Monday, August 23, 2010

How did all this get started?

It's his fault.

The year was 1968.  I was a grad student wrestling with a thesis, teaching a class, and getting by somehow on $225 per month.  The Vietnam war was raging (the Tet Offensive had just occurred), and the job market was non-existent.  It was a time with little hope.  In this dark era I was struggling to make life decisions.

And then I read an article in the October, 1968 library copy of the National Geographic about a 16-year old kid who had chucked it all and was sailing around the world in a Lapworth 24 (that is not a misprint:  the boat was 24 feet long - one step above a day sailor).  His name was Robin Lee Graham.

I was literally mesmerized.  My gosh, the freedom!!  The only responsibilities he had were to himself.  He could go wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted, with no cost except food.  The tales of mile after mile of turquoise water passing, the motion of the boat, the sun glinting off the waves...  The landfalls on exotic shores with white sand beaches and palm trees were something this Midwestern boy could barely imagine.  I pored over the pictures, trying to glean every scrap of information that would help me to recreate in my mind the feel of living on a boat at sea.

Throughout that cold, dark Indiana winter, as the war news worsened and while rewriting my thesis yet again, I haunted the library, waiting for the next copy of National Geographic, and then the next - hoping for the promised next installment in Robin's story.   Finally in April, 1969, there it was!  Even more of the same, but now romance had been stirred in too.

It was an impressionable time for me - a seed was planted.  I joined the Purdue Sailing club to get an understanding of how one moves with such freedom, using the wind as propulsion.  I even built a boat of my own design to try out the principles I thought I had acquired (it was a dismal failure).

The final installment of Robin's story was delivered in the October, 1970 issue of National Geographic.  He left a boy and returned a man, with more practical knowledge and experience than most people will ever attain.  With the conclusion of Robin's story, I turned to looking at Yachting, and that new-fangled Sail magazine.  With no experience at all, I found myself evaluating boats and soaking up salt water lore just like you might expect a dry-land Midwestern boy would do.

Then (condensing the story slightly) I met Jane and we married, and I signed on with ALCOA in the Saint Louis area.   We moved to Belleville Illinois - still an awfully long way from salt water.

But the seed was quietly growing, out of sight.  One hot summer day, Jane and I loaded up our ratty 1961 Ford van and headed over to Carlyle Lake, a large reservoir an hour or so east of us.  We camped out on the lake, and walked the docks, oogling the boats (something we still do at every opportunity).  And we sort of got to talking to a broker, who just happened to have a brand new Cal 21 for sail sale.  Buying that boat was for me as natural an act as breathing (and perhaps as involuntary as well).  I remember thinking at the time that this boat was only 3 feet shorter than Dove, Robin's boat.

The seed had blossomed.

I still have those three issues of National Geographic, here onboard Eolian.

And that guy at the top of the page?  That's the modern-day Robin Graham, in a photo from an article in, yep, Yachting magazine.
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17 comments:

Mike said...

Cool post!

The Ames Family said...

Great story! You should try to contact him!!

Dougm said...

I still have somewhere, a book about Robin Graham's voyage. Your post reminded me of when I first read it (again and again) and how badly I wanted to set sail...

Robert Salnick said...

Mike: :^)

Ames: I'd feel like paparazzi...

Dougm: I have that book too, but I acquired it much later in life

bob

Csg said...

The story still works. "that book" (Dove) and Tania Aebi's "Maiden Voyage" are tucked into the box that my starry-eyed daughter is taking to college next week. I suspect I am observing the beginning of an odyssey.

Team Giddyup said...

Carol recommended Dove having seen the movie version years ago (and it being a big inspiration for him as well). We couldn't find the movie on DVD and I read the book.

Great story. You'll have to show us the magazines when we are in Seattle this winter and you invite us over ;)

Robert Salnick said...

Estrellita: I'm stocking up on wine (red, I hope)

Robert Salnick said...

Csg: Haven't read Maiden Voyage... Now I want to.

And as for your daughter... uh oh...

Aaron said...

Great post! I was 16 when I went sailing for the first time and can totally relate. Sure feels good to live a dream.

Robert Salnick said...

Thanks Aaron! Indeed, it does.

The Ames Family said...

No way. Not paparazzi! Just a fan!! When I was a kid I contacted my hero and she's one of my closest friends now. I'm sure he'd love to know how he influenced you!!

team ocean victory said...

Thank you for posting those photos! I just finished Dove and like you I needed to know more and you site was the only one with the National Geographic photos, thanks for sharing! Fair winds

Olivia.Fabrizio@gmail.com

el nuevo said...

Here are the three articles of National Geographic_

October 1968: http://bit.ly/waNadT
April 1969: http://bit.ly/xngbLY
October 1970: http://bit.ly/wAmej5

Robert Salnick said...

flan -

Thanks! Those are very helpful links!

bob

WINDBREAKER said...

I just found your blog and started searching it. You have posted great stuff. Thanks.

WINDBREAKER said...

Thanks for your great post. I just ordered your book on anchoring.

Robert Salnick said...

Thanks for your kind words, Windbreaker!

Much as I would like to take the credit, I think the book you mention is by Drew Frey - I just reviewed it

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