Sea History 018 - Autumn 1980

Page 59

At Port Lincoln, Australia, February 1939 the Passat in half-ballast dwarfs the two men on her fore royal yard. Photo, Jack Randall.

A Cape Horn Odyssey By Thomas Wells, AICH, F/ ASMA

Harry Anderson, a lad from the Aland Islands, Finland, who bunked in the starboard foc' sle with me and eight other men Harry once asked me in broken English and Swedish: "Wells, why did you go to sea, in the Yankee country it has it so good? We in Aland had to either work on the farm or go to sea. That is why I am here." Although difficult to explain I knew why I was there, even though the money was only ten shillings (two and a half dollars) a month. I love ships, and I knew that someday they would bring a return for me. SEA HISTORY, FALL 1980

You might say my parents were responsible for my success in doing what I enjoyed most. My brother Bill and I grew up in Menominee, Michigan on the shores of Green Bay, Lake Michigan. It was beautiful summer sailing country with many islands and inlets, and we always had boats in the family. Dad had sailed on his father's yachts and also on the Lakes in lumber schooners. He was not about to deny his children any of those experiences. While we were in high school, we had a45-footschooner, Tom Bill, moored at the dock right in back of our home. We sailed all summer, and

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Sea History 018 - Autumn 1980 by National Maritime Historical Society & Sea History Magazine - Issuu