In harbor
7/22/2023
Well it was quite a couple of days. Yesterday we had a beautiful sail. We followed our plan, which was to go to 55 d N, and the cut over. About 125 nm out we came across a set of 8 bergs where there should have maybe been one. We kept on hoping that it was anomalous. It was. By this time we were motor sailing. The number of bergs increased as we approached land. At times it was foggy and at times clear. About 40 nm out there was a berg every 4 nm. Lots of them split up. Early this morning, about 30 nm out we were fogged in and there was almost a wall of bergs on the radar in the direction we were headed (west). We pushed on at low speed relying on the radar. Then the fog lifted and we saw the path. At some point we just stopped counting. There were hundreds of bergs and bergie bits of all kinds of interesting shapes. We made our way to Edwards Harbor. The guide says the entry is 50 ft across. It is beautiful. We went ashore for more stunning views. We had to anchor four times
to get good holding even with double anchors. There is a lot of kelp on the bottom. Of course there were other difficulties. After we shut off the engine for the first time, we noticed more diesel on the engine than usual. The fuel input line to the injectors had sprung a leak. A failure of the line would have been a disaster, but we fixed it and seem to be in good shape. At the moment we are eating cheese and crackers, drinking beer/wine, and soaking in the location. Tomorrow we head to Cartwright.
On the southernmost continent, you can see enormous stretches of wind-sculpted ice that seem carved from marble, and others that are smooth and green as emerald. You can see icebergs, whales, emperor penguins. Visitors have described the place as otherworldly, magical, and majestic. The light, Jon Krakauer has said, is so ravishing, “you get drugged by it.”Forty years ago my late, dear friend Louise gave me N by E - Rockwell Kent's account of his 1930 sailing voyage to Greenland in a 33 foot cutter. They got there, but not back - the anchor dragged in a storm. The two crew returned. Kent stayed. That was the origin of my fascination with the high latitudes. My friend Richard Hudson has sailed to those environs, north and south aboard his 50 foot steel staysail schooner Issuma. Very low impact. I'm in favor of that kind of tourism. But the case against any other sort is well stated here.
Take Antarctica off your travel bucket list.
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The cult of the classic Boston Whalers - The Boston Globe
In 1958, in a garage in Braintree, an eccentric Harvard grad named Dick Fisher revolutionized nautical design when he began crafting a little boat that looked like a blue bathtub.
He called his creation a Boston Whaler, and the unusual shape of the hull was only half of the radical design. More important was what was inside of the hull, the result of a cutting-edge foam-and-fiberglass construction process that allowed Fisher to make an unbelievable claim. IT'S UNSNKABLE.
“They’re everywhere,” said Quentin Snediker, curator for watercraft at the Mystic Seaport Museum, which has one of Fisher’s original sawed-in-half boats in its collection. “They are the right combination of seaworthiness and fun, which continues to strike a chord.”
Today, the classic Whalers — built until roughly 1993, when the company was sold and then moved to Florida and pivoted to more traditionally hulled boats — remain prized for their nostalgia factor, but also their “affordability.”
Classic Whalers come in various sizes and models, including many that were steered standing up from a center console, a Whaler innovation. Today, they can usually be had for between $5,000 and $25,000. With many new center consoles retailing for well north of $100,000, those old Whalers remain the top recommendation for people looking to get into boating safely, without a lot of experience or deep pockets. In addition, the lightweight construction means they can be towed by the average car.
Not just single-handed - one person, on a boat, no outside assistance and NO modern navigation equipment save an emergency position indicating radio beacon, and a satphone!
Sailing like it's 1968. No routing software. Compass. and one piece of emergency equipment. Wikipedia captures the story of the first race - the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race of 1968:
Nine sailors started the race; four retired before leaving the Atlantic Ocean. Of the five remaining, Chay Blyth, who had set off with absolutely no sailing experience, sailed past the Cape of Good Hope before retiring; Nigel Tetley sank with 1,100 nautical miles (2,000 km) to go while leading; Donald Crowhurst, who, in desperation, attempted to fake a round-the-world voyage to avoid financial ruin, began to show signs of mental illness, and then committed suicide; and Bernard Moitessier, who rejected the philosophy behind a commercialised competition, abandoned the race while in a strong position to win and kept sailing non-stop until he reached Tahiti after circling the globe one and a half times. Robin Knox-Johnston was the only entrant to complete the race, becoming the first man to sail single-handed and non-stop around the world. He was awarded both prizes, and later donated the £5,000 to a fund supporting Crowhurst's family.
The BOC Challenge, Around Alone and the French Obsession the Vendee Globe followed the tragic Golden Globe - after the sole finisher the now legend and still sailing Sir Robin Knox Johnston.
Sir Robin was the first single-handed round the world race winner. And we now have Kirsten Neuschafer - the first woman to win a single-handed RTW race.
- GWC
