Vagabonding Under Sail
by Crealock, W.I.B.
pub. David McKay Co., NY , 1951     this later paperback edition 1978     isbn 0-679-51425-2 - black and white photos disbursed in text. - Appendix p. 279 - 302 about the boat - the rig - Navigation - Photographic suggestions - Seasickness - Sea cooking - the Cost - Useless statistics - Outward bound (general comments) - do remember all these were written in 1951 when the world was a different place. - - 302 p.
This is one of several stories of voyaging in sailboats in the years shortly after World War II. In this case 4 young men who are working in various positions have an itch for adventure. At first they are attracted to a newspaper advertisement to be crew on a boat heading out to collect rare and different botanical specimines. They decided that this effort was fatally flawed and rather than give up they pooled their resources, bought a vessel and set off on their own.
They got very lucky and were offered a Falmouth Quay Punt - Content - a cutter, about 40 feet long, length overall, which was built in 1914 and previously owned by Edward Allcard, a fameous voyager, who had set the boat up for single handing. Alcard was delighted to sell the boat to some young men who desired to really use the boat as it was intended.
They re-rigged it to have an ingenious divided version of a square rig. They also had the bottom covered with copper sheathing to prevent damage from wood eating teredo worms and other marine pests. In 1948 they headed south, stopping in northern Spain, Portugal and Gibraltar. They continued on to Casablanca N. Africa and avoided being sucked into smuggling. From there they sailed to the Canary Islands, spent some time there then crossed the Atlantic where their very special square rig showed its genius. There were 2 yards, one on each side of the mast attached to the mast with a universal joint. Triangular raffee sails were set above the square sails, and additional sails were laced to the bottom edge of the square sail(s) for added area.
They sailed to Georgetown, British Guiana and spent half a year there doing some exploring up river while another crew member had to return to England. From there they sailed by Trinidad and up the island chain to Saint Lucia where they got jobs, lived half a year and replentished their funds. From there sailed to Jamaica and did a bit of a re-fit especially to the pintles on the rudder which were seriously damaged by the galvanic action beween the ferrous metal of the pintles and the copper on the bottom. They did put sacrificial anodes on, but they had disappeared... used up ...
From there they had a short interlude in Haiti and headed past the west end of Cuba to Key West. They cleared USA customs first there and again in Miami, Florida with some difficulty with he paperwork. On the way up the intercoastal waterway they met folks in a large yacht who asked them to crew for them on the way south, which they did after the Content berthed in New York. - Then the trouble started with their official entry to USA, including imprisonment and transfer from NY to Florida and several court hearings largely around their not being able to legally work in USA. They finally prevailed and were set free. This book does not discuss what happened to the Content. It does hint that Crealock might travel from Panama into the S. Pacific on the Arthur Rogers with friends. In fact, that is what he did and wrote the book Cloud of Islands: By Sail to the South Seas describing that voyage.
This is a good read. Straight forwardly describes a 2 year voyage and notes how friends can do it and remain friends, and actually accomplish their vision... with revisions.
~ 2017-05-22 ~

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