sailing heros ??

[tomwatt]

Of course, a more recent and still living sailor, who accomplished much in something not muc better than Bligh's lifeboat is Webb Chiles.  He took an 18' Drascombe Lugger around most of the world... technically, it was two Drascombe Luggers, as the first was confiscated by Egypt and the second was sent to him by the company so that he could continue.  He recently finished his fifth circumnavigation and is back in Chicago.  I had the pleasure of meeting Webb just before he and his wife moved to Chicago.

Neat. Mountaineers and mountain-climbers I've met. I haven't met a lot of famous (or worthy of fame) sailors unfortunately.

[CapnK]

haidan - Great link to the Farrell site, love the artwork - Thanks!

tomwatt - I've read that someone is 'reenacting' Bligh's open-boat voyage... I forget who (and a quick search didn't show it - someone here prolly knows...), but a circumnavigator (?IIRC) who finished sometime in the past year or two is joining them... Tough job, that!

Todd and Dan - Both Moitessier and Chiles are great reading and instructional. Webb's site is a delight.

[tomwatt]

haidan - Great link to the Farrell site, love the artwork - Thanks!

tomwatt - I've read that someone is 'reenacting' Bligh's open-boat voyage... I forget who (and a quick search didn't show it - someone here prolly knows...), but a circumnavigator (?IIRC) who finished sometime in the past year or two is joining them... Tough job, that!

Todd and Dan - Both Moitessier and Chiles are great reading and instructional. Webb's site is a delight.

Wow. I don't think I'd volunteer for that... incredible.

[w00dy]

My sailing hero is a man named Charl DeVilliers. Originally from South Africa, he was in a terrible accident as a child and lost his hearing as a result. He later moved to South Texas with his family, where we met him playing rugby in Victoria. He left Palacios, TX in 2004 and nine months later became the first deaf person to circumnavigate alone.
He is my hero because he never let his so called 'disabilities' get in the way of his goals. He's one of the most amazing men I've ever met.

[w00dy]

He has his own website

www.silentvoyager.com

[CharlieJ]

Laura and I had the pleasure of sailing with Charl on two short delivery trips. Really a nice guy and an excellent sailor too. Understand he's gonna try for a non-stop soon.

[w00dy]

No way! Really? Do you know where he's hanging out these days? Still in Palacios? Galveston? I'd really like to get in touch with him again.

[bbqjerry]

Joshua Slocum. Not only was he the first American to circumnavigate, he rebuilt and old wooden boat, Spray,an old Oyster boat, with hand tools. I have read his book...Sailing Alone Around the World. In MHO, he was an incredible man and I consider him one of my heros.

[Frank]

Sorry....Joshua Slocum was born in Noca Scotia Canada, but yep...he was the first sola around   ;)

Larry Pardey is a canuck too eh

[Captain Smollett]

Sorry....Joshua Slocum was born in Noca Scotia Canada, but yep...he was the first sola around   ;)

Larry Pardey is a canuck too eh

But Lin isn't, if I recall correctly, so take THAT!!   :) ;D

(Yves Gelinas is French Canadian, yasbsc...(yet another small boat solo circumnavigator).

[bbqjerry]

Joshua Slocum was born in Nova Scotia, but in 1865 became an american citizen. He set sail From Boston in 1895 to visit his boyhood home, and departed from Sambro Island Lighthouse near Halifax, Nova Scotia on July 3, 1895.  On June 27, 1898, he returned to Newport Rhode Island to become the first AMERICAN to solo circumnavigate. :P ;) ;D ;D

[Frank]

Details...details. ;D   Born and raised is what counts eh   :o ::) ;D ;)

[bbqjerry]

He is still my hero,eh. ;D

[Tim]

Frank is my contemporary hero  ;)

[bbqjerry]

I don't know about being a hero, but James Baldwin gets a lot of respect from me. I met him when I was in Brunswick, GA last November. His wife, Mei, makes great cookies!

[Frank]

Tim...OK   OK.....you can anchor out back AND have a bunk upstairs   ;)

Frank is my contemporary hero  ;)

[Tim]

Tim...OK   OK.....you can anchor out back AND have a bunk upstairs   ;)

Frank is my contemporary hero  ;)

LOL

[Cmdr Pete]

Here's a toast to the unsung heros.

My Dad was never a great sailor. He never set foot on a sailboat until he bought a Pearson Commander nearly 40 years ago. But, he would never let inexperience or fear keep him tied to the dock. He would pile his 8 kids aboard and head out into the Ocean. I wouldn't be a sailor if not for him.

Sail on old friend.

No condolences required, but please take a moment to think about the heros who introduced you to sailing.

From today's Newsday

Thomas Connelly, lawyer who fought for civil rights, dies

February 23, 2010 By KATHLEEN KERR  kathleen.kerr@newsday.com

Thomas J. Connelly, 77, an attorney who lived in Brightwaters and spent his life fighting for civil rights, died Saturday after a long illness.

During the 1964 Freedom Summer, Connelly helped black Mississippians register to vote. He left only after local police said he was not welcome and locked him in a gas station.

Connelly, born in Brooklyn and raised in College Point, Queens, then returned to his North Babylon law practice. He had earned a law degree from New York University while driving an ice cream truck and working as a night watchman in Harlem.

On Long Island, Connelly worked with the NAACP to desegregate fire departments. He and Dr. Yale Solomon of Huntington were in a group that founded Suffolk's chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union in the 1960s.

"I think his courage was in not allowing the unpopularity of an issue to deter him from representing a case in the public forum, in the court," Solomon recalled.

Connelly battled police misconduct and housing discrimination and argued for the right of opponents of the Vietnam War to peacefully demonstrate.

"Our noble profession has lost a valiant warrior for the rights of the oppressed," said retired State Supreme Court Justice Michael F. Mullen.

In 1999, Connelly won a $10.7-million award from the Long Island Rail Road for a Seattle man who, in 1981, at age 9, fell between a platform and a moving train. At the time, it was believed to be the largest sum awarded by a Suffolk County jury. Connelly's son Peter, of North Babylon, was his law partner.

"He did all different kinds of cases, including criminal cases, accidents," said Connelly's son Matthew, of Manhattan.

Connelly and his wife, Maureen, were married for 55 years and had 22 grandchildren. A devout Catholic, he would discuss the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas at dinner.

Survivors include two other sons, Thomas, of Raleigh, N.C., and Patrick, of Chester, N.H.; three daughters, Maura Watters of Ramsey, N.J., Annamarie Monks of Mansfield, Mass., and Jeanellen Vapsva of Berkeley Heights, N.J.; four brothers, Patrick, of Manchester, N.J., Terence, of Southport, N.C., John of Lakewood, N.J., Jerry, of Queens Village, and a sister, Ellen Nash of Ocean Isle Beach, N.C. Connelly's oldest son, Stephen, died in 1992.

A funeral Mass was celebrated Tuesday at St. Patrick's Church in Bay Shore with burial at St. Philip Neri Cemetery in East Northport.

[Frank]

Thanks.    grog

[AdriftAtSea]

My condolences.  You have much to be proud of... :)