Patrick O'Brian Discussion Forum

Bligh-me, it's a big adventure

'The rebels set Bligh and eighteen men adrift in the ship's 23 foot long launch, with little food and only minimal navigational tools. Incredibly Bligh managed to reach Kupang in Timor two months later with the loss of only one man, after a harrowing 3500 mile voyage. [DNB]'
Kate Dennehy, Oct 31, writes: While sailor Jessica Watson continues her record-breaking circumnavigation attempt with state-of-the-art equipment, another Australian adventurer is planning a sailing trip at the other extreme. Don McIntyre, 54, plans to re-enact the epic voyage of Captain William Bligh after he was cast adrift from HMS Bounty, following the mutiny of 1789. Mr McIntyre and three other crew will set off on the 4000-nautical-mile journey in a 7.6-metre traditional open timber boat with oars and a sail, meagre rations and some rum. They will have no charts, torches, modern navigational equipment, timepieces or toilet paper. ''Bligh and his crew didn't have any toilet paper, so neither will we,'' said Mr McIntyre. ''We'll be using water, hands and rope instead.''

British solo circumnavigator Mike Perham, 17, will join Mr McIntyre and two others on the voyage, which will range from near what is now known as Tonga to West Timor in Indonesia. Mr McIntyre is using the attempt to raise money for research into motor neurone disease and said there was still one spot in the boat for anyone willing to pay about $30,000 for the seven-week voyage, flights and living expenses. April 28 next year will mark the 221st anniversary of the mutiny on the Bounty, when Fletcher Christian cast William Bligh and 18 of his men adrift near Tonga, marking the beginning of one of the greatest open boat voyages in maritime history. Bligh lost only one crew member, who was killed by natives as they left the first island they had stopped at on about the third day of their journey.

''The hardships and human dynamics of the crew is all part of the experience in getting close to how Bligh and his men felt and coped,'' Mr McIntyre said . . The boat is now in London but will be shipped to Sydney in February for a pre-trip training and promotional launch. It is slightly longer and lighter than Bligh's, but about a third of the volume. Mr McIntyre will announce the other two crew members and a ''major sponsor'' in Scotland next week. After stopping at Tonga to gather extra food and water, they will sail west across the top of Fiji and the Vanuatu Island groups to Restoration Island, off Cape York in north Queensland, then north inside the Great Barrier Reef to Thursday Island and through the Torres Strait to West Timor.

. . Their equipment includes an octant, sextant and watches from the 18th century, nautical tables, a compass, telescope, rope knot metre, lead line, ink pens, notebooks, logbook and magnifying glass . .

[www.brisbanetimes.com.au]

Sun Nov 1

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