the end of such a journey? Is there loneliness?"</I>, uploaded as recently as Oct 18, 2022.
I hope YouTube won't delete it because, while this world-renowned sailor and builder of boats died in June 2021, aged 83, his legend lives on.
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My own sailing-days are well and truly over! The nearest I ever got to casting off completely was in 1974 when I worked for AIR NIUGINI in Port Moresby and saw a wooden yacht, "Spirit of Barbary", advertised for sale at Popondetta on the north coast of New Guinea. An old mate from my Bougainville days, Brian Herde, was also interested, and we flew across to spend a couple of days sailing and living aboard it, after which our minds seemed made up. I had just enough saved up to pay for my half of the boat, but Brian was notoriously reluctant to spend money and to sell even a tiny fraction of his many SANTOS shares, and so the deal was off.
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I've had a variety of small sailing boats ever since: in Port Moresby, in Lae, in Honiara - I even owned a small LASER on Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra! - and until recenly sailed my small motor-sailer, the "Lady Anne", up and down the Clyde River, but now my sailing-days are over!
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But I can dream, can't I? And so I keep a large library of sailing books, from Joshua Slocum's "Sailing Alone Around the World" and Francis Chichester's "Gipsy Moth Circles The World" to "The Long Way" by Bernard Moitessier and Robin Knox-Johnston's "A World of My Own".
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However, even that library is thinning out as I pass on the books before they become my funeral pyre. One of the lifeguards at the Aquatic Centre, Sam, owns a yacht with her partner, and they plan to head north again in May, and I've been feeding them with Alan Lucas's sailing instructions and "Fitting Out Below Decks" and "Fitting Out Above Decks".
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No more fitting out for me, but there's still time to watch this most poignant, beautiful film of this amazing sailor whose motto in life was "Never be afraid to be terrified."
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P.S. And here's the documentary of the making of the movie:
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TPoL19P_wps" title="Making of THE SAILOR - Film ep. 1" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/13hV-wOhRsU" title="Making of THE SAILOR - Trip ep. 2" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/z9vcyYS9ntw" title="Making of THE SAILOR - Paul Johnson ep. 3" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/f0RdQEnBsZ0" title="Making of THE SAILOR - Carriacou Island ep. 4" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4seBoJ2Fw9g" title="Making of THE SAILOR - Caribbean ep. 5" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<P> <P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171774181439414220.post-59545658196111795662023-03-10T22:19:00.007-08:002023-03-10T22:36:43.406-08:00My sailing days are over<P>
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<iframe width="500" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ptmn0L-LSqE" title="Videowest - Bernard Moitessier" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<span style="float:left;color:silver;font-size:140px;line-height:110px;padding-top:2px;font-family: times;">I</span>t's already been more than five years since I gave away most of my sailing books to a passing yachtie - <A HREF="http://nelligenyachtclub.blogspot.com/2018/02/the-book-thief.html" target="_blog">click here</A> - including the most treasured ones, three books by Bernard Moitessier, one of which I recently discovered at Vennies again: "The Long Way".
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I brought it home with me, and have just spent several hours sitting in the tree-house high above the Clyde River, in the company of this amazing Frenchman by reading "The Long Way" from cover to cover.
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHBzj6jLO0Qn6S42pZVGl7OenPUcckEqUjP672L2zXRH2rTdIkW5ojycwxQ6hyu-KaHJQ-i3YA7ZhsntXU6i7XB33A1f9miWfobiTp9HdBWWiBPB1SZIq3fkcns2pGICD_-hguIb8SMVP2rrdQMZmp5M5fCOt95Pd4AXy2dDbPoToMahAmD2tPFtkCXQ/s1920/1920px-Moitessier_Voyage_Joshua_1968-1969_map-fr.svg.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="500" data-original-height="882" data-original-width="1920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHBzj6jLO0Qn6S42pZVGl7OenPUcckEqUjP672L2zXRH2rTdIkW5ojycwxQ6hyu-KaHJQ-i3YA7ZhsntXU6i7XB33A1f9miWfobiTp9HdBWWiBPB1SZIq3fkcns2pGICD_-hguIb8SMVP2rrdQMZmp5M5fCOt95Pd4AXy2dDbPoToMahAmD2tPFtkCXQ/s600/1920px-Moitessier_Voyage_Joshua_1968-1969_map-fr.svg.png" width="500"/></a></div>
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My sailing days are over but I can dream - and so can you: <A HREF="https://archive.org/details/longway0000moit" target="_blog">click here</A>!
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I would live to read his memoirs next, "Tamata and the Alliance", which is online at <A HREF="https://archive.org/details/tamataalliance0000moit" target="_Blog">archive.org</A>, but there's no wifi in the treehouse.
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<P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171774181439414220.post-80621597647774980212023-02-25T20:16:00.010-08:002023-04-28T13:58:54.553-07:00An Island to Oneself<P>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp0V_gLCw71nMFOd6CvFLgX3L-5_9tdTzrAxrlYu00vdVFYh4ALZVpdMlY8PGCPyNfFfPZrovIteGI_XyfMzlhhC2I87UekdYiYbyiHU9mOKzBiKOwQNNx4xTgqKx-sNzD_zqCNY_xQ6PgTcZZo7zI5j5qdCWbxP9C3a9-KvwLE1whSYHTlL1ZEdR1Hw/s300/tomnealebook.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="700" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp0V_gLCw71nMFOd6CvFLgX3L-5_9tdTzrAxrlYu00vdVFYh4ALZVpdMlY8PGCPyNfFfPZrovIteGI_XyfMzlhhC2I87UekdYiYbyiHU9mOKzBiKOwQNNx4xTgqKx-sNzD_zqCNY_xQ6PgTcZZo7zI5j5qdCWbxP9C3a9-KvwLE1whSYHTlL1ZEdR1Hw/s600/tomnealebook.jpg" width="500"/></a></div>
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<span style="float:left;color:silver;font-size:160px;line-height:110px;padding-top:2px;font-family: times;">I</span>n a small op-shop, long since gone, on the shores of Burrill Lake I found a book. Places like this seem to attract abandoned dreams; yet, for a mere dollar I held in my hand the South Pacific dream, not abandoned, but lived out in 255 pages and 17 colour plates.
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People, and sometimes nations, fasten themselves to these rare books. "An Island to Oneself" was just such a book. Published in the sixties, with scant advertising support and authored by a man who had no literary reputation, this book has worked its way into the heart of South Pacific legend. The eccentric author was a humble 51-year-old New Zealander, Tom Neale, former navyman, storeman, and world-famous hermit.
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Although Tom was an avid reader he had never published anything until he wrote "An Island to Oneself", nor after, for that matter. This was a singular work of a lifetime. The voice of the author was stark and simple, concentrating on facts of a solo existence on Suvarov Atoll in the Cook Islands. The landscape was a remote, long-forgotten part of the South Pacific. None of this would have been at all popular at the time, nevertheless people discovered this book; they found it on their own, in musty second-hand bookstores and boat book swaps, without the benefit of marketing hype or midnight sales.
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For years I kept a copy on my boat. Every so often I would take it off the shelf, slide into my bunk and go back with Tom to his shack perched on Anchorage Island, half a mile long and three hundred yards wide, to the coconut palms and the boom of the surf on the reef and the time he steps ashore for the first time. His story is sketched out in stark sentences and dry chapter headings, beneath which burns a simple dream.
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Tom was gloriously out of step with his time, however, he managed to capture a collective revelation in his readers. Not long after "An Island to Oneself" went to print, society was ripe for change. Long-range cruising was beginning to gain popularity and was no longer the realm of a few courageous souls. Amongst these cruising folk Tom and his book found a following.
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Getting to Suvarov took thirty years of dreaming, patience and planning by Tom, fueled by a chance meeting with another South Seas legend, Robert Dean Frisbie. Frisbie had inhabited the island in the forties accompanied by his four young children. His experiences of Suvarov produced the classic South Seas adventure "Island of Desire". More important than his book was the fact that Frisbie had shown Tom a glimpse of the possible.
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In 1942 Frisbie had been almost wiped off the island by a cyclone, literally lashing himself and his children to a tree to survive the inundation of the sea. It was through this experience and other lesser storms that both these men were to come to know Suvarov intimately, savouring the fragility of the tiny island as both a blessing and a curse. At a maximum ten feet above sea level, existence on Suvarov became more akin to being at sea than on land. With the onset of inclement weather Tom would bury his tools and other items deemed necessary for survival; this was his only form of insurance.
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More than the weather it was the fragility of his own existence, which terrified Tom the most. Near the end of Tom's first stint on Suvarov, while on a planting expedition to a nearby island, the simple act of throwing out his dinghy's anchor dislocated his back rendering him near paralyzed and alone. The chance discovery of an emaciated Tom by an American yachtie named Rockefeller who nursed him back to health and spared him a lonely death could only be described as miraculous. This kind of fragility gave Tom a clarity to his existence and to his book.
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Trying to describe "An Island to Oneself" to the unread can be difficult. Tom's story is not just a book about living on a desert island. Its essence is larger than that. It's a book about a passion for simplicity; it's about being alone and doing alone. It tells us that life is incomplete without dreams and risk. It teaches the important and hard-to-appreciate truths that the ocean is beautiful and violent, that soil is precious and that there is a use for a bicycle pump on a desert island. It's a book about how to dream and how to live. It is a book that has become a place.
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"An Island to Oneself" leaves us in 1963 with Tom quitting the island. As Tom put it "the time had come to wake up from an exquisite dream before it turned into a nightmare". Tom's dream never quite released its powerful grip and in 1967 he returned to Suvarov for his final stint of ten years. The place and the man had become fused.
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For a man who lived so well, the obvious question is how did he go? It wasn't loneliness or even a cyclone that drove Tom from Suvarov; it was the cold grip of cancer that saw him on his way. Returning to Rarotonga he was treated by the notorious Dr Milan Brych, died and was buried in the RSA cemetery next to the airport. Tom's end could almost have been written by himself, with only the stark facts to console us.
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In a dark twist Suvarov's own future moved into darkness, with the atoll marked as the head quarters for a black pearl fishery. Tom's hut was going to be removed to make way for up to one hundred workers and the associated complexity of satellite TV and steak dinners.
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At the eleventh hour, just before the black pearl fishers turned up, something changed the view of the Cook Island's government on the value of Suvarov. Perhaps it was the political clout of his yachtie friends, or perhaps Tom's old book? For whatever reason, the atoll now remains as Tom found it, as the only National Park in the Cook Islands.
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We should all be so lucky to love our place in the world so much.
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Now sit back and read the book: click <A HREF="https://archive.org/details/islandtooneself0000tomn" target="_blog">here</A> or <A HREF="https://nelligennet.com/downloads/an_island_to_oneself.pdf" target="_blog">here</A>.
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P.S. My German yachting hero Rollo Gebhard visited Tom Neale twice. Read about it <A HREF="http://athomeatriverbend.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-voice-from-beyond-grave.html" target="_blog">here</A>.
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171774181439414220.post-34699069929171866672023-02-15T11:09:00.007-08:002023-10-20T01:54:26.937-07:00The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time<P>
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<iframe width="500" height="310" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LHvt48S9l4w" title="Longitude FULL MOVİE 2000 UK" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<span style="float:left;color:silver;font-size:100px;line-height:70px;padding-top:2px;font-family: times;">A</span>nyone alive in the eighteenth century would have known the "the longitude problem" was the thorniest scientific dilemma of the day - and had been for centuries. Lacking the ability to measure their longitude, sailors throughout the great ages of exploration had been literally lost at sea as soon as they lost sight of land. Thousands of lives, and the increasing fortunes of nations, hung on a resolution.
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The quest for a solution had occupied scientists and their patrons for the better part of two centuries when, in 1714, Parliament upped the ante by offering a king's ransom (£20,000) to anyone whose method or device proved successful. Countless quacks weighed in with preposterous suggestions. The scientific establishment throughout Europe - from Galileo to Sir Isaac Newton - had mapped the heavens in both hemispheres in its certain pursuit of a celestial answer. In stark contrast, one man, John Harrison, dared to imagine a mechanical solution - a clock that would keep precise time at sea, something no clock had ever been able to do on land.
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"Longitude" is the dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest, and of Harrison's forty-year obsession with building his perfect timekeeper, known today as the chronometer. Full of heroism and chicanery, brilliance and the absurd, it is also a fascinating brief history of astronomy, navigation, and clockmaking.
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_wE4NymOVvUMOYd8PVCm_KV_90qt3Tu3oickIs_p2ielKjOEuNEYkHNMRTd7QYu0_JA88-MwxdTT32L8F2OyUO4gBEGSR8vtwBGprVj7MWd03goSAQAAiRzo7qK1IdbA8YzA3VRO5MK7lsCj1VACuweWS9Vv-evF8qBKqLfsVcWVsnjJXE-XyS8gnog/s769/World%20Map%20Lat%20Long%20Continents%20Oceans.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="500" data-original-height="503" data-original-width="769" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_wE4NymOVvUMOYd8PVCm_KV_90qt3Tu3oickIs_p2ielKjOEuNEYkHNMRTd7QYu0_JA88-MwxdTT32L8F2OyUO4gBEGSR8vtwBGprVj7MWd03goSAQAAiRzo7qK1IdbA8YzA3VRO5MK7lsCj1VACuweWS9Vv-evF8qBKqLfsVcWVsnjJXE-XyS8gnog/s600/World%20Map%20Lat%20Long%20Continents%20Oceans.jpg" width="500"/></a></div><FONT SIZE="-2">Longitude is the measurement east or west of the prime meridian that runs through Greenwich, England. Half of the world, the Eastern Hemisphere, is measured in degrees east of the prime meridian. The other half, the Western Hemisphere, in degrees west of the prime meridian. Degrees of longitude are divided into 60 minutes. Each minute of longitude can be further divided into 60 seconds. For example, the longitude of Paris, France, is 2° 29' E (2 degrees, 29 minutes east). The longitude for Brasilia, Brazil, is 47° 55' W (47 degrees, 55 minutes west).
A degree of longitude is about 111 kilometers (69 miles) at its widest. The widest areas of longitude are near the Equator, where Earth bulges out. Because of Earth's curvature, the actual distance of a degrees, minutes, and seconds of longitude depends on its distance from the Equator. The greater the distance, the shorter the length between meridians. All meridians meet at the North and South Poles. </FONT>
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I picked up this beautifully turned-out hardcover edition of Dava Sobel's book at my favourite op-shop for a mere gold coin. I already have one copy, and this one is not for myself but for one of the lifeguards at the Aquatic Centre who with her partner will go a-sailing again in May on their yacht presently moored at Yorkey's Knob just north of Cairns.
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Of course, they have a Global Positioning Sydney (GPS) on board which gives them their position on the ocean within metres at the press of a button. For all I know, they may not even know the meaning of latitude and longitude but they will after they've read "Longitude".
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWlfdT3KeGgvZutXIyMKjf2hsGZZaaSrIj7UxLAIMFlet83gaMepmn-nDBIMdARakTRD0hbcFmkwYx0y23aWSq5KsIejR74OqtIFyLfPl-EDnTQjsrSHiemOpAKUPEPXCh7NzEdQhgz_a4jUMc5pFBuZY240EZ51v10oaQAA490A7JGQOrbjiJzH9dlg/s310/longitude.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="700" data-original-height="310" data-original-width="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWlfdT3KeGgvZutXIyMKjf2hsGZZaaSrIj7UxLAIMFlet83gaMepmn-nDBIMdARakTRD0hbcFmkwYx0y23aWSq5KsIejR74OqtIFyLfPl-EDnTQjsrSHiemOpAKUPEPXCh7NzEdQhgz_a4jUMc5pFBuZY240EZ51v10oaQAA490A7JGQOrbjiJzH9dlg/s600/longitude.jpeg" width="500"/></a></div>
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And so will you after you've read this book online at <A HREF="https://archive.org/details/longitudetruesto00sobe_0/mode/2up" target="_blog">www.archive.org</A>.
<P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171774181439414220.post-58898079159171820092023-02-11T14:46:00.004-08:002023-02-11T14:48:18.176-08:00In memory of Paul Erling Johnson<P>
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<iframe width="500" height="310" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Gh48B5mX29A" title="The Sailor | Full Movie" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<span style="float:left;color:silver;font-size:140px;line-height:110px;padding-top:2px;font-family: times;">Y</span>ou know, when you go to <A HREF="https://www.youtube.com/" target="_blog">youtube.com</A>'s front page to search for something and you see a whole list of their latest "suggestions" which you normally ignore and move on from? ("This is the sort of nonsense up with which I will not put", I hear you whisper.)
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This morning I was going to type in "Yuval Noah Harari" to see if I could find something about his latest book "Unstoppable Us - How Humans Took Over the World", when I was facing their latest "suggestion" of <I>"The Sailor | Full Movie - What is the price of freedom? Paul Johnson sailed the world all his life. He loved, drank, and lived foolish, never truly living on land. Now he is turning eighty. What is at the end of such a journey? Is there loneliness?"</I>, uploaded as recently as Oct 18, 2022.
I hope YouTube won't delete it because, while this world-renowned sailor and builder of boats died in June 2021, aged 83, his legend lives on.
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My own sailing-days are well and truly over! The nearest I ever got to casting off completely was in 1974 when I worked for AIR NIUGINI in Port Moresby and saw a wooden yacht, "Spirit of Barbary", advertised for sale at Popondetta on the north coast of New Guinea. An old mate from my Bougainville days, Brian Herde, was also interested, and we flew across to spend a couple of days sailing and living aboard it, after which our minds seemed made up. I had just enough saved up to pay for my half of the boat, but Brian was notoriously reluctant to spend money and to sell even a tiny fraction of his many SANTOS shares, and so the deal was off.
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I've had a variety of small sailing boats ever since: in Port Moresby, in Lae, in Honiara - I even owned a small LASER on Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra! - and until recenly sailed my small motor-sailer, the "Lady Anne", up and down the Clyde River, but now my sailing-days are over!
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But I can dream, can't I? And so I keep a large library of sailing books, from Joshua Slocum's "Sailing Alone Around the World" and Francis Chichester's "Gipsy Moth Circles The World" to "The Long Way" by Bernard Moitessier and Robin Knox-Johnston's "A World of My Own".
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However, even that library is thinning out as I pass on the books before they become my funeral pyre. One of the lifeguards at the Aquatic Centre, Sam, owns a yacht with her partner, and they plan to head north again in May, and I've been feeding them with Alan Lucas's sailing instructions and "Fitting Out Below Decks" and "Fitting Out Above Decks".
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No more fitting out for me, but there's still time to watch this most poignant, beautiful film of this amazing sailor whose motto in life was "Never be afraid to be terrified."
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P.S. And here's the documentary of the making of the movie:
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<iframe width="500" height="310" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TPoL19P_wps" title="Making of THE SAILOR - Film ep. 1" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="310" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/13hV-wOhRsU" title="Making of THE SAILOR - Trip ep. 2" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="310" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/z9vcyYS9ntw" title="Making of THE SAILOR - Paul Johnson ep. 3" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="310" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/f0RdQEnBsZ0" title="Making of THE SAILOR - Carriacou Island ep. 4" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="310" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4seBoJ2Fw9g" title="Making of THE SAILOR - Caribbean ep. 5" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171774181439414220.post-82480193475814063322022-12-29T02:34:00.010-08:002022-12-29T10:56:30.764-08:00Happy New Year from the Nelligen Yacht Club
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj-acynw-JeTRblxRTwk_QTR5DXREmYew-phCPWrgg8JC4SSUZQzZF21Lku6XpKVaLzDYLjuriQuxdqskP8ZB3S9pk8ZDplcF9JFb9cRadVo5kdXMlCJP8Z8VryNGt4j4YxKtCcs1uxkSlFoW_gkIpBwT87pwT2vP_0rQ4caC62LCE1v3SDWqRKD3Cvg/s480/happynewyearsemaphore.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="600" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj-acynw-JeTRblxRTwk_QTR5DXREmYew-phCPWrgg8JC4SSUZQzZF21Lku6XpKVaLzDYLjuriQuxdqskP8ZB3S9pk8ZDplcF9JFb9cRadVo5kdXMlCJP8Z8VryNGt4j4YxKtCcs1uxkSlFoW_gkIpBwT87pwT2vP_0rQ4caC62LCE1v3SDWqRKD3Cvg/s600/happynewyearsemaphore.jpg" width="500"/></a></div>
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The Commodore, Secretary, and Treasurer, P. Goerman, of the Nelligen Yacht Club wish its only Member, P. Goerman, a Happy New Year!
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<P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171774181439414220.post-71687569378187725922022-12-21T02:54:00.001-08:002022-12-29T02:55:08.535-08:00Das Rätsel der Sandbank<P>
I've just found a completely new version of "Das Rätsel der Sandbank" ("The Riddle of the Sands")
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<iframe width="500" height="310" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/whGK-W97Th0" title="Das Rätsel der Sandbank (Episode 1/10)" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="310" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lz7QztzCRls" title="Das Rätsel der Sandbank (Episode 2/10)" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="310" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/y25SYGDQDw4" title="Das Rätsel der Sandbank (Episode 3/10)" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="310" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EsbgCqJJ0yw" title="Das Rätsel der Sandbank (Episode 4/10)" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="310" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Q2-ML-nqkq0" title="Das Rätsel der Sandbank (Episode 5/10)" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="310" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KremxdMN2Ks" title="Das Rätsel der Sandbank (Episode 6/10)" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="310" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_WWJVa6zJ4s" title="Das Rätsel der Sandbank (Episode 7/10)" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="310" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NSfR8byiZs0" title="Das Rätsel der Sandbank (Episode 8/10)" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="310" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/p7Vnk9K8LHQ" title="Das Rätsel der Sandbank (Episode 9/10)" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="310" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aX5z-NgSzBA" title="Das Rätsel der Sandbank (Episode 10/10)" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<!---
https://archive.org/details/das-ratsel-der-sandbank
--->Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171774181439414220.post-7548685710244365322022-07-31T19:20:00.009-07:002023-03-10T21:41:38.677-08:00A voice from beyond the grave<P>
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dkn3MdLMLVE" title="Rollo Gebhard, Weltumsegler und Gründer der GRD" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<BR><FONT SIZE="-2">A trailer from the movie "Ein Mann und sein Boot" which shows Rollo Gebhard's<BR>third circumnaviagtion in 1983 when he was accompanied by his wife Angelika Gebhard.</font>
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When Joshua Slocum left Boston in 1895 in his 11.20m-long gaff-rigged sloop oyster boat named "Spray" to become the first person to single-handedly circumnavigate the world, he was 51 years old.
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The Panama Canal hadn't even been built yet, and Slocum had to take the dangerous route around Cape Horn. You can read about his more-than-three-year-year-long voyage in "Sailing Alone Around the World".
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When Rollo Gebhard left Genoa in Italy in August 1967 in his 7.25m-long yacht "Solveig III" on his first of two single-handed circumnavigations, he was 46 years old. It took him just under three years, and he chose the Panama Canal instead because it was there. His second single-handed circumnavigation in the same boat at the age of 53 took him over four years, from March 1975 to November 1979, and he, too, wrote a book about it (in German), "Ein Mann und sein Boot - 4 Jahre allein um die Welt" ("A Man and his Boat - 4 years alone around the world").
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFcDlgv8YPXY294xew3NVrvVVmfrNOCaSqT-YxFwk5yriXVtSnOY1FHRFUVzd7hg3fZQZQbvbx7u3CkCZRhP9KG6anR8ZHUYwZgv0i1haBOh2MVdf7_JYmRwtkDT5A9425KSH1UHC_KLw52FEgOOvIHT3cfcdRn9Qdk0oL_KoCTYFGgKKE9SqrS4GWxg/s858/einmannundseinbo0000gebh_0001.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="800" data-original-height="858" data-original-width="593" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFcDlgv8YPXY294xew3NVrvVVmfrNOCaSqT-YxFwk5yriXVtSnOY1FHRFUVzd7hg3fZQZQbvbx7u3CkCZRhP9KG6anR8ZHUYwZgv0i1haBOh2MVdf7_JYmRwtkDT5A9425KSH1UHC_KLw52FEgOOvIHT3cfcdRn9Qdk0oL_KoCTYFGgKKE9SqrS4GWxg/s600/einmannundseinbo0000gebh_0001.jpg" width="500"/></a></div><FONT SIZE="-2">If you can read German, you can read the book online at <A HREF="https://archive.org/details/einmannundseinbo0000gebh/mode/2up" target="_blog">www.archive.org</A></FONT>
</CENTER>
<P>
<P>
What made this book particularly interesting to me was Rollo's meeting with Tom Neale on Suwarrow Atoll. Not only did he visit him on his <A HREF="https://archive.org/details/islandtooneselft00neal" target="_blog">"Island to Oneself"</A> on both his first and second circumnavigation, but he also wrote that he had taped an interview with Tom in November 1976.
<P>
<P>
He wrote about it in "Ein Mann und sein Boot" in German but how much better would it be to hear it in English from the man himself! I emailed Rollo's wife Angelika Gebhard in Bad Wiessee in Germany who promptly replied, <I>"In dem Film über die zweite Allein-Weltumsegelung (1975-79) meines Mannes ist ein Interview mit Tom Neale enthalten. Der Film wurde damals im ZDF ausgestrahlt."</I> ("The interview is included in the movie my husband made during his second circumnavigation which back then had gone to air on the commercial television station ZDF.")
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVAJIIob0bktpa6xo0YE-h7pFScEvWXx_ufS5aFW9jLrV87u58weMSDmjYXqZeThHmAmaGpbLFZ6NqXOZOwI59PfHq5X7yAR7XynnCnwxjehk-PaC-HHBTuua2qSbjZASMuOQAcWp-aP7xxi2vKYB4AWmX3xXlcA7Hag9LkeuXH6wGsUe34MK0KsncRw/s702/2WeltumsegelungTeil1_TS.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="500" data-original-height="572" data-original-width="702" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVAJIIob0bktpa6xo0YE-h7pFScEvWXx_ufS5aFW9jLrV87u58weMSDmjYXqZeThHmAmaGpbLFZ6NqXOZOwI59PfHq5X7yAR7XynnCnwxjehk-PaC-HHBTuua2qSbjZASMuOQAcWp-aP7xxi2vKYB4AWmX3xXlcA7Hag9LkeuXH6wGsUe34MK0KsncRw/s600/2WeltumsegelungTeil1_TS.jpg" width="500"/></a></div>
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How to get hold of that movie? It was not on YouTube - except for the short trailer shown above - and not available on ebay or anywhere else. Frau Gebhard had the solution, <I>"Das ZDF besitzt die Urheberrechte an dem Film, und ich vermute, dass es sehr schwierig bis unmöglich sein wird, ihn über das ZDF zu erwerben. Aber ich habe den Film, den wir für die Vorträge geschnitten haben. Ich könnte Ihnen den Teil mit dem Interview zukommen lassen, wenn Sie den Film nur privat einsetzen."</I> ("The television station owns the copyrights to the movie, and it would be difficult if not impossible to get a copy. However, I could send you a copy of the part containing the interview for your own personal use.")
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVBW3KqylY9lbkV2QEX7vHUIkyMDyqXBdO88hD-ICZSW9ps9Z-qWv8LuodAkwk92GWksaXvq-THyqOWJQq9g9V4RGj0ZR6IGur43ak2q-UYpa6JHdRjuzvcR8YW_jQNwx6oeRqy9cwQuqDEnPAlKRaqkO-cbnIo5Dyej3Wj5uZRwNy-qVHIAITyFZF1Q/s1199/tomnov1976.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="500" data-original-height="934" data-original-width="1199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVBW3KqylY9lbkV2QEX7vHUIkyMDyqXBdO88hD-ICZSW9ps9Z-qWv8LuodAkwk92GWksaXvq-THyqOWJQq9g9V4RGj0ZR6IGur43ak2q-UYpa6JHdRjuzvcR8YW_jQNwx6oeRqy9cwQuqDEnPAlKRaqkO-cbnIo5Dyej3Wj5uZRwNy-qVHIAITyFZF1Q/s600/tomnov1976.png" width="500"/></a></div><FONT SIZE="-2">Tom Neale being interviewed by Rollo Gebhard on Suwarrow in November 1976</FONT>
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<P>
<P>
And so it came to pass that for the first time ever I was able to listen to the voice of my long-time hero Tom Neale and watch him as he was interviewed by my new hero, Rollo Gebhard. Obviously, I cannot show you the footage for copyright reasons but I can give you a transcript:
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<CENTER>
<TABLE WITH="400"><TR><TD>
(Rollo) "You have done something many people dream about. You are living on a small island far away from civilisation. Are you happy?"
<P>
<I>(Tom) "Yes, yes, I'm happy here."</I>
<P>
(Rollo) "And would you recommend this lifestyle to other people?"
<P>
<I>(Tom) "No, not exactly. I would have to know a person very, very well first before I could recommend a life like this. You must remember, before I came here I had many years of experience of life in these Pacific islands and I knew what to expect. How could I tell if someone else could cope with things here or whether he could stand being alone. We are not all the same, you know. I'm a person who doesn't mind being alone. I've always been that way, more or less."</I>
</TD></TR></TABLE>
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<P>
One, no, <I>two</I> voices from beyond the grave because Tom Neale died the following year in Rarotonga, aged 75, and Rollo Gebhard passed away at his home in Bad Wiessee in 2013, aged 92. Two lives well lived!
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzJOzzouI1sYgu3Y2D-r2_3BfvU7LxqaafQEtkxUM7tNmenTpHB7j5wEIJNm6EbgKkLsMUf74rVHO7Ip4EnsMsRRYRpebxpS28O-DJLC3rR-o6L-9UpLBRgxQyB2zoXj6j7QiaLlre2JBS6qgfkrwknnUzUCFFL6at--HQv06jqkCIGjevex4-3488SQ/s1080/rolloangelika.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="800" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="709" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzJOzzouI1sYgu3Y2D-r2_3BfvU7LxqaafQEtkxUM7tNmenTpHB7j5wEIJNm6EbgKkLsMUf74rVHO7Ip4EnsMsRRYRpebxpS28O-DJLC3rR-o6L-9UpLBRgxQyB2zoXj6j7QiaLlre2JBS6qgfkrwknnUzUCFFL6at--HQv06jqkCIGjevex4-3488SQ/s600/rolloangelika.jpg" width="500"/></a></div><FONT SIZE="-2">Rollo and Angelika Gebhard promoting their <A HREF="https://www.delphinschutz.org/unser-verein/gruender-der-grd-rollo-gebhard/" target="_blog">"Society to Save the Dolphins"</A></FONT>
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<P>
<P>
Thank you, Frau Gebhard, for allowing me to view this rare and historic movie clip, and I wish you continuing success with the <A HREF="https://www.delphinschutz.org/" target="_blog">"Gesellschaft zur Rettung der Delphine (GRD)"</A> ("Society to Save the Dolphins"), started in 1991 by your husband and of which you are still the chairperson.
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<!----
some great links at https://wiki.edu.vn/wiki28/2021/11/10/suwarrow-wikipedia/
https://www.angelikagebhard.de/
https://newsrnd.com/news/2021-07-26-it-fills-the-legacy-of-rollo-gebhard-with-life.S1WVXU7hR_.html about Angelika
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWGe6yiDU0Q Tom Neale's interview
https://nelligennet.com/tomnealerollo.html
https://nelligennet.com/tomnealerollo2.html Tom Neale interview
http://www.terra-human.de/journal/web_entry.php?id=74
Rollo
Rollo Gebhard (7 July 1921 – 27 December 2013) was a German multiple single hand maritime circumnavigator and author of books.[
His father was a private scholar. The family lived in many places around Europe. In WW II, he served in the Air Force (Luftwaffe) as a photographer. In 1956 he bought his first boat, Solveig I (Swedish: sun-strength). With this dinghy he sailed to the Red Sea. With his wooden Solveig II he crossed the Atlantic in 1963 single handed. SY Solveig III was his third boat, actually a yacht. He did two round the world cruises single handed with that from 1967 to 1970 and 1975.
In 1983 he started off to an 8-year cruise with his girl friend Angelika Zilcher (later his wife), including a term of 6 month without a stop. Soon after in 1991, he founded a Society for dolphin conservation.
From 2001 to 2003, he did a Europe-Russia-Europe cruise with his 7th boat Solveig VII, a Dutch-built motorcruiser.
He published several books about his trips and about sailing itself.
==========================================
Slocum
Born February 20, 1844
Mount Hanley, Nova Scotia
Disappeared November 14, 1909 (aged 65)
At sea
On April 24, 1895, he set sail from Boston, Massachusetts. In his famous book, Sailing Alone Around the World,[16] now considered a classic of travel literature, he described his departure in the following manner:
More than three years later, on June 27, 1898, he returned to Newport, Rhode Island, having circumnavigated the world and sailing a distance of more than 46,000 miles (74,000 km). Slocum's return went almost unnoticed. The Spanish–American War, which had begun two months earlier, dominated the headlines. After the end of major hostilities, many American newspapers published articles describing Slocum's adventure.
The Panama Canal is an artificial 82 km waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit for maritime trade. Wikipedia
Date extended: June 26, 2016; 6 years ago
Length: 82 km (51 miles)
Date completed: August 15, 1914; 107 years ago
Construction started: 4 May 1904
ZDF is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all federal states of Germany. ZDF is financed by television licence fees and advertising revenues.
das ZDF besitzt die Urheberrechte an dem Film, und ich vermute, dass es sehr schwierig bis unmöglich sein wird, ihn über das ZDF zu erwerben.
Aber ich habe den Film, den wir für die Vorträge geschnitten haben.
Ich könnte Ihnen den Teil mit dem Interview per wetransfer zukommen lassen, wenn Sie den Film nur privat einsetzen.
--->Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171774181439414220.post-30964015570024324432022-03-05T23:15:00.002-08:002022-03-05T23:17:19.698-08:00The true story<P>
<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9RlLgfvv7XQ" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<P>
This is the true tale of Richard Phillips, the captain of a cargo ship taken hostage by Somali pirates in 2009.
<P>
Through this documentary our exploration into the Captain Phillips true story, we learned that the Maersk Alabama container ship had been on a voyage from Salalah, Oman to Mombasa, Kenya when it was attacked by Somali pirates on April 8, 2009. After observing the pirate boats headed his way, the real Captain Phillips used his radio to fake a call to the U.S. Navy. He disguised his voice to play the role of the Navy responder, hoping that the incoming pirates would overhear the communication and believe that assistance was on the way. It worked and the pirate mother-ship and two of its accompanying speedboats turned back (in the movie there is one less speedboat), leaving only one pirate speedboat in pursuit of the Alabama.
<P>
The crew of the Maersk Alabama activated the ship's fire hoses. Captain Phillips fired flares at the pirates and the ship was steered so that it would sway back and forth. However, the pirates eventually still managed to throw up a ladder and board the ship, taking the bridge.
<P>
However, according to Chief Engineer Mike Perry, the real Captain Phillips didn't lock the bridge even when the attacking pirates were known to be on board. "Even at that point he didn't lock 'em," says Perry. Most of the crew members fled below deck and locked themselves in the engine room, remaining there for over twelve hours in 130 degree heat, while Phillips and three other crew members were held at gunpoint.
<P>
Captain Richard Phillips and several crew members did try to offer the Somalian pirates $30,000 from the ship's safe, but they wanted much more. The pirates still took the money and had it with them when they fled the ship in the lifeboat. However, after the Navy shot the three Somalian pirates and boarded the lifeboat to rescue Captain Phillips, they found no trace of the $30,000. The money has never been recovered.
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<P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171774181439414220.post-12401499290691798822022-01-13T21:55:00.006-08:002022-01-13T21:56:15.624-08:00Four-Masted Barque rounding Cape Horn 1928 - Captain Irving<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZLzBDhilDL0" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171774181439414220.post-18192245891710345642021-12-11T15:39:00.007-08:002023-03-10T21:42:18.578-08:00Einmal im Hafen nur schlafen<P>
<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FBammFxiJzY" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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In Hamburg kann man jetzt auf einem historischen hundert Jahre alten und fünfundfünzig Meter langen Binnenschiff einmal im Hafen nur schlafen.
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<P>
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<TABLE WIDTH="350"><TR><TD>
Schön ist die Liebe im Hafen,<BR>
schön ist die Liebe zur See.<BR>
Einmal im Hafen nur schlafen,<BR>
sagt man nicht gerne a-dé.<BR>
<P>
Schön sind die Mädchen im Hafen.<BR>
treu sind sie nicht aber neu.<BR>
Auch nicht mit Fürsten und Grafen<BR>
tauschen wir jungens A-hoi.<BR>
<P>
Auch nicht mit Fürsten und Grafen<BR>
tauschen wir jungens A-hoi.<BR>
</TD></TR></TABLE>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYmGDmYKF4Ebzi-M7b8SsbTeekWp4w1L5WFsQIpbJf9YR0nEsL5M2D1pDhtlNTfgYMAr9Sic9YQannQH_q9UQX6tVKUhMmkVJlK2afoioHYUPJij-LnWDf6IKqt_29RGFLj3MKQk7zMgs/s960/lydios.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="500" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYmGDmYKF4Ebzi-M7b8SsbTeekWp4w1L5WFsQIpbJf9YR0nEsL5M2D1pDhtlNTfgYMAr9Sic9YQannQH_q9UQX6tVKUhMmkVJlK2afoioHYUPJij-LnWDf6IKqt_29RGFLj3MKQk7zMgs/s600/lydios.jpg" width="500"/></a></div><FONT SIZE="-2">Geh' zur Webseite <A HREF="https://schlafenimhafen.de/" target="_blog3"><U>www.schlafenimhafen.de</U></A></FONT>
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<P>
Die "Lydios", Baujahr 1914, war jahrzehntelang als Schüttgutfrachter auf Europas Flüssen und Kanälen unterwegs. Sie hatte Kohle, Salz, Sand oder Viehfutter geladen – bis zu 620 Tonnen davon. Im Oktober 2018 begann sie im Museumshafen Hamburg-Harburg ihr zweites Leben als Hotelschiff.
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn765IpPs02c7YsIt-YKSClsTu5-qR-EyYFh_5yUPwF4EN311p-3i4mhWQXqShCXXdddyVztoDZVAUixuLb6L0gPzPhyphenhyphen8Fa04yVuM3N8XPUv4eSWpyCc1vqh6fN0paFtiLNqbrKR37eJrm/s2048/hafen1.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="500" data-original-height="1361" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn765IpPs02c7YsIt-YKSClsTu5-qR-EyYFh_5yUPwF4EN311p-3i4mhWQXqShCXXdddyVztoDZVAUixuLb6L0gPzPhyphenhyphen8Fa04yVuM3N8XPUv4eSWpyCc1vqh6fN0paFtiLNqbrKR37eJrm/s600/hafen1.jpg" width="500"/></a></div>
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Marcel Klovert, Baujahr 1968, stammt aus Rotterdam und lebt seit mehr als 25 Jahren in Hamburg. Während seiner Elternzeit in Asien kam ihm die Idee, ein Schiff zu kaufen und zu einem Hotel umzubauen.
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Wie Schiff und Mensch zueinander fanden und was danach passierte, seht ihr in diesem Film.
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_pEXqodMjP0" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe><BR><FONT SIZE="-2">Um weitere Filme zu sehen, klicke <A HREF="https://schlafenimhafen.de/hotel-schiff-hamburg-presse/" target="_blog7"><U>hier</U></A></FONT>
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Träume nicht dein Leben; lebe deinen Traum!
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Heike, Marcel und Tom, wann macht Ihr Leinen los nach Australien?
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<!---
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Wmtx2oxzDo
Lyrics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBammFxiJzY
https://www.facebook.com/Schiffshotel.Kanal77/
https://schlafenimhafen.de/en/home/
--->Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171774181439414220.post-34419140939428656592021-11-13T17:54:00.001-08:002021-11-13T17:55:21.056-08:00All Is Lost<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gphb5ESkZF0" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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"All Is Lost" is a 2013 survival drama. Its title is a nod to E. W. Hornung's observation that when courage is lost, "all is lost".
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The film stars Robert Redford as a man lost at sea. Redford is the only cast member, and the film has 51 spoken English words.
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171774181439414220.post-75663918159653753862021-05-30T14:40:00.001-07:002021-05-30T14:42:32.442-07:00Why is this guy so at ease when his boat seems to be sinking, with no land or rescue in sight?<P>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD0m66CA2MARATkBVcC1smRtoZfUJ-h0rKJi3eeo5Q9xtT0-mrwzDtO8yX1KLvc_pC41i1HOyClMQuGUfK4O5oNz3L4hjsZiQawvFL6O0DpxTxpkv0NU0Ld9Y7ZQATqSBR2Rh9l8-sjEgM/s1024/jpg_pres_retouche-0e305-1024x6821.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="600" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD0m66CA2MARATkBVcC1smRtoZfUJ-h0rKJi3eeo5Q9xtT0-mrwzDtO8yX1KLvc_pC41i1HOyClMQuGUfK4O5oNz3L4hjsZiQawvFL6O0DpxTxpkv0NU0Ld9Y7ZQATqSBR2Rh9l8-sjEgM/s600/jpg_pres_retouche-0e305-1024x6821.jpg" width="500"/></a></div>
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<span style="float:left;color:silver;font-size:100px;line-height:70px;padding-top:2px;font-family: times;">T</span>he man is Julien Berthier, the boat is called Love-love, and neither of them are actually sinking.
Berthier is a French artist, and this boat is his most famous work.
<P>
Berthier took an abandoned yacht, cut it in half, and designed a new keel which allowed him to sail it at the odd angle seen in the photo. He caused quite a stir in 2008 by sailing it up London’s River Thames, having to frequently assure passers-by that, “Non, non, I am fine, really!”
<P>
Berthier insists that he always gives prior notice to coast guards and harbor authorities before taking the boat out for a spin, which is powered by an electric motor. The curator of the Thames exhibition, Caroline Jones, said, “I always thought that this is an optimistic piece because it never really sinks.” The work has since been sold to an unidentified art collector for a reported 50,000 pounds.
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4LAizOjVMFYEsmlcWB9cWNdV6PUdsGoPZ3YpDHv-vP1EgsMhnVTXesYHKYqH8ovGMN6MN3mAvLrhQIi1_-BtJNR5KI0vmIt9UfNZ009NgDaUX0i3RWZ74a8Rd3U-qBtpHP8LLeBMEtZke/s1024/sinking.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="600" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4LAizOjVMFYEsmlcWB9cWNdV6PUdsGoPZ3YpDHv-vP1EgsMhnVTXesYHKYqH8ovGMN6MN3mAvLrhQIi1_-BtJNR5KI0vmIt9UfNZ009NgDaUX0i3RWZ74a8Rd3U-qBtpHP8LLeBMEtZke/s600/sinking.jpg" width="500"/></a></div>
<!---
https://asa.com/news/2011/02/16/julien-berthiers-perpetually-sinking-boat/
https://www.futilitycloset.com/page/48/
--->Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171774181439414220.post-41973953083319344142021-02-23T20:25:00.009-08:002023-10-20T02:02:19.808-07:00The Riddle of the Sands<P>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ5vL5_lAmI40QU_yQB3AeRUKNZvJBkCpOqBAb_QwUCmOZCCOK15mBU3_J-dzb50pQtEN0pKfJqj4Nf9WBb6bORrovqURvJiw4IAZHBn_x3Zj8qLpS0RBv4Ib5krtbGEqAW5SGFVewC2HC/s475/riddleofthesands.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="600" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ5vL5_lAmI40QU_yQB3AeRUKNZvJBkCpOqBAb_QwUCmOZCCOK15mBU3_J-dzb50pQtEN0pKfJqj4Nf9WBb6bORrovqURvJiw4IAZHBn_x3Zj8qLpS0RBv4Ib5krtbGEqAW5SGFVewC2HC/s600/riddleofthesands.jpg" width="500"/></a></div>
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<span style="float:left;color:silver;font-size:100px;line-height:70px;padding-top:2px;font-family: times;">E</span>ven if its author had died peacefully in bed instead of before a firing squad in a dingy barracks, "The Riddle of the Sands" would have been a noteworthy book. To many it was the classical Secret Service novel; to successive generations of amateur yachtsmen it has been the preeminent yarn about inshore sailing in fair weather and foul; while to its author and original readers on the eve of World War I it was above all a cautionary tale, admonishing the British Government and people to look to their North Sea defenses while there was yet time.
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More like fact than fiction, it holds a special place in the affections of spy-novel fans for its richness of technical detail about inshore sailing, its highly sympathetic characters, a setting and plot that recapture the European political scene of the time, and an unsurpassed narrative style which is evident from the very beginning:
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUszCl7udOVFmE5u1p3JOZXyKAcIP9JE3YUfzQozGH9MCUgtlJKBlPf9QeYoaHL0thDvcabbgJBiq7uQAqCEyVFtFQISNJam9vF2xU20SzkEDW7ClXZRqvQG3GcHldBsHCENfv09XzoME5/s477/riddle.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="600" data-original-height="477" data-original-width="377" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUszCl7udOVFmE5u1p3JOZXyKAcIP9JE3YUfzQozGH9MCUgtlJKBlPf9QeYoaHL0thDvcabbgJBiq7uQAqCEyVFtFQISNJam9vF2xU20SzkEDW7ClXZRqvQG3GcHldBsHCENfv09XzoME5/s600/riddle.png" width="500"/></a></div>
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Want to continue? Click <A HREF="https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.262011/page/n13/mode/2up" target="_blog2">here</A>.
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The book was made into a German and an English movie (each with a somewhat different ending!), the English version starring Michael York and Simon MacCorkindale as Carruthers and Davies, who discover nefarious doings by Germans while on a yachting holiday off the Frisian Islands in the North Sea. For much of the time, you might be forgiven for thinking that the film might've been better titled "Two Men in a Boat", but I loved the detail about sailing and all the scenes of the sea and the German coast (it is the Dutch coast that was filmed, I think).
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A perfect book to read, a perfect movie to watch, a perfect radio play to listen to on a cool and grey day by the river! Here are all three:
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<UL>
<LI> the book <A HREF="https://archive.org/details/riddleofsandsrec0000chil" target="_blog">"The Riddle of the Sands"</A> and "Das Rätsel der Sandbank"<BR>
<LI> the radio play <A HREF="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQd8KrV3YZI" target="_blog">in English</A> and <A HREF="https://archive.org/details/das-ratsel-der-sandbank" target="_blog">in German</A><BR>
<LI> the movie <A HREF="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjsUmsVFPpk&t=3s" target="_blog">in English</A> and <A HREF="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwmmjEpQIuc&list=PLNtEakbQtqV6BGAqrlU9-1NMdjIbk6x1O&index=3" target="_blog">in German</A> (sorry, only trailers)<BR>
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And here's the full-length version of the excellent English movie. Watch it before YouTube removes it again!
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xemXMFHifNk" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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P.S. ... and anyone who loves "The Riddle of the Sands" will love Sam Llewellyn's sequel, "The Shadow in the Sands" - click <A HREF="https://archive.org/details/shadowinsandsbe00llew" target="_blog10">here</A>. A more than decent sequel to the original - 'Carruthers' and 'Davies' feature under their 'real' names (and here Childers is Carruthers, though I've seen elsewhere that he is Davies) - but the action is a year later and focuses on Captain Charlie Webb, chartered to crew for former Lancers Captain Dacre on the yacht Gloria. The two books are best read back-to-back, even if 'The Riddle of the Sands' has been read previously. Re-reading that before launching into 'The Shadow in the Sands' gives the proper background for the follow-up tale, and adds to the enjoyment.
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171774181439414220.post-32212039164260020312020-09-17T17:15:00.007-07:002023-03-10T21:45:21.191-08:00Isn't the world a small place?<P>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj-PEvLdSmSN1rLRCydy72izTxsfgkO40b1adICdwtQ9ZdxX2OEJy7BuR-jjtlba4tVOtUjgpUNeYCnucckuTXozWyWe-lofhyfPue9mS04IGsQZuInh4hkRJf2zE9ivERtZdkIR3jIgyl/s332/IMG-20200917-WA0005_resized.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="500" data-original-height="187" data-original-width="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj-PEvLdSmSN1rLRCydy72izTxsfgkO40b1adICdwtQ9ZdxX2OEJy7BuR-jjtlba4tVOtUjgpUNeYCnucckuTXozWyWe-lofhyfPue9mS04IGsQZuInh4hkRJf2zE9ivERtZdkIR3jIgyl/s600/IMG-20200917-WA0005_resized.jpg" width="500"/></a></div><FONT SIZE="-2">Elaine and Neil (who doesn't like his photo taken)</FONT>
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By way of another late birthday celebration, we just had a seafood lunch with our good neighbours Elaine and Neil at the Innes Boatshed in the Bay when I saw a big burly chap and his mate feeding the seagulls at an adjoining table.
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The back of his t-shirt was emblazoned with the words "Torres Strait", so I leant across and asked, "Are you two from Thursday Island?"
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"No, not exactly, but we know it well", was the reply. The small guy turned out to be Captain Bruce 'Wildcard' Davey of Wildcard Luxury Cruises, and the big chap his mate Grant. They'd just come into port on their 36-foot trawler-rigged boat "Coralie" before heading farther south to Bermagui.
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOO1hF-kwS87VndFZNhYRMvJR6b8p1AIL22XVjgkz87u6pE5fXeQBx_6iWwdxdxix3nWAYX37d75JBKeL6TJ8wNtHb49qL86ZWKWaTQ2KPFra8H4PP1DucXvVdJpLznNzlkh8qLBk7E3mK/s502/ticard1-page-001.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="500" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="502" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOO1hF-kwS87VndFZNhYRMvJR6b8p1AIL22XVjgkz87u6pE5fXeQBx_6iWwdxdxix3nWAYX37d75JBKeL6TJ8wNtHb49qL86ZWKWaTQ2KPFra8H4PP1DucXvVdJpLznNzlkh8qLBk7E3mK/s600/ticard1-page-001.jpg" width="500"/></a></div>
<A HREF="https://www.wildcardluxurycruises.com.au/" target="_blog1">www.wildcardluxurycruises.com.au</A>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSRAwqUwi6TjdMxv2uB9vn6CvEqNxW0p-nyB7pYHzA_m_7__O7ThWDKcrt3VNni_J16Gr7gKisU3GgkI9EEiSW-0IKTDSPREy9i8s36fqm266OiSydrNusn_OM-qtFqRIVLntCQIQm-VU2/s506/ticard2-page-001.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="500" data-original-height="308" data-original-width="506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSRAwqUwi6TjdMxv2uB9vn6CvEqNxW0p-nyB7pYHzA_m_7__O7ThWDKcrt3VNni_J16Gr7gKisU3GgkI9EEiSW-0IKTDSPREy9i8s36fqm266OiSydrNusn_OM-qtFqRIVLntCQIQm-VU2/s600/ticard2-page-001.jpg" width="500"/></a></div>
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<iframe width="500" height="350" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tJWPaBMgNOw" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="500" height="350" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QwdkeVab7xE" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<FONT SIZE="-2">More about Bruce Davey and Wildcard Luxury Cruises on YouTube</FONT>
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Of course, I told them that I had lived and worked on Thursday Island in 1977, and I told them of <A HREF="http://riverbendnelligen.com/dearall28.html" target="_blog3">my visit in 2005</A>. Had I known 'Bluey' Douglas, the skipper of the MV Melbidir? Not only had I known him but he had been my neighbour on Thursday Island who, when in port, would wake me up every morning with his incessant leatherwork; in fact, he had even pounded out a stubby holder for me inscribed with my name.
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihy8cJ19zz8dMbO5i2bVCKHQdutFV60XgaPT_C9ip22EvTECkenWOOuU0vislaQNmN63UPZXLOTfde-6yV0o0Wi_c5O5wUg68MfCpDFxRhT0dZEWhLA8EI5E1O8snZNy-B0VTYV3MOkJ1e/s1920/stubbyholder.JPG" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="700" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1080" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihy8cJ19zz8dMbO5i2bVCKHQdutFV60XgaPT_C9ip22EvTECkenWOOuU0vislaQNmN63UPZXLOTfde-6yV0o0Wi_c5O5wUg68MfCpDFxRhT0dZEWhLA8EI5E1O8snZNy-B0VTYV3MOkJ1e/s600/stubbyholder.JPG" width="500"/></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUUDTgJ5l_RYS9RO1jQV80mzMO0uS3XUZnz3xEKGhQL5xrloGcsfyoEOy__N0ImlPtyJeb3x0qiRBbA6_gm50_D0VYHviJZFJBfxsIca42S7DPQtBmF4mCcQEDO8_Y014urRyQp2db0uRD/s480/bluey.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="500" data-original-height="325" data-original-width="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUUDTgJ5l_RYS9RO1jQV80mzMO0uS3XUZnz3xEKGhQL5xrloGcsfyoEOy__N0ImlPtyJeb3x0qiRBbA6_gm50_D0VYHviJZFJBfxsIca42S7DPQtBmF4mCcQEDO8_Y014urRyQp2db0uRD/s600/bluey.jpg" width="500"/></a></div><FONT SIZE="-2">"Bluey" Douglas with MV Melbidir in the background, sometime in 1977</FONT>
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Not only had they known 'Bluey' but they also knew Ben Cropp; they knew Gary Duff and Tony Tardent<!---- click <A HREF="http://riverbendnelligen.com/dearall2807.html" target="_blog3">here</A> - --->; and skipper Bruce was best friend with the "Millionaire Castaway" Dave Glasheen on Restoration Island.
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We could've talked and talked but the fish and chips were getting cold. What an amazing chance encounter! And isn't the world a small place?
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P.S. Next morning received this email from "Honest Bruce Wildcard":
<P><I>
Delighted to meet you by chance at the Innes family's wonderful fish & chip Boatshed on the Clyde River yesterday 17th September 2020 Peter.
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Fancy meeting another who has had the good fortune of spending their formulative years living remotely on another of life's tempestuous adventures on Thursday Island in the beautiful Torres Straits.
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We enjoyed our overnite stay in Batemans Bay in full appreciation of Neil and Ben Innes looking after us and making us feel welcome in your beautiful wee seaside village.
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The Innes lads and the shop ladies cooked us up a huge free feed of local Albacore tuna, chips and salad washed down with brewed coffees for dinner last night. Delicious, got me a lil stiffy!
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A fishermen's chin wag together after of our epic ocean adventures on the 36' steely fishing boat Coralie to date since leaving Newcastle a week ago stopping and overniting at Nelsons Bay, Pittwater on the Hawksbury River, Sydney, Wollongong, Kiama, Greenwell Point, and last night at the welcoming Batemans Bay.
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It was quite rolly and rough tied up to the Starfish wharf last night after that stiff 20 knot Sou Easter popped up just after our arrival at midday. We were banging hard against the wharf pylons through the night on the tide change necessitating us to get up from our warm cosy, but small bed bunks to loosen off and double and triple up our mooring lines in the drizzling rain!
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Grant and I were up early this morning at 5.30am checking Coralie bilges, topped up the 8V 71 Detroit GM main engine and gearbox oils etc. Cleaned up around the boat a bit, throwing off the mooring ropes at 6am and departing Batemans Bay on our way 50 nautical miles to Bermagui today on far calmer seas expecting to arrive tonight.
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Today's weather forecast is glorious for steaming 8 knots south to Bermagui, 1-2 knots all day and small swells though turning nasty Saturday and Sunday 20-25 knots crappy Nor-Easterly on a 1-2 metre slop.
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Thank you sending me your emails and your blog. The Somerset Maugham story on <A HREF="http://riverbendnelligen.com/germanharry.html" target="_blog8">German Harry</A> is a classic story of isolation and adventures so hard for today's young generation to find and experience as we have in our long past youth!
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I've had an incredible exciting life of adventure as a 3rd-generation professional fisherman, growing up in Greenwell Point near Nowra, leaving Newington College Stanmore boarding school at 16 years old and heading straight to the Gulf of Carpentaria prawning where my wife Juanita and I owned two large prawn trawlers till the late 90s.
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We had our four young children onboard doing Cairns School of the Air, their own school teacher for nine years before heading off to Peace Lutheran boarding school in Cairns.
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All came back to the Wildcard family's fishing business after school as 4th-generation fishermen and now my two oldest boys Tiger and Tom run the fishing business in the Gulf of Carpentaria catching Spanish Mackerel with five wee 5.50-metre dories from Queensland's Cape York to the WA Kimberleys each fishing season July to Christmas.
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Based from Nhulunbuy January to April we operate Wildcard Luxury Cruises and Fishing Seafaris offering 8 or 12-day private cruising through Arnhem Land, Arnhem and Buckingham Bay barramundi fishing, cruising through the stunning Wessel Islands and back to Gove.
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Thanks putting the link to WLC website, Peter.
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Some links below to several film crews that have come out and filmed us Spanish Mackerel fishing for you to watch.
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I'm back in Batemans Bay in a week or so staying with Ben Innes. It would be great to catch up again for another chin way and more yarns of adventures.
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Bruce Wildcard xo<BR>
M: 0428114413<BR>
E: fvwildcard1@bigpond.com
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Fishing the Wild Season 2 Episode 9.
Jumping sharks of Cape Carnage.<BR>
Watch: <A HREF="https://youtu.be/GGNMEBd8cSY" target="_blog5">youtu.be/GGNMEBd8cSY</A>
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Andrew Ettinghausen Seafood Escape
Season 2 Episode 1 onboard FV Wildcard Spanish Mackerel fishing.<BR>
<A HREF="https://youtu.be/AdsXeuiXdqE" target="_blog5">youtu.be/AdsXeuiXdqE</A>
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A Marine Parks documentary I filmed in 2012 Drawing the Line
DTL Trailer: <BR>
<A HREF="https://youtu.be/JI8uvLM9txE" target="_blog5">youtu.be/JI8uvLM9txE</A>
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DTL promo video links:<BR>
<A HREF="https://www.youtube.com/user/drawingthelinefilm" target="_blog5">www.youtube.com/user/drawingthelinefilm</A>
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Full DTL Documentary watch:<BR>
<A HREF="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bDMy88RqsDY" target="_blog5">m.youtube.com/watch?v=bDMy88RqsDY</A>
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<A HREF="http://athomeatriverbend.blogspot.com.au/"><IMG SRC="http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/images/uparrow.gif" BORDER=0 align="right"></A>
<!----
UMUNDUM Leonhard born 1 July 1940 - Austrian - travelled per ship SYDNEY departing in 1960 under Assisted Passage Scheme
--->Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171774181439414220.post-56900795896511632572020-08-31T16:56:00.000-07:002020-08-31T16:56:05.838-07:00Tide Tables September to December 2020<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV8PF0wjEXAsvNDhwfhkhSBPmqrCq60MsTxpH0YJFOMZis5Zbgjrm7rNEzuZ7PNb50xsqbV3BiX-AicnGYpyijz-K_bbL4jqdpYUKPzF6X4yDEivPvJrIbzANAO4Lr2z8WFFx7N8yFTDR-/s1600/tidetables2020-page-004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV8PF0wjEXAsvNDhwfhkhSBPmqrCq60MsTxpH0YJFOMZis5Zbgjrm7rNEzuZ7PNb50xsqbV3BiX-AicnGYpyijz-K_bbL4jqdpYUKPzF6X4yDEivPvJrIbzANAO4Lr2z8WFFx7N8yFTDR-/s1600/tidetables2020-page-004.jpg" data-original-width="1132" data-original-height="1600" width="500"/></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171774181439414220.post-46916118182959200642020-04-30T16:54:00.000-07:002020-08-08T20:00:23.347-07:00Tide Tables May to August 2020<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB7cJSCY0riV4lHIHxv7OHOEwdMrK-V1CicgjR85uwvUr_Wf31_RVGPymrMSwjTa7QTCt8R4QRtMeA69TYKJy4VelXYCDmc_5g9ukua24kzcCYhOjdJsJ4z_fIKKRiyu8pjk6Vfbej3cj3/s1600/tidetables2020-page-003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB7cJSCY0riV4lHIHxv7OHOEwdMrK-V1CicgjR85uwvUr_Wf31_RVGPymrMSwjTa7QTCt8R4QRtMeA69TYKJy4VelXYCDmc_5g9ukua24kzcCYhOjdJsJ4z_fIKKRiyu8pjk6Vfbej3cj3/s1600/tidetables2020-page-003.jpg" data-original-width="1132" data-original-height="1600" width="500"/></a></div>
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<B><A HREF="https://tides.willyweather.com.au/nsw/south-coast/clyde-river--nelligen.html" target="_blog1">Nelligen Tide Times and Heights</A></B>
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<P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171774181439414220.post-89810008366432054912020-02-26T18:51:00.002-08:002023-04-06T17:17:09.453-07:00Three Men in a Boat<P>
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<iframe width="500" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/u9xvrbfyKGQ" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<span style="float:left;color:silver;font-size:120px;line-height:90px;padding-top:2px;font-family: times;">J</span>erome K. Jerome's hilarious story of what is probably the worst holiday in literature has an air of delightful nostalgia and is still laugh-aloud funny more than a hundred years after it what first published with this preface:
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEPuvh7kMZ-ihoprmxnz3STgsad4ALZ9WmGOvZT21KcU9KZkulXE2jImvWwmNKbpykGEZGwQy-YEqw35Z0TdGFePPKVbl3lm-LCwZyt1G96yKMBD2TBwwxhePs6EHq1yA79AzhuGAmGOFF/s1600/threemen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEPuvh7kMZ-ihoprmxnz3STgsad4ALZ9WmGOvZT21KcU9KZkulXE2jImvWwmNKbpykGEZGwQy-YEqw35Z0TdGFePPKVbl3lm-LCwZyt1G96yKMBD2TBwwxhePs6EHq1yA79AzhuGAmGOFF/s1600/threemen.jpg" data-original-width="1264" data-original-height="1088" width="500"/></a></div><BR><CENTER><FONT SIZE="-2"><A HREF="https://archive.org/details/threemeninboatto00jero_1/page/n5/mode/2up" target="_blog">Here</A> is the whole book</FONT></CENTER>
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And yet, it is full of wisdom as well,
<I>"... <!---I call that downright wisdom,---> not merely as regards the present case, but with reference to our trip up the river of life generally. How many people, on that voyage, load up the boat till it is in danger of swamping with a store of foolish things which they think essential to the pleasure and comfort of the trip, but which are really only useless lumber.
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How they pile the poor little craft mast-high with fine clothes and big houses; with useless servants, and a host of swell friends that do not care twopence for them, and that they do not care three ha'pence for; with expensive entertainments that nobody enjoys, with formalities and fashions, with pretence and ostentation, and with - oh, heaviest, maddest lumber of all! - the dread of what will my neighbour think, with luxuries that only cloy, with pleasures that bore, with empty show that, like the criminal's iron crown of yore, makes to bleed and swoon the aching head that wears it!
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It is lumber, man - all lumber! Throw it overboard. It makes the boat so heavy to pull, you nearly faint at the oars. It makes it so cumbersome and dangerous to manage, you never know a moment's freedom from anxiety and care, never gain a moment's rest for dreamy laziness - no time to watch the windy shadows skimming lightly o'er the shallows, or the glittering sunbeams flitting in and out among the ripples, or the great trees by the margin looking down at their own image, or the woods all green and golden, or the lilies white and yellow, or the sombre-waving rushes, or the sedges, or the orchis, or the forget-me-nots.
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Throw the lumber over, man! Let your boat of life be light, packed with only what you need - a homely home and simple pleasures, one or two friends, worth the name, someone to love and someone to love you, a cat, a dog, and a pipe or two, enough to eat and enough to wear, and a little more than enough to drink; for thirst is a dangerous thing.
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You will find the boat easier to pull then, and it will not be so liable to upset, and it will not matter so much if it does upset; good, plain merchandise will stand water. You will have time to think as well as to work ..."</I>
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There is so much insight packed into this little book - useful information indeed, to say nothing of the dog! - that you almost regret having come to their final toast, <I>"Here's to Three Men well out of a Boat!"</I>
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But that's a whole 184 pages later, so sit back and enjoy! (or listen <A HREF="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVjJRDjfXTk" target="_blog9">here</A> to the audiobook)
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<P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171774181439414220.post-69523658018673857922020-02-19T18:44:00.001-08:002020-02-19T21:49:48.381-08:00Free Yacht Club membership to every prospective buyer!<P>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh2HDzNt1Vq_xjkgJiJ_ITdx4MAoPHbo1UeuX7iASfZEvAnJ-GS3DGgfmmhR1_0A3HGmeMmsWflaXjRyU-mkXEccxVE5natirB74WmAPbNbk7vQwrjmEgPp1ssJ0uipWV2WscYh0cfilvs/s1600/dearall425.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh2HDzNt1Vq_xjkgJiJ_ITdx4MAoPHbo1UeuX7iASfZEvAnJ-GS3DGgfmmhR1_0A3HGmeMmsWflaXjRyU-mkXEccxVE5natirB74WmAPbNbk7vQwrjmEgPp1ssJ0uipWV2WscYh0cfilvs/s1600/dearall425.jpg" data-original-width="603" data-original-height="400" width="500"/></a></div><FONT SIZE="-2"><A HREF="http://thisisaprivatesale.com/" target="_blog">www.thisisaprivatesale.com</A></FONT>
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<span style="float:left;color:silver;font-size:100px;line-height:70px;padding-top:2px;font-family: times;">H</span>ow can we afford to give away a membership to such an exclusive yacht club, we hear you ask? Well, here's how: by saving on the overheads!
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Overheads such as paying hundreds of dollars for the pleasure of letting some agent advertise his real estate business or paying them their 'hard-earned' commission for some arcane skills and secret knowledge (which consists mainly of pressuring the vendor to drop the price for a quick sale).
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Look, we are not suggesting that all real estate agents are a bunch of shifty, lazy, money-grabbing sleazebags who think ethics is the English county near Suthex; we just think that we are far better qualified than any agent to sell our own home - which, by the way, you can read more about at <A HREF="http://thisisaprivatesale.com/" target="_blog">www.thisisaprivatesale.com</A>.
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So here's the deal: you can join the club as a prospective buyer (<I>pretending</I> to be a prospective buyer is permissible!); then, <U>after</U> you've bought "Riverbend", you can throw out the other members (prospective buyers or otherwise) and make it again Australia's most exclusive Yacht Club with a membership of just one - <B>YOU</B> !
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Looking forward to your joining the Club!<BR>
Peter Goerman<BR>
Membership Secretary (also only member!)<br>
email NelligenYachtClub@gmx.com
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8171774181439414220.post-91342937379275717442020-02-18T20:34:00.001-08:002020-02-18T21:27:54.252-08:00Survive the Savage Sea<iframe width="500" height="350" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MzvE2gyG-WQ" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<span style="float:left;color:silver;font-size:100px;line-height:70px;padding-top:2px;font-family: times;">I</span>n June 1972, the 43-foot schooner Lucette was attacked by killer whales and sank in 60 seconds. What happened next is almost incredible.
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In an inflatable rubber raft, with a 9-foot fiberglass dinghy to tow it, <A HREF="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dougal_Robertson" target="_blog5">Dougal Robertson</A> and his family were miles from any shipping lanes. They had emergency rations for only three days and no maps, compass, or instruments of any kind. After their raft sank under them, they crammed themselves into their tiny dinghy.
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For 37 days, using every technique of survival, they battled against 20-foot waves, marauding sharks, thirst, starvation, and exhaustion, adrift in the vast reaches of the Pacific before their ordeal was ended by a Japanese fishing boat.
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The Robertsons' strong determination shines through the pages of this extraordinary book - click <A HREF="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Survive_the_Savage_Sea.html?id=fkgu22wQ6NQC&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blog1">here</A> - on which the 1991 film of the same name was based. It describes movingly their daily hopes and fears, crises and triumphs, tensions and heartbreaks.
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com