Utube..... Beyond The West Horizon

[Owly055]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5m061JZNYQ

One hour, 33 minutes.    This is the photographic (probably 8mm movie film) account of a round the world voyage by Eric and Susan Hiscock.   I believe the voyage was back in the very early '60's.  The book is available on Amazon for as low as $4 (paperback)  https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-West-Horizon-Eric-Hiscock/dp/0911378715

I thoroughly enjoyed the video, and will probably order the paperback.

                                                  H.W.

[CharlieJ]

I have and have  read many of Hiscocks books, including his first one called Come Aboard, which details his very early sails , from before and during the time he met Susan. It was published in 1951

He bought his first Wanderer in 1934. Laid up his second Wanderer in 1939 during WWII

Quite a couple

[Owly055]

I have and have  read many of Hiscocks books, including his first one called Come Aboard, which details his very early sails , from before and during the time he met Susan. It was published in 1951

He bought his first Wanderer in 1934. Laid up his second Wanderer in 1939 during WWII

Quite a couple

I just a bit ago ordered a number of their books.......... I read a lot, and I've read a lot about them, but never read any of their books.   I had no idea that this film even existed, much less was on Utube.  It obviously left out a lot of detail as any film must.  In general I would rather read than watch a film, except that the film captures accurate pictures.  There's a lot to be learned from the writings of people like these.    Probably some of the most valuable insights to me are those related to anchoring and ground tackle.   I'm not interested in using moorings and slips, the first because of reliability, and both because I like remote places and solitude.   Storm tactics are a close second.......... I read about such things as sea anchors and drogues voraciously.   There is a great deal more relevant information, much of it changes over time, but not the basics.   

                                                                                   H.W.

[Frank]

Cruising under sail is their classic. Just reached over my shoulder here in the cabin to grab it for the picture.
I got the bug in the mid 70's and was blessed because they were both still alive and actively contributing to several magazines.
Their well thought out mathodical approach always made things as easy as possible on their voyages......of which there were many. Strictly by memory, I think they went around 3 times....maybe more.
After Eric passed on, Susan sailed solo for a few years. She never got the credit she deserved in my opinion. After she passed on, an author wrote in cruising world about watching her sail their last bigger boat (which niether of them liked as much) solo into a harbour, dropping the hook, then once settled, taking the dingy to visit another boat. Along the way her course took her between 2 other boats that were close together. She switched from rowing to single ore sculling effortlessly and once through, back to rowing as if nothing had changed. The author was quite an experienced cruiser, but marvelled at how easy she made it look. A lifetime voyaging will do that.
Sorry for the ramble.
Glad your watching and reading their books.
Quite dated now..(no GPS or modern anchors etc) but the fundamentals have never changed.
You will enjoy them!

[Owly055]

     I'm about half way through Sou'West in Wander IV, after having read Around the World in Wanderer III.   Good reading.   I'm also working my way through Cruising Under Sail, but not as a "start to finish" book, but rather skipping about and reading what interests me most.   Needless to say I read a LOT.   I've never had a TV in my life, and probably never will.
     Voyaging Under Sail is a title that describes what I really hope to do, and Hiscock offers a lot of insights in this and his other books.   Motor sailing as they did so much of in Wander IV is clearly not what I want to do.   

     Their observations on short handed voyaging pretty much confirm the conclusions I've reached about the boat for me.    First, and most obvious is self steering....... that is absolutely non-negotiable.  Second, and also non-negotiable is the rig.    A ketch rig is just that much more hardware for sails where one often blankets the other.   The junk rig, which as far as I know (so far) was not even regarded as an option at that time, is another non-negotiable.  A single sail that is easily set and trimmed from a safe location, and can be reefed in seconds from the cockpit by simply releasing the halyard, and does not involve fancy in boom furling, or any other modern technology, involves no standing rigging at all, or winches, vangs, preventers, etc, is a no brainer.    Blondie raced across the Atlantic single handed in bedroom slippers with a junk rig.  I read about all the hassles raising and lowering the sails.  One having to get the other out his or her berth repeatedly on many stretches, resulting in exhaustion from insufficient sleep.   Of course they didn't have self steering in WIII.   Single handing, it would make sense to heave too for sleep in these conditions.    The other constant headache was rolling as well as heeling.   Not a big deal on short day sails and coastal hops, the rolling from rail to rail in some circumstances, when running or becalmed, and the fact of living for days or weeks at a time in a steeply canted cabin, is a situation that sailors have described as physically exhausting.   This points again to my conclusion that a multihull is the only option for me.    It's about having an enjoyable voyage between distant ports with minimal stress....... At least to me it is.   Sea anchors, drogues, and good ground tackle are also all non-negotiable items.
      We are extremely lucky to live in an era where we have push button navigation that is cheap.  The stress of trying to get good sextant sights, and dead reckoning for many days between those sights, not knowing exactly what the current is doing, is a thing of the past..........BUT the skills are critical.  We have no idea when GPS will suddenly go black............ And it WILL.   An extremely expensive system controlled by the government, the ability to take it down or to encrypt it at the push of a button in DC exists, and it will happen at some point.  Just as Trump shut down visitors from various countries arbitrarily by executive order, he or another leader could decide that GPS was beneficial to our "enemies", in fact there can be little doubt, that a dependence on this system world wide is encouraged for just this reason.   Chart plotters are great, but any chart should be able to be displayed WITHOUT functioning GPS, and paper charts....... at least some of them need to be available as well as a sextant and the skill to use it.   

     All of my reading, as well as past experience points to the same conclusions.......... Your mileage may vary   ;-)   


                                           H.W.