![]() ![]() ![]() I offered these words then and offer them now with much gratitude to all at the OCC. In lieu of an in-person appreciation, then, I’m appending here an article I wrote from our refit headquarters at the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania in 2018, which describes not only the adventure up to that point (as it seemed to me at the time) but also specifically how the OCC had come to the aid of this much-battered sailor. The gala in Annapolis was canceled a mere two weeks before the festivities date. It was a fortunate happenstance, as it turns out, and I was looking forward to this annual gathering as my opportunity to thank the organization for its remarkable support of Mo and me during the first attempt’s forced stops in Ushuaia and Hobart, as well as the planned stops in Halifax and St John’s during the second.īut the Coronavirus outbreak beat me to the punch. ![]() Singlehanding does not lend itself readily to group activities, and so my experience of yacht clubs is limited to this one, joined just before the commencement of the first F8V attempt. Moreover, the list of previous honorees is a kind of “Who’s Who” in this rather specialized line, names like Tony Gooch, Michael Johnson, Reverend Bob Shepton, Jeanne Socrates, Susanne Huber-Curphey, and Bill Hatfield being just some of the characters who come poppingly to mind. It takes its name from the club’s founder, Humphrey Barton, whose own ocean exploits included a 1950s crossing of the Atlantic in his 25-ft Vertue-class sloop, the smallest vessel to have made that passage east-to-west at the time–and it should be noted that at the time, very few such passages were made. Unlike the Auld Mug, this trophy appears never to go home with the winner.Ī fuller description, however, is that the award is the top honor from an organization that has, since 1954, been entirely dedicated to supporting the offshore cruising sailor. If you are uncertain what, exactly, the Barton Cup is, you might appreciate the explanation my wife offers to her landlubberly friends: “it’s like the Oscars…for saily people.” The Barton Cup. In April of this year, Joanna and I were to fly to Annapolis, Maryland, where we would attend the Ocean Cruising Club’s annual awards dinner and where Moli would receive the Barton Cup in recognition of her Figure 8 Voyages. What’s important is that the reader see the ocean as the camera sees it over many days, many miles and many latitudes. Words here have been kept to a minimum and serve simply to frame the action and add context to the images. The goal of this book, then, is to be a pictorial accompaniment to the longer Figure 8 Voyage narrative and to satisfy the person who, like me, may desire that additional perspective of a seagoing adventure story. What is the color of ocean that dances beneath Pacific trades?H ow does a wave curl and crash at 47 degrees south? What did Joshua really look like in a seaway? Melville’s Moby Dick may well have been written for boys, but this boy spent his hours in that volume admiring Rockwell Kent’s woodcuts more than the sentences they were intended to illustrate.Īs an adult, I have come to the end of many a bluewater tale-be it Alone through the Roaring Forties, The Fight of the Firecrest, Once is Enough, The Long Way, A World of My Own, Ice with Everything -having been captivated by the weave of words but wanting more than the scant few photographs at the book’s center. ![]() This book is softbound and printed on heavy paper of 11 by 8.5 inches it is 100 pages, 10,000 words, and 250 color photographs from every ocean and every weather.įrom the Introduction: As a young admirer of sea-faring stories, I was often most attracted to the pictures. (The second volume, due out later in the year, will contain the longer narrative.) The present volume is a coffee-table-style picture book and tells the story of the Figure 8 Voyage through the many images included in Mo and Randall’s daily reports from sea during their 384-day, nearly 40,000-mile odyssey. If you are looking for a way to visit the watery parts of the world without leaving the house, then know the Figure 8 Voyage book is arriving and available for order. ![]()
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