world's youngest circumnavigator arrives home
Question:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Yesterday 18 year old David Dicks from Fremantle WA became: the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe single-handed the youngest person to circumnavigate non-stop the youngest person to round Cape Horn single-handed probably the latest (i.e. closest to mid-winter) single handed rounding of Cape Horn possibly the latest rounding of Cape Horn by any yacht (can anyone confirm or deny?) (His Cape Horn rounding was in mid May.) David entered Fremantle Harbour on Sunday morning in warm sunny weather,after 264 days at sea. His return was accompanied by an armada of small vessels; I estimate about 300 craft, with maybe 10,000 people lining the harbour walls; the local press estimated considerably larger numbers. David was very composed under the circumstances, and at the media conference later at Fremantle Sailing Club he handled the more banal questions with considerable skill. He paid great tribute to his mentor Jon Sanders, and said he might have a crack at 4 times round non-stop later in life, but would let Jon take his triple circumnavigation record to the grave (Jon is some 30 years older than David). His yacht "Seaflight", an SS34 locally moulded by Kim Swarbrick & family, looked in good condition. Just about every deck fitting was covered in sealant, presumably to stop leaks and minimise chafe. The spray hood frame was bent and part of a handrail missing (probably from when he tied a halyard to it when trying to save his mast near Cape Horn when the lower shroud mast attachment bolt broke). There were a few rust stains and of course lots of marine growth on the topsides. David makes all us armchair adventurers feel very humble. Good on ya, David! Congratulations to David, an inspiration to us all — Regards Mark Johnson
HEAR! HEAR! A circumnavigation is an impressive whether or not solo. Solo is incredible! Did you say "nonstop" and did you mean it literally? Will "Pelican"
Response:
Yesterday 18 year old David Dicks from Fremantle WA became: the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe single-handed the youngest person to circumnavigate non-stop the youngest person to round Cape Horn single-handed probably the latest (i.e. closest to mid-winter) single handed rounding of Cape Horn possibly the latest rounding of Cape Horn by any yacht (can anyone confirm or deny?) (His Cape Horn rounding was in mid May.) David entered Fremantle Harbour on Sunday morning in warm sunny weather,after 264 days at sea. His return was accompanied by an armada of small vessels; I estimate about 300 craft, with maybe 10,000 people lining the harbour walls; the local press estimated considerably larger numbers. David was very composed under the circumstances, and at the media conference later at Fremantle Sailing Club he handled the more banal questions with considerable skill. He paid great tribute to his mentor Jon Sanders, and said he might have a crack at 4 times round non-stop later in life, but would let Jon take his triple circumnavigation record to the grave (Jon is some 30 years older than David). His yacht "Seaflight", an SS34 locally moulded by Kim Swarbrick & family, looked in good condition. Just about every deck fitting was covered in sealant, presumably to stop leaks and minimise chafe. The spray hood frame was bent and part of a handrail missing (probably from when he tied a halyard to it when trying to save his mast near Cape Horn when the lower shroud mast attachment bolt broke). There were a few rust stains and of course lots of marine growth on the topsides. David makes all us armchair adventurers feel very humble. Good on ya, David! — Kim Klaka Regional Manager Australian Maritime Engineering Cooperative Research Centre (AMECRC) Curtin University GPO Box U1987 Perth Western Australia 6845 phone: 61 9 351 7380 fax: 61 9 351 2377
Response:
<snip HEAR! HEAR! A circumnavigation is an impressive whether or not solo. Solo is incredible! Did you say "nonstop" and did you mean it literally? Will "Pelican"
This is from the Melbourne, Australia, "Age." (http://www.theage.com.au/news/n161196c.htm) There was also a good color picture of David on the front page. -Peter Polson. Saturday 16 November 1996 Portrait of a young sea hero By Duncan Graham Fremantle This soul hath been Alone on a wide, wide sea; So lonely ’twas, that God Himself Scarce seemed there to be. -Samuel Taylor Coleridge: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner THE How is easy to answer, the Why more elusive, unlikely to be revealed for a while. For solo sailor David Dicks, 18, the youngest person to have circumnavigated the world non-stop, will be drinking deep of the adulation after he arrives in Fremantle on Sunday. In interviews he has given so far the ingenuous yachtsman says he wants a freshwater shower, a flush toilet, fresh fruit (particularly mangoes) and cold beer, the standard list compiled by most who have travelled overseas. But Mr Dicks has not touched land since he left Fremantle on 26 February in his mother’s 10-metre sloop Seaflight and headed down the Western Australian coast, then east. The boat and its captain were then both aged 17. It was his second start. On 18 February, Mr Dicks was given a grand send-off by the WA Premier, Mr Richard Court, and thousands of onlookers. With his long blond hair and dark glasses, he looked and sounded like the archetypal purposeless WA teenager, short on words and big on grin, at first glance a ready candidate for Pauline Hanson’s national service. Three days later the doomsayers were smiling. A section of PVC piping had broken, swamping two of his three radios with seawater. He turned round and returned to Fremantle for repairs. Undeterred by the negative start, Mr Dicks was off again. This time the problems came when there was no turning back. Across the Great Australian Bight and approaching Tasmania, the Hobart weather bureau upgraded a gale warning to storm level. Seaflight was badly knocked around. A wind-powered generator was broken off the stern and the cockpit spray dodger was crumpled. The radar stopped functioning along with the main global positioning system. Worse was to come. Close to Cape Horn, a bolt sheared in the middle of Seaflight’s mast. The lower side-wire stays supporting the mid section of the mast collapsed. Obeying the universal law that stuff-ups never come singly, a pin then fell out of the self-steering device, causing the yacht to go out of control. Mr Dicks climbed the mast and attached chains and ropes. The chain broke. Every day he had to get up the mast and repair the repairs. It was six degrees below, and he burned his feet on the cold metal rung, wounds which required careful handling to avoid infection. He cleared Cape Horn on 20 May in winds squalling between 35 and 50 knots and with snow on the deck. “It was the worst part of the journey, but I never thought my life was in danger,” he told The Age while sailing towards Fremantle this week. “I knew that if I’d lost the mast altogether I’d have to stop at the Falklands and that would have broken the voyage.” Instead, details of the broken bolt were faxed from Australia to the British Forces headquarters on the Falklands. They took eight hours to machine a bolt, then lower it on a 30 metre nylon rope from a helicopter. Though manufactured to the specifications in the fax, the bolt would not fit. It was taken on board HMS Northumberland, re-machined and returned to Mr Dicks. This time it worked, the mast was repaired and Seaflight sped north. Though not with his mail. An 8.5-kilogram box of letters which could have been included in the chopper drop didn’t get to the Falklands in time. The box was posted seamail, not airmail. Imagine the world as an orange, says Mr Dicks’ ebullient mother Patricia in the talks she gives to schools. Stick a skewer in at the spot marked Fremantle and push it straight through the centre and out the far side. The exit is Bermuda. To make a true circumnavigation Mr Dicks had to round a buoy three nautical miles off Bermuda. He did this on 19 July, witnessed by his mother and his mentor, the Perth yachtsman Jon Sanders, who has sailed round the world seven times. Conditions weren’t right for Mr Dicks to turn home, so he kept sailing north to 37 degrees before making a loop to the south-east, down through the North and South Atlantic. Then east, under South Africa and towards Australia. To pass the time he read novels (Bryce Courtenay is a favorite), played his guitar and listened to short-wave radio and his CDs. Mr Dicks is hard to fathom, a contradiction of hedonist and achiever, naive kid and sage mariner. He has courage, ingenuity and perseverance with lashings of common sense, but these seem to exclude expression. If this was a great journey into the soul, then Mr Dicks isn’t saying. “Loneliness wasn’t really a problem,” he said though explaining that he really likes to be with his mates. “It’s not really for me to describe myself. A bit laid back, I suppose. I just take life as it comes. That’s about it. “Philosophy? Not one I’ve lived by or thought about. I’ve got a sense of humor. I like partying, having a good time, stuff like that. A surfing sort of laid-back beach bum.” Mr Dicks has been yachting for much of his life. His father Dr Harold Dicks who worked for the Royal Flying Doctor Service died nine years ago. His mother put up the $70,000 to meet her son’s ambition. Mr Sanders, who now makes a living ferrying yachts around the world, said his protege was a natural sailor who had arnered much ocean racing experience long before his present voyage. "He’s just a nice ordinary 18-year-old. With adults he doesn’t say much, but among his friends he’s a non-stop talker.” But when the applause has died and Mr Dicks becomes just another lanky teenager, what then? He has been offered some work experience with Channel 9 and is expected to be in demand endorsing products and the WA lifestyle. Then maybe to follow Mr Sanders in the yacht ferrying business. “The problem is that you never know what sort of boat you’ll be on, or the people you’ll be dealing with, and they don’t pay enough,” said Mr Sanders. “It’s not that romantic.” Said Mr Dicks, apparently unaware that frank words can eclipse great achievements: “I might just surf for the Government.”
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Yesterday 18 year old David Dicks from Fremantle WA became: the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe single-handed the youngest person to circumnavigate non-stop the youngest person to round Cape Horn single-handed probably the latest (i.e. closest to mid-winter) single handed rounding of Cape Horn possibly the latest rounding of Cape Horn by any yacht (can anyone confirm or deny?) (His Cape Horn rounding was in mid May.) David entered Fremantle Harbour on Sunday morning in warm sunny weather,after 264 days at sea. His return was accompanied by an armada of small vessels; I estimate about 300 craft, with maybe 10,000 people lining the harbour walls; the local press estimated considerably larger numbers. David was very composed under the circumstances, and at the media conference later at Fremantle Sailing Club he handled the more banal questions with considerable skill. He paid great tribute to his mentor Jon Sanders, and said he might have a crack at 4 times round non-stop later in life, but would let Jon take his triple circumnavigation record to the grave (Jon is some 30 years older than David). His yacht "Seaflight", an SS34 locally moulded by Kim Swarbrick & family, looked in good condition. Just about every deck fitting was covered in sealant, presumably to stop leaks and minimise chafe. The spray hood frame was bent and part of a handrail missing (probably from when he tied a halyard to it when trying to save his mast near Cape Horn when the lower shroud mast attachment bolt broke). There were a few rust stains and of course lots of marine growth on the topsides. David makes all us armchair adventurers feel very humble. Good on ya, David!
Congratulations to David, an inspiration to us all — Regards Mark Johnson
Response:
Filed under: Loneliness Lonely
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