The true story of five young men and a girl that set out to circumnavigate the Earth with Sandefjord, a fifty-year-old lifeboat. 1965 - 1966
Sandefjord was first launched in 1913, and during her 22 years of service for the Norwegian Lifeboat Society, she saved 117 lives and assisted 258 vessels through fog and storm to safety.
After being sold out of the lifeboat service in 1935, the ketch passed through a succession of owners, the last of whom all but abandoned her as a rotting hulk in Durban.
It was a desperately sad shadow of the once proud and gallant Sandefjord that was found, half sunk at her moorings, by the Durban brothers Barry and Patrick Cullen in 1963.
The task of refitting her required almost two years of hard work before she was ready for sea.
She was taken from the water, stripped of all doubtful planks and timbers, and slowly restored to a state of complete seaworthiness.
Finally, in February 1965, Sandefjord was ready.
She was provisioned for 400 days and with her complement of five young men and a girl, she sailed from Durban on what proved to be her greatest adventure yet.
Through the West Indies, Panama Canal...and on into the mighty Pacific.
Sandefjord made her landfalls in the exotic South Seas in much the same way as Cook and other early navigators.
Without exception, she was well met at all her ports of call.
She made friends easily...for herself and her crew...as loyal and devoted a crew as any ship could ever wish to have.
Sandefjord sailed 30,279 nautical miles in 21 months in this memorable circumnavigation, receiving a thrilling homecoming welcome in Durban, Tuesday, 8th November 1966.
No comments:
Post a Comment