I DO RESENT GROWING OLD ….. ….. don’t we all? In our lives we do things without much care. With age we puff while looking for somewhere to sit down. We ask others to lift the weights before they run to catch the bus. But inside – we are as we ever were. We want to live as formerly, have new experiences, explore new things, travel, gain fresh goals. So we cut our cloth accordingly, take the bus to Timbuktu (rather than biking there) and watch others scale the peaks. It happens that I wish to cross the Atlantic. So why not, and on a raft? It is simple. Its leeboards can do the steering. Its manner befits an ageing frame, and it travels without haste. What is this life, if full of care, we can no longer sit and stare? (It should also be a deal safer than bussing to Timbuktu.) Such a trip might encourage others to think likewise. Anything has to be better than resenting pills, and puffing, and creaking, and everything else contributing to Senior Citizen. As for troubles unforeseen we must play them by hearing aid, as and when they come. Therefore on to the ….
AN-TIKI
Anthony Smith
anthontsmith@hotmail.com
Tel. 0208 743 0551
www.an-tiki.com
INTRODUCING A GREAT NEW RAFT OF POSSIBILITIES
OF NEW IDEAS
OF AGE AND YOUTH
OF RE-INVENTION
OF ADVENTURE
OF INDIVIDUALS
....... OF NEW IDEAS linked to crossing the Atlantic by raft Gas pipes will form the basic structure., with four 39 ft long/20 ins diameter, and sixteen 15 ft long/10 ins diameter. Accommodation will be within two oil storage tanks, each 10ft by 5 ft by 5 ft. The longitudinal and crosswise pipes, bolted to each other, will provide massive buoyancy and great capacity for fresh water. The tanks, with doors and port-holes, will contain bunks, tables, cookers and communication equipment. A 3-legged mast will support a double sail, and a plastic mesh will cover the considerable deck. Steering will be via 'guaras', the old Peruvian lee-board system more effective than a rudder.
....... OF AGE AND YOUTH The crew (trained in Medicine, Zoology, Building Engineering, Computing Technology) has massive experience of past endeavour, whether ballooning over Alps and Africa, creating and flying airships, motorbiking from Cape to Cairo (and back), travelling to every continent, visiting every British beach, working for feature films, surfing, sailing, or restoring cars, and has no wish to cease adventuring when a touch longer in the tooth. An ocean crossing by raft has inevitable appeal. Facts about this Atlantic venture from Canaries to Bahamas, its daily progress, the sights seen and thoughts expressed, will first be processed through SCHOOLS. Great subjects, whether linked to climate, oceans, history, geography, biology, satellite communication, astronomy or whatever, will bring textbook information to life in a spirited fashion.
....... OF RE-INVENTION There have been 50 or so major raft forays since Kon-Tiki's epic of 1947, each somewhat traditional. Spanish explorers of South America were astonished by raft capability, but the craft were sidelined. With modern materials and ancient wisdom rafts could find a future. Each generation, taking a fresh look at earlier invention, does make change. Think of –
Parachutes, now steerable Roller-skates, in-line and swift Hot-air balloons, first abandoned, now universal Scooters, forgotten but now part of every childhood Kites, unbelievably altered currently Gliders, now jumped off hills Surf-boards, getting better year by year Catamarans, formerly Pacific only Bicycles, three-speeds were top Yachts - keels, self-steering, multi-hulled
Rafts could be next in line for transformation.
....... OF ADVENTURE The phrases are so over-used - a fresh challenge, being first, because it's there - but a wish for new experience can stay paramount with age. So too the wish for novelty. Start a different business. Start a different anything. Or, says something within one's head, get a raft, a brand new kind, a better kind than ever before that can readily be steered in ancient fashion before arriving, weeks later, at a CHOSEN destination. The most amazing and horrendous LIFEBOAT story of WW2 lasted for 10 weeks. MV 'AngloSaxon' was sunk by a surface raider in August 1940 when south-west of the Canary Islands. Only a single boat could be launched but its crew perished, one by one, when wounds, hunger and thirst got the better of them. Only two - half their normal weight - were alive when the craft grounded near Alabaster Bay, Eleuthera, outer bastion of the Bahamas. That 17-ft relic, located in the U.S. and retrieved by one of the piperaft's crew, is now prime Merchant Navy exhibit within London's Imperial War Museum. Therefore where better for our raft to land, with guaras having proved their worth, than the very spot where that boat ended its 2,500 mile journey 70 years earlier? Everyone would then be properly reminded of the terrible wartime experience suffered by men of the MERCHANT MARINE.
……. OF INDIVIDUALS ANTHONY SMITH Author (of 30 books), broadcaster (TV and Radio), journalist (Guardian, Daily Telegraph), and traveller (every continent). Journeys include driving from UK to Iran, investigating its 'qanats', motorbiking from Cape to Cairo (and back 28 years later), steam-boating down Brazil's 2,000-mile Araguaia, first to balloon over eastern Africa. Builder and pilot of first British gas airship for 45 years. Five children. ROBIN BATCHELOR Professional balloonist for 38 years, notably over Africa, across Alps and English Channel (4 times). Taught Richard Branson to fly. Performed for films, such as 'Green Ice' (off Mexico City's tallest building), 'Enduring Love', 'Superman 3' and 'Un Jour et une Nuit'. Owner, driver, restorer of vintage motor cars and bicycles. Two children. ANDREW BAINBRIDGE Part-time general practitioner. Built own dinghy. Frequent sailor, notably in West Indies. Much prefers canoes to kayaks. Semi-retired. Keeps llamas. Propagandist in favour of education for change. Resident of Canada (Alberta). Married. Two step-children, two grand-steps. DAVID HILDRED Civil engineer. Much travelled (100 countries). Frequent cruiser with own yachts. Explored Amazonia in dugout canoe. Driven to Arctic Circle. Hot air balloonist. Trans-Atlantic sailor who has achieved 15,000 ‘blue water’ miles. Owns land in Tasmania. Resident of British Virgin Islands. Married to marine scientist, one daughter.
THE SCHOOL LINK The pipe raft's voyaging - of 50 miles per day - will give opportunity for recording that progress (on charts with flags), for introducing exciting topics, for presenting great facts as and when they become critical, for receiving childrens' queries (and hopefully answering them). Topics to be discussed could include: Daily travel, why so fast or slow Accompanying birds, fishes, life forms in general Storm, heat, cloud, hurricane Ocean currents, Earth's rotation 2,500 allied ships sunk in war, mainly in the Atlantic Plankton, its daily migration up/down, appearance and taste Depth, and if oceans are deeper than mountains are high Astro-navigation, Polaris, the stars and planets Satellite navigation, GPS, geo-stationary orbits Daily routine, course changes, meals, watch-keeping Other craft, collision avoidance, proximity radar The 'Anglo-Saxon' story with only two surviving Famous crossings - Titanic, Mayflower, Great Western New World discovery by Spain and Portugal Sea bounty, flying fish, rain Destination of Eleuthera Successful landing, meeting Bahamians
THE SCHOOL LINK - continued This raft's intimate and daily involvement with an ocean will bring to life in a practical manner many subjects whose theory can be less appealing. Inevitably our accompanying fish, such as dorados, will be given names and be steadfast partners in the enterprise. The regular interaction, from raft to school, from ship to shore, will highlight the actuality of this extended voyage and emphasise the facts which it involves. (Children - and others - learn zilch about the Atlantic by flying over it at 30,000 feet.) There will be a 'master school' as the main recipient of raft information, ready and able to pass on details to other establishments. This in itself will be instructive of modern communication. The four crew members, with their different skills, abilities and personal histories, will assuredly become favoured (or otherwise) for various topics just as teachers are so distinguishable to their pupils. It is hoped there will be a sense of let-down when this 3,000 mile journey comes to its conclusion, but the craft will still be buoyant. It would be great if certain children could be rewarded with a trip by raft after the first voyage has been completed.
AND AFTERWARDS Kon-Tiki rests within an Oslo museum, having made its single journey. Two other rafts have also ended 'on show' but none has journeyed more than once. Gas-pipes last for years - they have to - and a pipe raft will be the same. Further voyaging is therefore feasible. The school link gives opportunity to reward students who have profited most from the Atlantic crossing or have been of most assistance to it. What better reward than travel by raft - to somewhere, somehow, as and when the judges think fit. In short, unlike all other rafts of modern times, there is no reason why ‘AN-TIKI’s arrival at Eleuthera should be
THE END
Anthony Smith
anthontsmith@hotmail.com
Tel. 0208 743 0551
www.an-tiki.com