Fedor Konyukhov swam across the Pacific Ocean alone. A madman on a rubber boat proved that the human will is stronger than the elements of the sea A heavy voyage across the ocean began
It was difficult to call the start a spectacle final stage the first Russian round-the-world trip on a rowboat from Murmansk. The tug "Deviator" with a few mourners rushed after the boat "MAX-4", simulating the exit to the route. This was clear to everyone, since for a “real” exit to the sea, Yevgeny Smurgis and his son Alexander had to appear at the border checkpoint in order to stamp “departure” in their passports. In the meantime, sailors demonstrated especially for press photographers the possibilities and advantages of a one-of-a-kind ship. We didn't care about the outer side of the "wires": there was no orchestra and even announcements over the speakerphone. There was no holy father with a bowl for sprinkling. I confess that in the hustle and bustle I completely forgot about this worthy decoration of any Beginning. And, to be honest, solemnity, and even more so humility, seemed out of place to us among all the turmoil, resistance and out of nowhere problems. We fought with instructions unknown to us, “available from the border guards,” and therefore we had to prove that our rowing vessel, colloquially referred to as a boat, is still a vessel; Yevgeny Smurgis and his son received permission to leave Russia with a delay of three days...
This circumnavigation of the world began several years ago in the distant Arctic port of Tiksi. More than one expeditionary season was required for Evgeniy Smurgis to pass the northern seas to Murmansk. Under the patronage of this incredibly difficult voyage, helping, as far as possible, in the implementation of the idea of circumnavigating the world, the Vokrug Sveta magazine regularly spoke on its pages about the stages of ice navigation. Overcoming first! on a rowboat three seas in the Arctic Ocean, Evgeniy Smurgis, it seems to us, found a way out of the impasse in which to this day all potential contenders for the coveted revolution around the earth on oars remain.
The idea of a rowing marathon around the world is probably twenty years old. But the fact is that even the conquerors of two oceans Atlantic and Pacific (more on this later) did not dare to overcome the third Indian, with its dangerous climatic (and not only climatic) situation. And no one has yet announced a desire to conquer this last unconquered ocean. However, if you carefully look at our globe, it is easy to see that the meridians of the Indian Ocean can be calmly and more shortcut cross into the Arctic Ocean. True, even here one should count on long-term navigation, since the period of open water does not exceed a month or two. This was no secret to anyone, but there was also the problem of the border regime of the coastal waters of Russia, completely closed to lovers of all kinds of sea travel. But we are not guests in our own country, and after the next “run” along the route, we do not need to “break through” visas for sailing participants and troublesome permits for the boat itself. Evgeny Smurgis "at home" alone and together with his son overcame those very "inaccessible" meridians of the Indian Ocean. It seems to me, as one of the initiators of this expedition, that a precedent has been created, the significance of which will be comprehended for a long time by those who, to one degree or another, deal with the problems of circumnavigations. The successful start of the circumnavigation convinced Smurgis and all of us involved in the organization of the hitherto unseen trip of its reality. Now on the way of his boat "MAX-4" the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, in different ways and in different time conquered in rowboats.
The beginning was laid by the Americans - immigrants from Norway George Garbo and Frank Samuelson. For 55 days back in 1896, they sailed on a rowboat from New York to the Cornwall Peninsula in England, and from there to Le Havre. This record has not yet been broken, and their boat, exhibited at the World Exhibition in Paris, has haunted thrill-seekers for many years. Only in 1966, as if re-opening the Atlantic for rowers, two native Englishmen set off from the coast of America on a fishing dory - the captain of the parachute regiment John Ridgway and his colleague Sergeant Chay Blythe. It took them 92 days to travel from Boston to the coast of Ireland in the Gulf Stream.
In 1969, the Englishman Tom McClean made the first solo rowing voyage on oars on a six-meter dory. From the coast of the island of Newfoundland (Canada) to Ireland, he sailed for 70 days, and his voyage was listed in the Guinness Book of Records. In the same year, the Englishman John Fairfax conquered the Atlantic in a specially built ten-meter boat Britannia-I. He sailed along the route of Columbus from the Canary Islands and six months later by oars reached Florida. Two years later, the tireless John went to conquer the Pacific Ocean with his girlfriend Sylvia Cooke. That was the first voyage across the Pacific Ocean on oars. The first woman in the rowing marathon did not let down the ambitious Fairfax, her only reward was the son Martin, whom she had dreamed of since she undertook to help Fairfax. And the hero himself the first conqueror of two oceans on oars remained in his beloved Florida, and maybe away from Sylvia. A year at sea one on one changes something in people.
The first solo voyage across the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco to Australia in 1980-1981 was made by the Englishman Peter Bird. On a ten-month voyage, he not only read his favorite novel "War and Peace", but also rowed, which puts his achievement among the outstanding ones, if not for Gerard d "Aboville. By that time, he had crossed the Atlantic and at first swore to go to sea on a rowboat But later, on the Sector boat, built in Switzerland for 500 thousand dollars, Gerard d'Aboville alone rowed the Pacific Ocean from Japan to the coast of Oregon (USA). It was in 1991. This great athlete is the first person to single-handedly conquer two oceans in rowing boats...
Of the many famous sailors, we have mentioned only those who were the first in something. This passion in people was best expressed by the famous yachtsman Robin Knox-Johnston: “There are so few interesting things to do and so many people in this world that it’s not bad at all to have the right to declare publicly that you are the first person to do something ...”
There is no end to risky, exhausting spirit, terrible in its loneliness journeys, in which only hard labor can save one's mind. And probably never will. As we can see, the British are most willing to take this "path". And they do not spare funds for such trips. The reader, perhaps accustomed to the fact that such expeditions are carried out with the blessing of the "tops", which was true until very recently, will be indescribably surprised if I say: we have not found real patrons, trustees. Money collected from well-wishers (in Lipetsk, mainly hometown Smurgisov) was barely enough to repair and properly equip the boat for ocean navigation. Our emphasis on the fact that this voyage is the NATIONAL TREASURE OF RUSSIA did not evoke any reaction from those who could allocate us the 30 thousand dollars indicated in the estimate. Even in the highest echelons of power, we met with misunderstanding. Still, we didn't give up...
But back to the 12th berth of Murmansk seaport. On the day when the exit simulation took place, the weather was fine. And although the hills on both sides of the bay sparkled with the whiteness of recently fallen snow, all sorts of boats scurried comfortably in the roadstead, solid dry cargo ships anchored - everything spoke of a well-chosen moment for the start. But, having delayed for three days, we missed the weather. The wind from the mouth of the bay parted the wave, desperately dangling at the ends of every small thing ... And yet the start took place June 4, 1992 at noon.
Yevgeny Smurgis and his son Alexander two Russians from provincial Lipetsk went to sea for a long sixteen months. Now their home is an eight-meter wooden boat, and life is incessant work in the salty and uncomfortable sea. A heavy wind from the northwest with light rain did not extinguish the joy raging in my heart: perhaps I was a witness important event. In addition to me, the MAX-4 boat was accompanied by two philatelists from the local club. The sailor from the tugboat, who followed our farewell, asked:
Where are they?
Around the world, I answered, and the sailor seemed to believe it. He apparently appreciated the long fuss at the pier when a heavily armed detachment arrived, the removal of customs seals on the cockpit doors, and my attempts to find a place higher from where the boat disappearing in the rain could be seen ...
Our sailors will have to navigate the rough waters of the Barents, Norwegian and North Seas before they arrive in London after visiting several ports in Norway. Here the father and son of the Smurgis will not only be honored in the edition of the Guinness Book of Records. They will have to equip the boat with everything necessary for sailing in the tropics. You will have to purchase proven English seawater desalination plants. Instead of an archaic sextant and many tables, our sailors will master the Magellan portable satellite coordinate finder, a complex and multifunctional device the size of a police radio transmitter.
The further route of the MAX-4 boat will pass along the coasts of France, Spain and Portugal to Cadiz, from where Columbus set off on an unknown voyage five centuries ago. By autumn, according to our assumptions, sailors will reach the Canary Islands, from where the journey through Atlantic Ocean. The rowers are to meet the New Year 1994 on the island of Barbados, and after that they will go to the Panama Canal along the coasts of Venezuela and Colombia. After entering the Pacific Ocean, the boat will fall into the California Current. But the question is: will the sailors have time to reach the Bering Strait by the beginning of August? August and the first half of September are the most favorable times for sailing in the Chukchi and East Siberian Seas. The finish is scheduled for the end of September in the village of Tiksi ... When sailing along the American coasts, known for their strong currents, especially after stopping and resting in San Francisco, the Smurgis will determine how they fit into the schedule. In the worst case, an unplanned wintering is ahead.
Two weeks after leaving Murmansk, Evgeny Smurgis called me from the Norwegian port of Tromsø. He said that everything was in order, and casually mentioned that beyond the Rybachy Peninsula, a counter storm had thrown the boat back to his native shores. The border guards arrested the "violators" of the border, and it took two days to identify them as the very eccentrics who sought access to the sea in Murmansk.
Vasily Galenko, coordinator of the circumnavigation
If crossing the ocean in a boat seems to you a dubious and very risky undertaking, then you are probably a slightly more reasonable person than the ten captains from our selection - they made sea world travel and found themselves in the most life-threatening conditions.
1. Tahiti Nui I (1956)
In 1947, Thor Heyerdahl began to study the theory of human migration and decided to test it for himself: his most famous trip was the Kon-Tiki expedition, in which he sailed across the Pacific Ocean on a raft in the image and likeness of the ancient Polynesians to prove that it is possible.
But the French navigator Eric de Bishop did not have a very high opinion of Thor Heyerdahl's ideas and did not agree that the Peruvians crossed the Pacific Ocean and settled in Polynesia. Instead, de Bishop believed in a major Polynesian civilization that existed thousands of years before Christ and extended as far east as Chile.
So de Bishop built a boat out of bamboo, intending to cross the Pacific Ocean and prove his theory: to achieve his goal, he first sailed south of the 40th parallel, better known as the "roaring fortieth" because of the almost constantly raging hurricanes in this region. winds. Experts have delicately described the route as "suicidal", but to everyone's surprise, the boat survived violent storms. southern seas and performed well in harsh conditions.
Halfway to South America, de Bishop's crew noticed that their raft was literally falling apart due to a shellfish infestation called teredos. On the 199th day of the trip, the raft began to sink, and de Bishop finally used the walkie-talkie to rescue - this happened 240 km from the coast South America.
2. Seven sisters (1954)
Unlike de Bishop, William Willis didn't have any complex academic theories - he just wanted to test his 61-year-old body at sea. He planned to sail alone on a corkwood raft from Peru to American Samoa, but almost at the very beginning of the journey he encountered a terrible setback.
All the fresh water that Willis took with him turned out to be contaminated, and he had to swim another 10.8 thousand km across the Pacific Ocean - Willis survived on rainwater, raw flour, condensed milk and small cups of sea water. During one particularly nasty storm, a large wave carried a 2.7-meter shark onto his Seven Sisters raft. Willis fought the shark and ended up throwing it back into the ocean, but it severed an artery in his forearm, which the sailor somehow managed to sew right on himself.
But nothing could compare (at least for Willis) to the fear of losing his companion cat: which is why every time a rough sea threw a cat overboard, a gray-haired old sailor rushed after him and fought the Pacific Ocean to save his friend .
Miraculously, Willis, his cat and a raft the size of a living room reached American Samoa in excellent condition: they swam 3.2 thousand km more than Thor Heyerdahl. For an encore, at the age of 70, Willis sailed on a raft from South America to Australia and this time managed to swim 17.7 thousand km.
3. Ra II (1970)
The Kon-Tiki was not Thor Heyerdahl's only voyage: after crossing the Pacific to test his Peruvian theory of migration, the Norwegian set his sights on the Atlantic Ocean to test perhaps even older maritime traditions.
It is believed that the ancient Egyptian papyrus vessels were adapted only for traveling along rivers, because such a fragile vessel would certainly perish in a stormy sea. The tour proved these criticisms to be true by making the Ra I's first voyage from Africa to the Americas, which ended with the boat taking on water and breaking apart.
But this did not stop Heyerdahl and his team: they built a second papyrus boat, this time with the participation of Bolivian shipbuilders who make similar boats for sailing on Lake Titicaca.
On the Ra II, Heyerdahl successfully sailed from Morocco to Barbados (6450 km) in 57 days: the journey is especially impressive when you consider that the ship lasted four times longer than scientists expected.
4. Akali (1973)
"11 Strangers Who Survived Together on a Raft" - You may have heard of this experiment by Santiago Genoves. He had worked with Thor Heyerdahl's expeditions and had the idea that a small raft would be an ideal testing ground for the study of human behavior - the subjects of the study cannot hide their behavior on a piece of land measuring 12x7 m.
Genoves, more of an anthropologist than a sailor, selected five male and six female volunteers from different cultures for a 101-day voyage from the Canary Islands to Mexico. Genoves compiled a questionnaire of 8,000 questions and answers based on the experiences of the subjects in his study.
The members of the Akali Expedition endured incredible hardships - suicide attempt, serious illnesses, hurricanes and shark attacks: it is not surprising that the young volunteers became bronzed from sunburn during this trip and significantly improved their physical condition. In addition, the volunteers eliminated the boredom during the journey through various sexual orgies, concluding agreements among themselves regarding their sexual activities.
5. Excalibur (1981)
Curtis and Kathleen Saville loved the risk, so they decided to take a rowboat trip across the Atlantic Ocean. The Savilles set off for Morocco, but encountered a storm that forced them to sail through the war zone off the coast of the Spanish Sahara. But once the Savilles got to the open ocean, the small size of the Excalibur made it easy for them to collect samples of small ocean life.
Excalibur was only 7.6 m long, which is why sea water easily fell on the deck, and this gave the couple the opportunity to see many luminous tiny creatures: the spouses described many more specimens of this type than the researchers of that time who remained on land could describe .
The Savilles arrived safely in Antigua after 83 days of almost constant rowing.
6. Phoenicia (2007)
In 600 B.C. e. Greek historian Herodotus wrote about a group of Phoenicians (Phoenicia is a region in modern Syria and Lebanon) who sailed around Africa in three years. Scholars have been debating the possibility of such a trip ever since, using as an argument that travel around Africa was not undertaken until 1488. The source of doubt is simple: in order to move at least a step, all the Phoenician galleys needed a wind that constantly filled the sails throughout the journey.
In 2007, Philip Beale, an adventurer, historian and anthropologist, decided to confirm Herodotus' story: Beale used a ship similar to the Phoenician, built on the model of a wrecked Phoenician galley. The only modern contrivance on board was a tiny engine to avoid being towed out of the harbor, but otherwise Beale got a ship that sailed just like his ancient predecessor - bad: without ideally favorable winds, the ship simply drifted in the open ocean.
There were many problems: trying to steer the ship, Beale broke nine rudders, and once storms tore the sail of the ship in two - a crew of 11 people in full force jumped out of the ship taking on water, so that something remained afloat. And since Beal hadn't fitted the ship with anything like a modern winch or pulley, the crew would repair the yard and set the sail again by hand.
Two years later, with more than 27,000 miles behind them, Beel and his crew managed to complete their trip by sailing through the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden and narrowly avoiding the modern equivalent of scurvy, which was probably the scourge of that ancient Phoenician voyage.
7. Cork raft (2002)
John Pollack had an absurd idea: President Clinton's former speechwriter decided to build a boat out of wine corks—165,321 individual wine corks, to be exact.
It took two years of planning, testing and labor, but he finally sealed thousands of plugs together with an ingenious system. What is the result? The result was a longboat like an ancient Viking boat, and although the boat looked quite pretty, it was almost unmanageable - this made the journey of a cork raft through Portugal difficult and unforgettable. Interestingly, Portugal is the largest supplier of cork in the world.
Pollack and a few volunteers spent more than two weeks rowing down the River Dor to the sea: with the help of a tugboat that happened to pass by, the crew were able to overcome the turns in the river, and the cork raft completed its journey almost intact.
8 The Starkell Canoe (1980-1982)
Don Starkell claimed he could row more miles than any other man, and we tend to believe him: in one trip, Starkell added 19,999 to the rest of his miles. Starkell and his two sons carried their 6.4-meter canoe out of their Winnipeg home in 1980.
They sailed through the Red River in Mississippi, through the Gulf of Mexico, through the Orinoco, and finally through the Rio Negro. The two Starkells sailed in an open canoe all the way to the mouth of the Amazon: one of Starkell's sons, Jeff, left the canoe in Mexico after suffering too many fatal injuries - they encountered great amount obstacles.
Wild animals like snakes and sharks were, of course, dangerous, but in the end they became the least of Don Starkell's concerns - Nicaraguan rebels, drug couriers and Honduran robbers delivered the rowers where more problems. 13 countries, 45 holes and at least 15 rollovers later, the Starkells arrived at the mouth of the mighty Amazon River.
But officials believed in the heartbreaking story of the Canadians with great difficulty: the Starkells were barely able to collect the necessary documents, withstood a series of interviews in Venezuela and letters from various embassies, but their voyage entered the Guinness Book of Records as the longest canoe trip.
9. Lehi IV (1958)
In the 1950s, anthropological theories about rafting across the ocean weren't the only lazy ones to make: theories about pre-Columbian colonization of the Americas were a dime a dozen, as were eccentrics willing to engage in dubious maritime ventures to support various theories.
Dever Baker was one such eccentric: after reading the Book of Mormon ( sacred text movements of the saints last days, or Mormons) Baker set out to prove that the Israelites sailed from the Red Sea to Central America and colonized the New World.
Lacking any archaeological evidence, Baker began building rafts to test his theories. Pay attention to the number "IV" after the word "Lehi" - Baker's first three boats were unsuccessful, but on the fourth attempt, Baker finally created a wooden platform, which, however, was almost impossible to control.
Despite a bunch of flaws in his ship, Baker sailed from Redondo Beach in Hawaii. The obvious question is: “What does this have to do with Israel and Central America?” Answer: none.
The futility of this trip is undeniable, and it was incredible luck that the winds constantly favored the traveler, he did not survive a single serious storm, and a small crew of students helped make this Hawaiian trip a reality. The other main source of help was a boat coast guard, which helped complete the trip by towing the Lehi IV to shore.
The Lehi IV did nothing at all to advance anthropological theories, but of course Baker gained notoriety when his wife wrote a travel book from the point of view of a dog that swam with him.
10. Tahiti Nui II–III (1958)
Eric de Bishop did not give up after the failure of the Tahiti Nui I: no, he built a new boat out of cypress, which he launched in Chile, intending to sail to Polynesia.
At first glance, things were going quite well for a team of five people: by June, after two months of travel, the Tahiti Nui II had settled only 20 cm, but by the end of June the boat had already gone a meter under water, and the crew was forced to take shelter on the roof of the boat. There was still another 650 km to sail before landing on the Marquesas Islands, when the crew found that the teredos mollusks had again stuck around the boat, having made countless holes in the wood.
The dissatisfaction of the crew members, some of whom managed to leave the expedition, the reduction in supplies and the fever did not benefit de Bishop: by August the boat had covered only 240 km and barely kept afloat, but de Bishop recovered, and he had a plan - “Tahiti Nui III".
He and the people who remained with him built a new raft, smaller, using relatively intact logs and barrels of water: for a week, the crew tried to build a new boat, while trying to make the old one somehow sail. They succeeded: the deck of the Tahiti Nui III was only 1.5 × 1.8 m, but the miserable craft, nevertheless, could swim, and the crew members desperately clung to it as it was thrown through rough sea waves - to shore to safety.
The Tahiti Nui III washed up in the Cook Islands, but, unfortunately, de Bishop did not survive the impact of the boat with the reefs. However, thanks to their amazing ingenuity, his team made it to the ground and, in the end, escaped.
In order to vividly feel all the audacity of the human spirit, one must be on the high seas, when one thin plank separates us from blissful death.
On the morning of November 17, 1993, it became known that in the Bay of Biscay, approximately at the latitude of La Rochelle, the boat "MAX-4" was found on the shore, but Evgeny Smurgis, who made an unparalleled round-the-world voyage on it, was not on board. No matter how much everyone would like to keep the hope of his salvation, with every hour the belief in a miracle became more and more unrealistic. And so - on November 21, about the same place, on the beach near the resort town of La Tranblade, a body was found ...
For more than twenty-five years he has been a true friend of the editorial staff, our regular contributor, freelance correspondent. Now he has long been buried in his native land - in Lipetsk, next to his father's grave. His famous boat became an exhibit of the Maritime Museum in the French town of La Tranblade, far from Lipetsk. In Lipetsk, a street is named after him. A part of the diary preserved in the boat and comments on it, written by V. Galenko, were published in the magazine "Vokrug Sveta" (see No. 8 and No. 9, 1994). Nevertheless, the interest in this unique person is so great that readers still turn to us with a request to tell us about his last voyage, to try to answer the question, what happened in the Bay of Biscay?
More than two and a half years have passed since the tragic death of Smurgis. It so happened that all this time we did not have the opportunity to communicate with readers. Only now, with a great delay, can we print the few materials at our disposal that give some idea of the nineteenth in a row, the last great voyage of Yevgeny Pavlovich.
We consider it our duty to thank the editorial staff of the Vokrug Sveta magazine for their help in preparing the publication, as well as Evgeny Pavlovich's friend and like-minded person - the coordinator of the rowing around the world, professional sailor, yacht captain Vasily Ivanovich Galenko.
Interview before the start
Before going to sea, Smurgis Sr. gave an interview to the correspondent of the newspaper "Soviet Murman" - a young journalist Angela Kovaleva.We publish the text of their conversation with some minor cuts.
А.К.: Isn't it scary - into the ocean on a simple wooden boat?
It's scary to sit in such a boat for the first time. And when you have 42,000 difficult kilometers covered by oars, it becomes a familiar home, your fortress, you begin to feel like a part of it. When you know how to extreme situation, anxiety, uncertainty are dulled, disappear. But in general, as long as a person appreciates his life, he cannot get rid of the feeling of fear. It is inherent in everyone, they just need to learn how to manage. And for this, the will and reason are given. For this, self-confidence is also needed - faith in yourself, in your star. Without them, it is impossible to succeed either on land or in the ocean.
А.К.: I can imagine: a huge ocean - and a small, small dot - a boat. Probably, feeling like a grain in a vast and vast world, willy-nilly, you believe in the existence of the Almighty?
Despite the fact that I grew up in a family of atheists and do not believe in God, sometimes situations arose when I called on God. I remember two cases when there was nothing left but to ask the Lord: "Help!"
A.K .: To be cut off from big world must be very difficult? How did you deal with loneliness?
Boat travel is a 24-hour watch. After all, this is work on the oars, and entries in the diary, and cooking. There is a goal, an idea - and everything is subordinated only to it. And so there is no time to pay attention to loneliness. But when it does come - the weather deteriorates for a long time, something breaks, does not stick, and there is nowhere to wait for help, indeed, you begin to feel somehow abandoned, cut off from the whole. You try to drive away this feeling, you say: "It's all temporary, everything will be fine soon." You remember something good and - loneliness recedes. On earth, in everyday life, we are all so enslaved by communication, duties, inconsistencies that sometimes we stop understanding ourselves. At sea, it's the other way around. There is time to calmly think about everything, to sort everything out. You become wiser.
A.K .: You are not going around the world alone - with your 22-year-old son. Are you afraid for him? But you're not so young, are you?
We tested our strength - we walked 9,000 kilometers together. When we went from Dixon to Murmansk, we twice fell into a cyclone, out of 43 days it stormed 37. There was a very great danger of capsizing, and in northern waters this is a sure and quick death from hypothermia. Sasha survived. Now we are going to race. Every 1.5-2 thousand kilometers we plan parking specifically for recuperation. In London, for example, we will be idle for two or three weeks, at the same time we will be understaffing, preparing the boat for the passage through Biscay. And everything that comes before that, we consider simply as another test of strength - a test voyage before throwing across the ocean, for which we will already be preparing in Spain.
A few words about the start and route
The start was given a little later than the date planned by the schedule: Yevgeny Pavlovich's father died, there were organizational problems, and finally, they were just waiting for the weather. In fact, only on June 4, Evgeny Smurgis and his son Alexander left Murmansk for the Kola Bay. Now an 8-meter wooden boat became their home for a long 16 months (according to calculation), incessant and dangerous work awaited ahead in the seas of three oceans.Two words about the start. A heavy northwest with rain could not extinguish the joyful relief - finally, the torment with the design of the exit in the "best traditions" of the times of stagnation ended. Now I was a witness, and to some extent a participant in an event of no small importance for all sailors and travelers - the beginning of the Atlantic stage of the first purely rowing round-the-world voyage.
The sailor from the Deviator tugboat assigned for wires calmly followed our actions, which meant farewell to people on a small boat, and somehow casually asked: "Where are they?" “Around the world,” I answered simply. And then the sailor assessed what was happening in a completely different way. And in particular - strange scenes at the pier with the arrival of an armed detachment, with the removal of customs seals on the doors of the "kubricks" of "MAX-4" ...
And I don’t want to remember about the official farewell a little earlier - on June 2, which, as the newspaper Sovetsky Murman wrote, “turned into a scandal”. But we have to. So that in the future there will be no such shameful relapses of the past with anyone.
Just before going out to sea, it was necessary to appear at the checkpoint - to put the stamp "departure" on the documents of the only ocean rowing vessel of its kind. This word "ship" was unexpected and became a stumbling block. Three days ago, no one objected to the ship's documents - we were only waiting for the weather to improve. But it was during these three days that the guards of the maritime border discovered a secret instruction, according to which "rowing boats do not belong to the class of ships." This was not an innocent refinement of the term. From the fact that "MAX-4" was not recognized as a ship, it followed that it was necessary to re-register the exit ...
We referred to the unrepealed "Code of Merchant Shipping", which considers the ship "any self-propelled or non-self-propelled floating structure", used including "for sports", presented the right to rise State flag"Ship ticket" with seals and signatures. However, they could not convince the border guards. Began an emergency with calls and faxes. I do not know at what level, in the bowels of which system the issue was resolved, but two days later it was nevertheless resolved. Two weeks later, Eugene called from the Norwegian port of Tromso. He said that everything was in order, and only casually mentioned that beyond the Rybachy Peninsula, a strong storm had thrown the "MAX-4" back to their native shores, and here they were ... arrested as border violators. It took two whole days for the border guards to re-solve the issue that had just been resolved!
Having again gone to sea only on June 9, our sailors once again crossed the border, under the cover of the islands, despite the action of the Gulf Stream, they noticeably increased their speed and tried to enter a severely disrupted schedule, dreaming of the first big stop in London. Only later, from their diary, I learned that the northernmost tip of Europe - Cape Nordkin (71 ° 08 "north latitude) - they went around (in the rain) late in the evening of June 15. On the approaches to Nordkin there were first meetings with people: when they heard that two people were sailing to London on a boat, everyone laughed ...
Now I will answer questions related to the choice of an unusual route for circumnavigating the world. All highest achievements rowers have so far been limited to crossing the Atlantic and the Pacific separately. To implement the idea put forward for the first time, if I am not mistaken, by the Englishman Derek King in 1974, the idea of circumnavigation by rowing had to be crossed Indian Ocean located between the Pacific and Atlantic. But no one has yet tried to conquer it on a rowboat. And it is no coincidence - this is not an easy nut to crack.
It seems to me that Smurgis found a way out by offering Alternative option- a path much closer to Northern Russians Arctic Ocean, completely overlapping "in longitude" the expanses of the Indian and no less complex. Thus, the idea arose to start a round-the-world trip from the Arctic section of the global route and, since it is not possible to pass the Northern Sea Route by boat in one short navigation, to overcome this section in parts.
Successful overcoming of the greater western part of this Arctic route in three stages - from Tiksi to Murmansk - convinced both Evgeny Smurgis himself and all his associates of the reality of the idea of a round-the-world trip as a whole.
The route "MAX-4" did not provide for the crossing of the equator, traditionally mandatory for the "classic" circumnavigation of the world, but after all, the voyage was conceived unconventional. The incredible difficulty of navigation in the Arctic zone deserves, in our opinion, more respect than an unnecessary throw to the south, beyond the equator.
The main milestones of the started path were designated as follows: Tiksi, Dikson, Murmansk, Norway, Holland, London, Brest, San Sebastian, Lisbon, Cadiz, Canary Islands, Barbados, Panama Canal, San Francisco, Vancouver, Nome, Bering Strait, Pevek and finally Tiksi again.
So, a significant northern part of the path has already been passed, "MAX-4" safely rounded Norway and crossed the North Sea ("We hang out all day, rising to 4-5-meter waves and rapidly falling from them"). The exhausting heavy swimming along the shallow coast of Denmark, Germany, Holland - in the crush of waves, against strong winds. On these shallows, our sailors lost the most in weight. I didn't sleep more than two hours in a row. There was so much water in the boat that a 15-liter bucket was used four times in an hour; the average daily crossings for 19 days amounted to only 23 km, while earlier Evgeny had never had less than 70 ...
All hope now was for a holiday in London.
Path to Biscay
88 days after the release - on August 30 - Smurgisa's father and son, after three days of uninterrupted rowing, reached the shores of England. The boat got to London fairly battered - "the frames were loosened, putty spilled out, a leak appeared." The Atlantic severely dealt with the crew: the sea "penal servitude" was worth the loss of 9 kg of weight to the eldest and 6 kg to the youngest. Much of the food stock went bad and had to be thrown away. With such a harsh transition and a heavy load, the multi-day absence of vitamins was especially difficult to endure.The parking lot in London - V. Galenko told about it in more or less detail on the pages of "Around the World" - was mainly occupied with repairs, which the "team" coped with on its own. They received guests - sailors and yachtsmen, compatriots and foreigners. They enjoyed special attention from both Russian and local journalists. On Saturday, September 25, among 196 boats "MAX-4" participated in the traditional rowing regatta on the Thames. This was the first time in the history of the Great River Cruise that a boat from Russia was involved. To compete in the category of fours, the crew had to be supplemented with two more rowers - these were Peter King and Dominic Kaprech. Came somewhere in the fourth ten - finished at the "Cutty Sark". Our boat was warmly greeted by those gathered (these shots were shown on Russian television).
However, there was still not enough money to continue the heroic voyage. Saved on everything, even on food. (It was not for nothing that when the voyage ended tragically, one of the newspaper publications was called “The cheapest circumnavigation of the world”.) Gifts helped to some extent. So a good fishing suit appeared on the boat. Andrew Thorne brought in a superb diaphragm desalination pump (4.5 liters per hour fresh water). The small-sized Magellan satellite navigation system was also a gift, which later turned out to be either faulty or simply not very necessary ...
The next major port of call after London was San Sebastian, a Spanish port on the border with France. Then, after a rest, we had to go around the Iberian Peninsula and in Cadiz we were already thoroughly preparing for going out into the open ocean, to the Canaries. In the south of Europe, the Smurgis were expecting a mild autumn. Theoretically, it seemed that the repaired boat, a fresh supply of provisions, purchased equipment, and, most importantly, the rest and experience gained, promised to make the forthcoming part of the route relatively easy. But all this is only theoretical.
The most unpleasant thing is that the question of the psychological incompatibility of the MAX-4 crew members suddenly arose. Speaking on the radio in the BBC program, Yevgeny Pavlovich expressed himself cautiously on this subject, mentioning that the problem of fathers and children exists always and everywhere, even in a boat, that disputes over everyday trifles are inevitable. However, it was apparently not a matter of trifles. It is not for us to judge what happened when father and son were left alone in a London hotel room. One thing is clear. In the end, Sasha (according to the ship's role - "navigator") left his father and returned from England to his homeland, Evgeny Pavlovich was left alone and this was an irreparable blow ...
It is no coincidence that the following entries appeared in the diary of Yevgeny Pavlovich immediately after entering the English Channel:
- "We went to England with great hopes, but left - alone, with a huge loss of time, without rest, without salty slurping" (10/21/93);
- "The boat is leaking, products for 10 days, the compartments are depressurized" (10/22/93);
- "Everything is damp. I haven't undressed for the third day" (10/23/93)...
Alas, things turned out differently. Formidable at any time of the year, Biscay became doubly formidable now, when, due to the ever-increasing delay, it was necessary to cross it at the most unfavorable time - the season of autumn storms had already begun, when I had to row alone and did not get a good rest.
In connection with this, the option of changing the route was considered. It was possible to safely cross France by inland waterways (as advised by the famous Gerard d'Aboville) and, once in the Mediterranean, go to the Atlantic already in the subtropical zone through Gibraltar, having rested and prepared for a throw in Spain. However, Smurgis would not be Smurgis if he agreed to retreat. He said, "I won't wet the boat with fresh water."
So, on September 29, "MAX-4" after a month's parking left London and a few days later found itself standing in Dover - next to the "Comrade" stuck here due to storms. Due to bad weather, it was possible to go to sea only on the third attempt and only on October 8th.
There was a seemingly easy 125-mile passage to Southampton, but the current and headwind were so strong that they had to take cover behind the coastal spit and give up anchor. And at dawn the next day, during an 8-point storm, the boat, standing in shallow water, was flooded and then turned over by ferocious waves. As Smurgis said by phone, he hardly brought the "MAX-4" back to normal, threw himself ashore with the boat, lit a fire and again began to wait for the weather to improve. The bottom of the boat was damaged. Now the call to Southampton has become necessary already for repairs.
For several days of parking in the Rowing Club of Lydda, Evgeny Pavlovich managed to somehow bring his ship to a more or less "normal condition", however, even after that, as, indeed, after a "thorough" repair in Southampton, the flow began to flow along the grooves constant.
Late in the evening of October 21, Smurgis entered the English Channel. The weather was still windy and cold. To keep the right course, struggling with both the opposite current and the east wind that threatened to carry the boat into the ocean, it was necessary to work most of the time with one right oar. It was exhausting and, most importantly, reduced speed. (A short note appeared in the diary for the future: while parking in Spain, it is imperative to make a rudder and a keel fin). There was no way to rest. There was an unexpected loneliness. Involuntarily, the mood was gloomy.
Here is an entry made on the evening of October 25: “Gloomy thoughts are wandering in my head. According to the ideal plan, Vasily should already be roasting his belly in the Canary Islands, and he hasn’t even set foot on the coast of France ... In the morning the spirit plays, and with the onset of darkness and cold, the mood drops ".
However, Smurgis would not have been Smurgis if this recording, far from Superman's optimism, had not ended on a completely different note: "No, the greatest work of life must be done to the end!" And on the same day when this record was made, three points appeared on the horizon - the Channel Islands, and then the root coast - the coveted coast of France. The next morning he landed and chose a white stone typical of the French coast to make an anchor.
As V. Galenko noted in his commentary, incomplete 6 days to overcome the English Channel in far from the easiest conditions is quite a decent time, daily crossings amounted to 50-60 km.
When rounding the Brittany Peninsula and on the approaches to Brest, there are no entries in the diary. Let's quote V. Galenko again: "This is a dangerous area for any slow-moving vessel: with an inept maneuver, it can be carried into the ocean or thrown onto the rocks in a couple of hours."
At this "French" stage of the voyage, there was no contact with Smurgis, he was forced to save money on the phone. According to press reports, it is known that on October 30 "MAX-4" arrived in Brest - a major port and the main base of the French Navy. The captain of the "MAX-4" posed for TV and newspapers, stocked up on food and immediately, on the very next day, went to the Bay of Biscay (Gascony).
The further path passed along the coast, which has long enjoyed the most gloomy fame of "ship-eaters". It is very difficult to lay a course over rocks and reefs with large tidal fluctuations in the water level, on complex changing currents, among steep waves and whirlpools. Walking in poor visibility is not an option. It is not always possible to approach the rocky shores; it was not always possible to choose a more or less calm place for parking. So, the newspaper "Telegram" placed a curious picture: "MAX-4" hangs on the stones, exposed with the ebb, although when the anchor was released in the evening it was "a patch of clean water."
One way or another, Smurgis passed the L "Iroy Bay without any special incidents and entered the Odiern Bay through the Strait of Ras de Seine. Following along the coast, he reached its southern part and before going around the far from hospitable Cape Penmark surrounded by rocks , decided to spend the night near the small fishing port of Saint-Genole.
Here he met Alexander Larchikov - a young teacher French from the city of Vyborg.
Last interview
A chance brought me to Evgeny Smurgis. I was visiting friends in Brittany. On the morning of November 2, when I opened the local Telegram, I found an article about a Russian traveler making a round-the-world voyage on oars and making a stop in Brest. Since the navigator spoke only Russian, the journalists could not interview him, they learned something thanks to the documents on board, and, in particular, a folding book - a prospectus with an English text.The announcement of this extraordinary event aroused great interest among local residents- mostly fishermen who know a lot about maritime affairs. Therefore, when it became known that Smurgis had called at the port of Saint-Genole, my friend Olivier Melennec, an employee of West France (the largest newspaper in France), asked me to go there and help with the translation of a conversation with a navigator from Russia. Naturally, I agreed. The interview was entrusted to the correspondent of the newspaper Bernard Dilocer. He picked me up at Treffiagate, where I lived, and we went to Saint-Genole.
When we arrived at the port, it began to get dark, it was raining lightly. Having strayed along the shore in search of Smurgis's boat, we came across a group of local fishermen, who were talking animatedly just on the topic of interest to us. Various opinions were expressed. Some spoke of Smurgis as the Russian Gerard d'Aboville, who became a national hero of France. Others advised calling the police - you can't let a person commit suicide, the port captain should forbid him to go to sea! Someone told about what was in front of his eyes sent to the "psychiatric hospital of a rower who sailed on the same boat from England.
They helped to find "MAX-4". Indeed, against the backdrop of trawlers, the boat looked rather frivolous. It seemed incredible that it was possible to make a journey from Dixon to Brittany on it. The boat was anchored thirty meters from the shore. I shouted several times in Russian: “Is there anyone on board?” Smurgis was apparently resting, so he got out from under the tent and did not answer right away. He answered with a question:
What are the fates of the Russian in these parts?
It would be necessary to talk, - I said, - if you don't mind.
Where can you dock here? My keel is damaged, and there are stones all around ...
I transferred the question to the local sailors, they immediately pointed to a small beach about a hundred meters from the MAX-4 parking lot. Yevgeny Smurgis sat down at the oars, quickly paddled to the shore, got out of the boat, and introduced himself. He was dressed in high waders, rubberized trousers and a jacket, another pair of the same trousers was thrown over his shoulders. Short, lean, with a coffee-colored face from sunburn. He seemed to me very tired, one might say haggard.
So what are the fates here? was his first question.
Visiting friends, - I answered, - and now I'll try to interview you for a French newspaper.
There won't be a long conversation. The tide begins to ebb, the boat runs the risk of being left on the sand. I have to leave early in the morning, I'm in a hurry and I can't waste another day. When will you be in Leningrad? In two weeks? Go to the editorial office of the magazine "Boats and Yachts", pass the photos, if, of course, you get it - it's dark, it's raining. Tell them the boat capsized at Dover. The keel is damaged, there is a leak.
So how do you swim?
The leak is small, about a bucket of water in about eight hours. I'm scooping out. Dampness torments me the most, I just can’t get wet anymore. After all, there is no dryer. I cook on a gas stove, but you can’t dry clothes on it.
The fishermen said that there is a workshop nearby in the port where the boat can be lifted for repairs.
Repair will be in Spain. I'm way off schedule...
They write that you also participated in some kind of race?
Yes, I thought that participation in the race on the Thames would help solve financial problems, but, alas, hopes did not materialize.
Listening to the little that I translated into French for Bernard, the fishermen standing nearby tried to intervene all the time - they gave advice and were offended that I did not translate them. The words of Yevgeny Pavlovich that he has been rowing for twenty-seven years, twice mentioned in the Guinness Book and that he had to sail in a storm in the polar Barents Sea, aroused admiration and an even greater desire to help a sailor from Russia.
The Gulf of Gascony is very dangerous in autumn, it is better to repair here right away, they insistently repeated.
I know, but my boat is made of wood and plastic. Before closing the crack, you need to dry the body for a long time, and I can no longer wait until the tree dries. I'll get to Spain, I'll repair it there.
God bless you, the fishermen replied.
Indeed, we did not have time to talk plainly: the water subsided, Yevgeny Pavlovich began to say goodbye. He returned to his former parking place, and Bernard and I went to the bureau to write the text of the interview. (There is nothing interesting in the text itself for the readers of "KiYa"; it is intended for French readers.)
Our meeting lasted no more than 15 minutes, but I will remember it for a long time. For the first time in my life I met such a strong person. Strong in spirit and body. A real man. At the age of 54, going to sea on oars and being so far from the Motherland, going from Murmansk to Saint-Genole - this cannot but arouse admiration!
Two weeks later, when I was already at home, Olivier Melennek called me and told me the tragic news: - "MAX-4" was found empty!
Recording cut off in mid-sentence
One thing can be said for sure - Alexander Larchikov was the last one who spoke with Yevgeny Pavlovich in his native language.We can only judge what happened after the interview, how Smurgis felt during the last kilometers of this 48,000-kilometer rowing marathon, which began many, many years ago, from brief notes in the diary preserved in the boat found on the beach of La - Tremblade...
Bo-time of a two-day stop at the Croix-de-Vie (November 9-10) he summed up the ten days. Passed in a straight line from Brest along the coast - 300 km, in fact - no less than 400! San Sebastian is about 500 km away. If you count in nautical miles, this is quite a bit. Only 270 miles. But already passed in this incredible circumnavigation of the world, at least 6100 miles from Tiksi (to the west) - 220 times more! However, the power is no more. Apparently, we will have to arrange a holiday in Royan, at the mouth of the Gironde.
November 12th. La Rochelle. This is the last time he went ashore. Yevgeny Pavlovich is in a hurry. In the yacht harbor "finished" at 14.00; a quick excursion to the city, bought some small things in the nearest marina (I made sure that the "French gas" did not fit the existing cylinder and stove), and at dusk I went out to sea again.
In the evening he wrote: "I worked for two hours - I let go of the anchor. The accumulated fatigue somehow fell on my soul and body at once. The sixth month without a single day off, without rest. I would rather have a warm rest and at least a week to rest fully, to restore my strength and spirit a little."
The next day, the entry is even gloomier: “There is no one to blame: he himself deliberately went to the exit of an unprepared expedition. "However, even now there is not even a thought about at least a temporary cessation of navigation - oh" winter holidays", the possibility of which was not rejected in principle, although it was meant that they would be needed later, already in America. Three lines later, the mood is better: "There is money - no money, cold, hungry - hard, but the cause for which they came out is moving forward, although not as fast as we would like. And with great losses." This refers, of course, to parting with his son, which seriously disrupted the traffic schedule and affected his well-being.
The night of November 13-14, Yevgeny Pavlovich spent "cling" to a fishing buoy at the three-story wall of Fort Bayard (now well known from French television broadcasts), "in anxiety - the boat was galloping on breakers", shaking "like on a vibration stand."
And the next "working day" went well - three forces carried the boat at once: a fair wind, a current and a rower. Finally, it was possible to "overfulfill the norm"! By 16.00 Smurgis was at the southern tip of Oleron Island.
"Went to the mark and dropped anchor. Settle until the next high tide."
This last entry ends literally in mid-sentence. I ate, sat down at the diary, heard the noise of a helicopter, then the red helicopter descended, hovered, so as not to disturb, at a venerable distance (“not like ours”) ...
Later, Galenko talked with these same helicopter pilots. They said that this was their usual flyby of the coast before the oncoming storm. There were no other ships in the strait. They flew up to Smurgis's boat, which they had seen standing at the fort the day before. The megaphone warned of the upcoming increase in wind, pointed to the nearest shelter. From the boat, he showed that "everything is OK."
Let's not speculate about what happened on that stormy night of November 15, while standing in the open winds and shallow water waves. Why did Yevgeny Pavlovich end up in the water without a life jacket, but in heavy boots? Why was the safety belt not fastened? Why did he get out of the cabin? What threw him overboard? There are many questions. And we will never get an answer. A wonderful person who was not used to turning off the chosen path died ...
An extreme experiment set by the French physician Alain Bombard proved that the possibilities of the human body are indeed endless. Alone, this legendary man crossed the Atlantic Ocean, supporting his strength only by what the ocean sends him. Throughout the journey, Alan did not eat or even drink ordinary fresh water, but in the end he managed to reach the coveted shore.
Alain Bombard was the doctor on duty at the Boulogne hospital when 43 sailors were brought there - victims of a shipwreck off the Carnot pier. None of them could be saved. Alain reproached himself for the fact that he could not do anything for them. He began to collect information about shipwrecks. It turned out that about 200 thousand people die every year in such disasters worldwide. Of these, 50 thousand manage to get over to lifeboats and rafts, but still die a painful death after some time. And 90% of the victims die within the first three days after the shipwreck. Bombar wrote: “Victims of the legendary shipwrecks who died prematurely, I know: it was not the sea that killed you, it was not hunger that killed you, it was not thirst that killed you! Swinging on the waves to the plaintive cries of seagulls, you died of fear.
And he decided to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a tiny inflatable boat. Without water and food - to prove that a person is able to survive after a shipwreck.
But before these, Alain spent six months in the laboratories of the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco. He studied the chemical composition of sea water, types of plankton, the structure of marine fish. The Frenchman learned that more than half of sea fish consists of fresh water. And fish meat contains less salt than beef. So, Bombar decided, you can quench your thirst with juice squeezed out of fish.
At first, swimming was not conceived as a solitary one. The bomber was looking for a companion for a long time, he even advertised in newspapers. But letters came from suicidal (“please take me with you on a voyage, because I have already tried to commit suicide three times”), crazy (“I am a very good travel companion, and I will give you permission to eat me when you are hungry”) or not too smart readers (“I propose to test your theory on my family, first I ask you to accept my mother-in-law into the crew, I have already received her consent”).
In the end, an unemployed yachtsman, Panamanian Jack Palmer, was found. Bombard did not reproach him later, but after a two-week trial voyage from Monaco to the island of Mallorca, during which the researchers ate only two sea bass, a few spoons of plankton and drank several liters of sea water, Jack Palmer changed his mind and simply did not come to sail. And Alain Bombard sailed across the Atlantic alone.
He named his boat "Heretic". It was a tightly inflated rubber punt, 4 m 65 cm long and 1 m 90 cm wide, with a wooden stern and a light wooden deck on the bottom. The Heretic moved with the help of a quadrangular sail measuring approximately 1.5 x 2 m. Retractable keels, oars, a mast, hoists and other equipment were extremely simple and inconvenient. He did not take any fishing rods or nets with him in principle, he decided to make them from improvised means, as befits a shipwrecked man. He tied a knife to the end of the oar and bent the tip to form a harpoon. When he harpooned the first dorado dorado, he got the first fish hooks, which he made from fish bones.
In the very first nights, Bombar got into a storm. On a rubber boat, it was impossible to actively resist the waves, it was only possible to bail out water. He did not guess to take a scoop with him, so he used a hat, quickly became exhausted, lost consciousness and woke up in the water. The boat was completely filled with water, only rubber floats remained on the surface. Before the boat was afloat, he bailed out water for two hours: each time new water nullified all his work.
As soon as the storm subsided, the sail broke. The bomber replaced it with a spare one, but half an hour later a squall blew off the new sail and carried it along with all the fasteners. Bombard had to sew up the old one, and so go under it all the way.
It is believed that without water a person can live no more than 10 days. The bomber only on the 23rd day of the voyage was able to drink fresh water, falling into a strip of heavy rain. How did he survive? used sea water. “Alas, you can’t drink sea water for more than five days in a row,” Alain specified. - I say this as a doctor, otherwise you can ruin the kidneys. You need to take a break of at least three days. And then this cycle can be repeated.
During these three days, Bombar extracted water from fish. The bomber cut the meat into small pieces and squeezed out the liquid with the help of a shirt. It turned out to be a slurry of fat and juice, nasty in taste, but fresh. It is easier with large fish: you can make cuts on its body and immediately drink the juice. To avoid scurvy, the navigator ate plankton daily - it is rich in vitamin C. “It was enough to throw an ordinary sock on a rope overboard to get a total of two tablespoons of plankton during the day,” Bombar assured. - Unlike raw fish, it tastes good. Feeling like you're eating lobsters or shrimp."
Bombard refused waterproof overalls. He was wearing the usual trousers, shirt, sweater and jacket. The Frenchman thought he was already superbly equipped. After all, when a ship sinks, a person usually does not have time to think about his wardrobe. Already on the second day after sailing, having soaked through, Bombar found that even wet clothes retain body heat. Thus was born another rule: "A shipwrecked person must not take off his clothes, even if they get wet."
After sixty-five days of sailing, Alain Bombard reached the island of Barbados. He lost 25 kg, the level of red blood cells and hemoglobin bordered on fatal, he had a serious visual impairment, his toenails fell out, his entire skin was covered with a rash and small pimples. The organism was dehydrated and extremely exhausted, but it reached the shore. An emergency supply of food remained on his boat, the safety of which was officially certified at the end of the experiment - he never touched the NZ.
He wrote the book "Overboard at will".
Then he received more than ten thousand letters, the authors of which thanked him with the words: "If not for your example, we would have perished in the harsh waves of the deep sea."
Katenkina Katya 28.02.2019 at 14:00
The tragedy of the Titanic shocked the world so much that it inspired fear of sea travel. However, in the United States there was a man named William Scripps, who in 1912 undertook to prove the safety of sea travel. The "proof" route also lay across the Atlantic Ocean, however, the challenge to the storms was not thrown by a huge liner, but by a small boat.
Smallbut proud boat
And it so happened that William E. Scripps, the owner of the Scripps Motor Company, which produced diesel engines that were not yet in use by 1912, decided to cross the Atlantic Ocean (from Detroit to St. Petersburg) on a boat with his engine - and make himself on this ad.
Scripps ordered a boat that was 35 feet long and 10 feet wide, and more like a lifeboat - the bow and stern were raised, and the middle was lowered. A spruce mast rising 24 feet above the deck supported a 240-square-foot sail, and a Scripps-built engine had 16 horsepower. The draft of the ship was five feet, and the displacement was 14 tons. 960 gallons of fuel were contained in five steel tanks. Under the crew bunks were water tanks (300 gallons).
Start of the expedition
June 25, 1912 the ship was launched. And yet, the brave Commodore Scripps did not undertake to lead the expedition. He chose for this role a native of New York, 50-year-old captain Thomas Fleming Day, who had already crossed the Atlantic in June 1911 on the 25-foot skiff "Sea Bird".
Before leaving, Day gave a short speech: “I must admit that all these years I have had a prejudice against shipbuilding away from the coast, but I can assure you that this small boat is flawless in every way.
Armed with only the simplest precautions, we hope to prove once again to the world that traveling in a small boat is much safer than traveling in huge liners, which are always in danger of crashing."
Then the boat crossed the Great Lakes, the Erie Canal and along the Hudson River reached New York, where it was replenished with fuel, and from where it began sailing across the ocean on July 12.
Crew
According to Day's notes, the crew consisted of "green newbies": mate Charles Earle, a twenty-year-old youth who had just graduated from Harvard (the captain had known him as a boy); Walter Morton, from Detroit, was a twenty-nine-year-old chief engineer who had never sailed before. And William Newstedt, the second engineer and mechanic, about whom Day spoke in his memoirs in the sense that he "turned out to be worse than just useless." Seasick, perpetually frightened, he lay refusing to work. "Neither persuasion, nor cursing led to anything."
The hardships of the way
Swimming was exhausting. Day was at the helm for 36 hours without rest. They took food standing up, straight from packages and cans, trying to stay on the boat, clinging to what they had with their feet and elbows. When the weather allowed, they rested in shifts. Day insisted that the crew members sleep lying down to rest their strained spine.
It was so cold that Day had to put on five shirts, a sweatshirt, a coat and a raincoat, but he was cold even in such attire. But when the sun came up, several layers of clothes were thrown off and the travelers enjoyed the warmth. The lowered mid-deck was completely flooded. The water was ankle deep, so everyone wore rubber shoes without taking them off.
A few days after sailing, Captain Day managed to heat a bucket hot water and for the first time during the expedition he shaved with pleasure. To Day's disgust, his assistant didn't follow suit.
"Dirt and stubble make me incredibly sad. The more my face grows stubble and the dirtier I get, the more I fall into despondency and apathy. I'm not the one in whom the spirit of a ragamuffin lives," Day wrote pretentiously in his diary. He persisted in shaving until the end of the expedition.
"One of Detroit's biggest failings was that we could not enjoy the conversation, because the noise of the motor and the roar of the waves drowned out everything. The only way to communicate was by shouting. How happy we were to enjoy a few minutes of silence when the engine was turned off to look around, and this terrible hubbub died down. "Day lamented the lack of a silencer on the engine: "This device would have made our trip much more comfortable."
However, he admired the boat's speed, which he calculated was so great that the Detroit could cover 144 nautical miles in a day. “Most of all, I was surprised that a motor that was the size of a pair of hatboxes could make our rather heavy vessel move at such a speed,” he wrote.
Elephant and pug
When they met the liner America, heading east from Southampton, it seemed to them the size of a six-story building. Approximately two thousand people stretched from bow to stern, shouting and photographing the small boat.
The captain of the liner reported that the Detroit was 1,000 miles off the coast of Ireland. He also offered water tanks to Day, but, unfortunately, there was nowhere to place them on the boat, and there was no bottled water on the ship. Later, the captain of the ship expressed his dissatisfaction with the fact that a tiny boat dared to stop a huge liner, calling it "American impudence." However, the passengers were very pleased and had a lot of fun talking with the crew of a small boat."
For the rest of the journey, Day brooded over the old wrecked ships. “Just imagine all these old wooden ships that hid in the depths of the sea right here where we just sailed,” he wrote. “The dilapidated and rotten fragments of ships are scattered all over the bottom of the sea to this day. And these terrible stories about people survivors of shipwrecks! The surviving members of the crew were found only after several days, weeks, or even months of terrible suffering.
triumphant arrival
Detroit entered the harbor of the Irish port of Queenslow 21 days and 16 hours after sailing. Then between him and the captain of a small tug the following conversation took place: "Send a man to lead the ship to the shore."
"What will you give in return?" - followed the answer.
"Don't worry about it. Swim closer."
"Well, sir... Where will you be from?"
"New York, America," Day replied, not too accurately.
"From America on this one? That's right! You're not a coward, boys! Okay, I'll take you for free. Hop on board and take them in tow, Danny."
Word of the Americans' arrival quickly spread, and a dozen Irish journalists came to hear their story. The local yacht club and high officials took it upon themselves to arrange a celebration in their honor. And the newspapermen enjoyed Day's stories to the fullest, a little more entertaining than they actually were.