7 September - A Piece of History

The crew of Puanani dinghied over just before sunset with a bottle of bubbly to celebrate our "champagne sailing" crossing of Bligh Water. After that bottle was gone and numerous pupus were consumed, Clay busted out some scotch and we had toasts to Captains Bligh and Cook. Well lubricated, we drifted off to bed without noticing that we had skipped dinner.

Clay has been enamored with Bligh, reading everything he can find about him, and I have always been fascinated with Cook's achievements. Bligh was First Mate on one of Cook's voyages of discovery. The voyages of Cook and Bligh have had a direct impact on my family which helped pique my interest in these men.

My father sailed around the world in 1939 as the First Mate aboard Irving Johnson's 96 foot schooner Yankee. Pitcairn Island, where the Bounty mutineers settled, was one of their stops during the voyage. After 3 days at Pitcarin, Yankee continued on around the world finishing the voyage just as the US was becoming involved in WWII.

One Saturday afternoon in the mid 1980s I was working with my Dad in his garage when the mailman delivered a large Manila envelope. We stopped what we were doing and opened the envelope to discover that it contained a letter from the estate executor of one of the Yankee crew from my Dad's voyage. This man had left "his most cherished possession to the shipmate who took such good care of him during their voyage aboard Yankee".

As Yankee's First Mate, my Dad was a watch captain and this man was assigned to his watch. Dad told me that this man was handicapped, and he wasn't able to do everything the others could. Dad said he told him to just do his best, and the rest of his watch mates would pick up the slack. My Dad didn't think this was a big deal, but being treated with kindness and respect apparently made a significant and lasting impression on this man.

A few weeks after receiving the envelope, a package arrived containing a "sister hook", a wrought iron fitting from the Bounty. This man had managed to purchase it from the descendants of the Bounty mutineers during his 3 day stay on Pitcarin Island in 1939.