suhaili yacht robin knox johnston

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Sir Robin Knox-Johnston refits his famous yacht Suhaili

• March 14, 2017

Suhaili was famously the yacht first sailed non-stop around the world single-handed in the 1968-69 Golden Globe. Following a recent refit by her owner Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, she’s back on the water. Adrian Morgan went aboard

The completely refurbished Suhaili on her first outing at the 2016 Hamble Classics Regatta.

They were wrong; of the nine who entered, only one finished. Thanks to the little craft’s strength and her skipper’s tenacity, they were back – almost in one piece – 313 days later to become the first to circumnavigate the world, non-stop and alone.

Having earned her place in yachting folklore, Suhaili spent a spell on show at the National Maritime Museum, where she began to dry out alarmingly. “I had to do something before too long,” explains Sir Robin Knox-Johnston.

“I told them, ‘If we don’t get her soaked she’ll open up. Leave her much longer and she’ll never recover.’ They told me they couldn’t soak her as there was a risk of Legionnaire’s disease.”

So he took matters into his own hands, removing her in 2002 and personally restoring the yacht that had carried him into the history books. The bulk of the work was completed over the past three years, with Suhaili relaunched in time to be guest of honour at the Hamble Classics regatta in the autumn of 2016.

Built in Bombay

Suhaili , a William Atkins design derivation, was originally built in Bombay in 1963-64, of Burmese teak by Indian carpenters from drawings supplied by a firm in Poole, which advertised “full plans and a free advisory service”.

This proved to be somewhat economical with the truth, as no rigging diagram was included (it transpired that was extra).

Original registration and tonnage data carved into the deck beam. The boat was built by hand in Bombay. Photo PPL

Suhaili ’s keelson was hewn from a 25ft log using traditional tools: adze, bow drill and hand saw. “We would watch, fascinated, as the adze, handled almost casually by the Indian craftsmen, produced as fine a scarph as any modern plane,” Knox-Johnston recalls in his book about the historic voyage, A World of My Own .

Iron fastened teak was used for the entire construction: keel, planking, frames, deck and cabin top. The iron keel weighed two and a quarter tons, and was cast in two sections, held by 14 two-inch keel bolts.

The stringers were six inches by six inches and all the planking one and a quarter inches. So massive was she that when launched on 19 December 1964, Suhaili floated two inches below her waterline.

Knox-Johnston, his brother Chris and radio officer colleague Heinz Fingerhut, sailed Suhaili – the name given by Arab seafarers in the Persian Gulf to the south-east wind – for home, completing the final Cape Town to Gravesend leg non-stop in 74 days, averaging 112 miles a day.

“ Suhaili ,” he wrote “had proved herself a seaworthy boat, able when close-hauled to sail herself for long spells without attention because of her remarkable balance.”

It was the intimate knowledge of the boat gained over 10,000 miles, allied with Suhaili ’s strength, her ability to sail herself and her skipper’s experience as a merchant seaman that was to give her the edge in the Golden Globe.

Suhaili had not, however, been Knox-Johnston’s first choice. Determined to become the first man to sail alone around the world, he had approached English yacht designer Colin Mudie to design a 53ft steel schooner – light, strong and unsinkable.

But without the necessary funds, everything led to the obvious answer, go in Suhaili , the boat he already knew so well.

After a period of fitting out, Suhaili was ready. Her standing rigging was replaced – in tallowed plough steel not stainless – and her pine mizzen swapped for an alloy one.

She had new sails and an elaborate wind-vane self-steering system, which projected from her quarters to clear the mizzen. Described by Knox-Johnston as “like one of Heath Robinson’s nightmares,” the entire contraption was swept away during the voyage.

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Restoring history

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A Boat of His Own: Suhaili relaunched

09 September 2016

For the past three years, whilst not travelling the world fulfilling his hands on role as Clipper Race Chairman, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston has spent the bulk of his waking hours painstakingly and personally restoring his long-term passion project, Suhaili .

This week, more than half a century after being built in Bombay, India, one of the most famous yachts in sailing history has been refitted and relaunched alongside the latest two generations of his Clipper Race fleet.

Sir Robin first made history in 1969 when he won the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race on board his 32-foot Bermudan ketch Suhaili , setting the record as the first man to sail solo, non-stop around the world, thus kicking off an incredible career during which further racing records, multiple yachtsman of the year accolades, a knighthood, patronages of sailing organisations all around the world, and twenty years of inspiring amateur sailors to follow his experience, have followed. Sailing Today Deputy Editor Emma Bamford, who took part in the 2009-10 edition of the Clipper Race as a media berther for The Independent, went to visit Sir Robin as he prepared to relaunch his well-loved ‘companion’ (the English definition of the word Suhaili). The following is an extract from her feature article.

A BOAT OF HIS OWN

SIR ROBIN KNOX-JOHNSTON is going cruising again. He tells Emma Bamford about restoring Suhaili – and plans for a perfect cruising boat.

From the ground, divested of her sails and bowsprit, the 32ft long-keeler looks like any other old boat on the hard of any yard – brick-red antifouling, fresh coat of white paint on her topsides, stripe of peeling blue masking tape between. It is only when you look closely at her owner – dressed as many a British yacht owner in faded polo T-shirt and paint-spattered deck shoes – that the identity of this boat becomes apparent. This is Suhaili , the first boat to ever circumnavigate the world non-stop; and this is her owner, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston.

It is remarkable to think that such a doyen of the sailing world would be in the yard, getting grubby working on his boat. Isn’t Suhaili a national treasure, for one, protected for the nation, like the Cutty Sark or Mary Rose , in the purified air of a museum somewhere?

For a while she was: the 32ft bermudan-rigged, teak-built ketch (44ft length over spars) went on display at the National Maritime Museum Greenwich in 1997 but her planking started to shrink in the controlled atmosphere so Robin removed her in 2002.

For the past three years she has been on the hard of a Solent boatyard, slowly being restored back to her former glory – note, not modernised, but restored – ready for her owner to take her cruising again.

He does most of the work on Suhaili himself, with help from a shipwright and his grandson. When we arrive at the boat, he shouts from the hard: “I can’t hear the sander!”

“I’m sanding by hand!” comes the replying shout from inside the boat by Ralph, 16 – who certainly has enough dust covering him to prove it.

Suhaili is the only boat that Robin owns now, although he is contemplating buying another (we’ll come to that later).

He and a couple of friends built her in the early 1960s in a Bombay dockyard. “It took foreeever,” he says, stretching out the word to add emphasis. Her keel was laid in 1963 and she was finished in 1965, and sailed first, with a crew of three, comprising his brother Christopher and Heinz Fingerhut, to South Africa. Then, after her skipper took a break to earn some much-needed cash in Durban by stevedoring and captaining a trading coaster, the trio sailed her to Britain. Following his groundbreaking circumnavigation in the Sunday Times -sponsored Golden Globe race in 1968/9 she would go on to be cruised quietly by Knox-Johnston through the 1970s and 1980s.

And now she’s back in the yard, being put into tip-top condition ready for the start of the Golden Globe Race 2018, the event being held to mark the 50th anniversary of what Robin acknowledges is probably his biggest achievement – being the first person to sail solo non-stop around the world.

I’m not using journalistic licence when I say that you wouldn’t know, looking up at her on her stand on the hard, what this yacht was.

It is only when we climb up the ladder that we see how dated she is. The cockpit, by today’s standards of cruising boats, is remarkably exposed. There’s a flat teak deck, with a square pit in the centre, deep enough for sitting. There is no protective coaming, no sprayhood, no steadying grab-rail within easy reach of the helm.

The sheet winches – no self-tailers here – are tufnol originals, embossed with ‘Tuff Fittings’, and they are incredibly small, perhaps only four inches in diameter, and were fitted in the 1960s. “I went to Beaulieu Boat Jumble and picked up a spare,” he tells me. “It goes in my Suhaili box. There’s all kinds of things in there.”

The idea of Sir Robin riffling through odds and sods at the boat jumble is incongruous but actually here, sitting with him on the coach roof in his paint-speckled shoes in the August sunshine, I can well believe it – just another bearded bloke looking for bits for his boat… Click here to read Emma’s full article.

Sir Robin and Suhaili ’s return to racing will take place later this month when they compete in the Hamble Classic Regatta, 24 - 25 September. The anniversary Golden Globe Race will take place on June 14 2018, organised to mark exactly 50 years since he set off on his record setting voyage. In contrast to the current professional world of elite ocean racing, this edition plans to replicate the technology and equipment which were available to Sir Robin at the time, known now as the ‘Golden Age’ of solo sailing. So far the race organisers have confirmed three Suhaili replicas are in build or planning phase, and 26 provisional entries have been named so far.

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Sir Robin and Suhaili, in his own words

Sir Robin and friends set about bringing Suhaili to sailing condition three years ago. This is their story

After one solo circumnavigation, two transatlantic crossings, a voyage to Iceland and five years drying out in the clinically clean air of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston’s Suhaili was in need of restoration. The task of bringing her back to cruising rather than concours condition has taken three years and countless hours, by a core team of four plus friends working weekends who have been just as keen as Sir Robin to see the yacht back in good fettle again.

Suhaili’s restoration took longer than it did to build her in the first place. The biggest problem the team had was to replace all the iron fastenings holding the 1¼ inch teak planking. The fastenings were exhibiting the equivalent of ‘nail rot’ in a roof, and the tell-tale signs of weeping rust stains were clear to see inside and out. This meant stripping out the entire interior, including bulkheads, before removing 1,400 fastenings and replacing them with bronze ones – at £5 a time! It was not just the cost that caused Sir Robin to exclaim. The old iron ones proved devils to get out. “To start with, we were using a hammer and punch and found we could only remove and replace 8-10 a day,” he recalled.

“The problem lay in the way Suhaili was built,” said Sir Robin. “The Indian boat builders were still using medieval bow drills back in the 1960s, which compared to modern electric drills did not cut an accurate hole.”

The iron fastenings, hammered through the planking and ribs, tended to follow the wavy line of these holes, and 50 years later when much of their iron had wasted away, the metal would take any blows from the punch. First, they tried the latest hammer drills, but they too failed to pack the punch required, and the problem was only solved when Ian Sinclair, one of the brigade of Suhaili’s friends, brought in a compressor and used a couple of pneumatic hammer drills to attack each bolt from either side.

“Working simultaneously from inside and outside the hull, we got each one to start moving by hitting the fastenings first from one way and then the other. That did the trick, and productivity increased from eight a day to 80 a day, but the work still took two men the best part of 18 days spread over several months – and the noise is still ringing in our ears!”

If the fastenings had corroded, what about the keel bolts? They proved just as much a challenge to remove. There are 14 of them and they simply wouldn’t budge, however much hammering and leverage was applied. The answer came from an 80-year-old Bursledon shipwright who told Sir Robin of an old trick. “Drill a small hole down beside each bolt and keep pouring Sarson’s vinegar down. It must be Sarson’s – no other vinegar works,” he told them. Sir Robin and shipwright Keith Savill, who served his time at Tough Brothers at Teddington back in the 1960s, were sceptical, but they gave it a try anyway. “It worked incredibly well. How, I don’t know,” said Sir Robin. “We kept topping up the holes with vinegar for a day and left it to soak in overnight – and bingo. The next morning the bolts began to move easily. We hit them once with a club hammer, which released them from the wood and then they turned relatively easily.”

Remarkably, the first bolts to be removed showed so little corrosion that he decided to replace only one in four of them.

Suhaili’s keel was laid down in the Colaba Workshops, Bombay, back in 1963. They knew a thing or two about casting iron in those days, for although they didn’t have the expertise to cast it in one length (the keel is in two sections dogged together in the middle) the foundry men knew all about adding oil during the cooling process, which penetrates the metal to inhibit rusting later in life. Indeed, Suhaili’s 2¼ ton keel shows very little pitting after 53 years.

Robin and his team also took the precaution of replacing Suhaili’s original iron floors, and in doing so, lowered the companionway by two inches to increase the headroom in the cabin.

Indian teak

Back in the 1960s, Indian teak was in plentiful supply, and used for her entire construction; keelson, planking, frames, deck and cabin top. Her 1¼in thick planking weighs 6 tons alone, so it is not surprising perhaps that Suhaili floated 2in below her marks when first launched in 1965. But it is wonderful wood to work with, and after stripping the entire hull, the sanding down to prepare for new paint brought the teak back to a silk-smooth finish and a lovely oily feel to the hand.

Sir Robin recalled: “The Indian craftsmen used 19th Century hand-tools to shape the wood, and we would watch, fascinated, as the adze, handled so casually, produced as fine a scarph as any modern plane.”

What interested Keith Savill most was how the Indians sealed the plank seams. “They used a wooden plane to cut a central rebate along the top and bottom edges of each plank, then poured some medieval black gooey mix along the top joint to act as a caulking, which has kept the water out for 50 years. That’s longer than any modern caulking compound is likely to last.”

The keel to keelson joint, together with the forefoot, which had caused some leaking in the past, was sheathed in glassfibre, and then faired with epoxy filler prior to the undersides being given three coats of Coppercoat epoxy antifouling. “We tried Coppercoat on our Clipper Race training yachts last year and found it very effective, so why not try it on Suhaili too?” said Sir Robin of his company Clipper Venture’s fleet of round-the-world race yachts. The coating has been so successful that it’s now used on the whole of the Clipper Race fleet.

Sir Robin used Hempel Primer Undercoat and Brilliant White gloss for the topsides again, after a French yachtsman mistook Suhaili for a plastic replica when she was last painted. “He insisted that she was glassfibre and remained convinced until I took him below decks to see the planking and ribs. I took his confusion as something of a compliment to the finish we achieved,” Sir Robin said with a laugh. Seeing her now back in the water with freshly painted livery, the same smooth, high gloss finish is likely to fool others into thinking the same.

There is not too much varnish work on Suhaili. The natural look is restricted to her original hatches on foredeck and main companionway, kingpost and raised toe rail amidships, which was replaced during the restoration to solve a deck leak issue. These were given several coats of Le Tonkinois Vernis No 1, a natural oil varnish used on the Cutty Sark. “I discovered it during my time as a Trustee of the ship. It is both hard-wearing and long-lasting, and because of the natural oil, it has particularly good adhesion to teak,” he said.

Varnishing the toe rail and companionway hatch, this product was certainly easy to apply and we got a good finish because the varnish’s extended drying time kept a wet edge, so that brush strokes blended in seamlessly. The minimum overcoat period is 24 hours, and longer in colder conditions. Despite this drying time, which takes the rush out of applying it well, this varnish does turn to jelly quite quickly, so we always decanted just the amount we needed into a plastic container, and kept the lid on the tin firmly sealed.

Sir Robin has another tried-and-tested trick, this time for cleaning teak decking. “I don’t like scrubbing or abrading the deck in any way because, over the years, this simply wears the wood away,” he said. Instead, he uses salt water and a soft brush to keep the green mould at bay, and a diluted oxalic acid wash to bring the teak back to its original colour. This was one of the last jobs to be done after Suhaili was re-launched last September, and looking at three years of mould and dirt that had become impregnated into the wood, there were several sceptics among us. But yes, the salt water did kill the green, and the oxalic acid, applied with a paintbrush, did restore the teak planking to a sun-bleached light brown.

Suhaili is on her third set of masts. Her first mainmast broke in Durban during the yacht’s delivery from India to the UK in 1966 and was replaced with a hollow spar. The heavy mizzen mast was replaced before setting out on the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race in 1968 with another hollow section, and the original still stands as the flagpole at Benfleet YC. Suhaili was later rolled and dismasted in 1989 when caught in a storm mid-way across the Atlantic, while Sir Robin was returning from his ‘Columbus voyage’ to prove the accuracy of a mariner’s astrolabe. She was re-rigged with a set of Sparlight alloy masts which remain in good order.

Photographic reference

Below decks, at the time of writing, is still ‘work in progress’. The original interior was cut out carefully and put in store to act as templates for the new fit-out, but for some reason that still baffles Sir Robin and Keith Savill, nothing seemed to fit back as it should. Luckily we have all of Sunday Mirror photographer Bill Rowntree’s archive, taken before and immediately after the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, to provide pictorial reference, and with a mix of these and Sir Robin’s recollections of what went where, Keith has rebuilt Suhaili’s interior, largely as it was.

First he had to put in a new floor and sole bearers, before he and Sir Robin sketched out the interior plan in pencil on the white primered cabin sides. The problem was that not everyone realised the importance of this graffiti art, and it was difficult to stop grandson Ralph Knox-Johnston and apprentice Andrew Shrimpton from keenly covering them with another coat of primer!

Two additions to Suhaili’s original plan has been the inclusion of two fixed berths in the forepeak where sails were once stored, and a door to the heads to give female occupants a degree of privacy. For the moment, a toolbox jammed against the door has to suffice as a lock, but the fixed berths, with stowage beneath, now replace two folding pipe-cots that Sir Robin never liked.

Her engine, a Perkins Prima M50 50hp diesel, started on the button despite the dirt, dust and rust deposits that have built up in the engine enclosure beneath the companionway. This is Suhaili’s third engine and was fitted in 1988. Once the initial plume of back smoke had dissipated, the engine ran smoothly enough and is likely to last a few more years. Here previous motors were BMC Captains – marinised versions of the 4-cylinder diesels used to power London taxis. The first gave up the ghost during the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, and the second, paid for by The Sunday Mirror in an effort to hurry Sir Robin to London to meet his sponsorship commitments after the race, lasted 19 years. Sir Robin is hoping the current Perkins will still be purring three decades on, when he and Suhaili will be guests of honour at the start of the 2018 Golden Globe Race in Falmouth, marking the 50th anniversary of his departure in the Sunday Times race.

The deckhead has been painted with white Dulux Bathroom water-based matt paint, which has a mould inhibitor within the mix, while the rest of the insides have now been given a gloss finish using the same Hempel Brilliant White as on the topsides. A compact charcoal burning stove now resides in the main cabin to keep the boat warm and dry during the winter.

There is still the matter of re-wiring the boat and replacing the tiller, the third one in her life, which is gently rotting away from the tip back.

Certainly she is a good, solid boat with a pedigree and history that is worth preserving, though not everyone thought so during her restoration. During Suhaili’s long stay on hard standing at the top of Portsmouth Harbour, one sceptic, looking at her anonymous stripped-down hull, called out to the team: “She’s hardly worth saving!”

Sir Robin, equally anonymous is his paint-splattered boiler suit, called back: “Well, we think she is.”

“Nah, you are wasting your money,” came the derisory reply.

“Well, one thing’s for certain: you couldn’t afford her!” retorted Robin, which drew a quizzical look from his dissenter, who walked off totally unaware of who or what he was talking to or about. “And I wasn’t about to put him straight – I left him to look us up online,” Robin laughs. The good news is that the National Historic Ships Register has finally agreed to include Suhaili on its list of vessels worthy of being saved for posterity. For years, the lower limit had been set at 33ft. Suhaili’s hull length (without spars) fell 7in short, but following a campaign to have this famous yacht included, Martyn Heighton, Director of the Register, wrote shortly before his untimely death in November that with Sir Robin’s blessing, Suhaili will now be included in the Historic National Fleet.

In Sir Robin’s own words…

“Yes, there is still work to be done, but I am very fond of her. She has been part of my life since I was 23. I couldn’t imagine life without her, and getting her back sailing is when she is looked after best. She doesn’t like going to windward, but then neither do I. She’s an old design; not a fast boat, but she is very seaworthy.

We developed Suhaili ’s Bermudian ketch rig ourselves, after the original ERIC plans supplied by a company in Poole failed to include a detailed rigging plan. The rig plan turned out to be an ‘extra’ and with time short – we wanted to launch her before the North-East Monsoon set in – we decided it was easier to start from scratch, after consulting Douglas Phillip-Birt’s handbook The Rigs and Rigging of Yachts and Eric Hiscock’s Cruising under Sail .   I’m pleased we did because Suhaili is so well-balanced that she is able to keep to a course. If she had not been, I might not have finished the Golden Globe Race, because after my Admiral self-steering broke 1,500 miles west of Cape Horn, I relied on her ‘balance’ to get me home.

Our first event since re-launching in late 2016 was the first Hamble Classics regatta organised by The Royal Southern Yacht Club, when there was more windward work than I and Suhaili would have liked. I’m now looking forward to going cruising in her again with family and friends. We’ve just enjoyed a weekend sail to Cowes with six other yachts owned by Clipper Ventures employees. The offwind sail back to Portsmouth was enjoyable.

I’m also looking forward to 2018 and the events planned to mark the 50th anniversary of the original Sunday Times Golden Globe Race. The French National Maritime Museum is allowing Bernard Moitessier’s yacht Joshua to sail over from La Rochelle and we are likely to be joined by Francis Chichester’s Gipsy Moth IV and Alec Rose’s Lively Lady when Suhaili acts as start vessel for the 2018 Golden Globe Race.”

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Interview: Sir Robin Knox-Johnston on sailing Suhaili again

Sir robin knox-johnston is going cruising again. he tells emma bamford about restoring suhaili – and plans for a perfect cruising boat..

From the ground, divested of her sails and bowsprit, the 32ft long-keeler looks like any other old boat on the hard of any yard – brick-red antifouling, fresh coat of white paint on her topsides, stripe of peeling blue masking tape between. It is only when you look closely at her owner – dressed as many a British yacht owner in faded polo T-shirt and paint-spattered deck shoes – that the identity of this boat becomes apparent. This is Suhaili , the first boat to ever circumnavigate the world non-stop; and this is her owner, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston.

It is remarkable to think that such a doyen of the sailing world would be in the yard, getting grubby working on his boat. Isn’t Suhaili a national treasure, for one, protected for the nation, like the Cutty Sark or Mary Rose , in the purified air of a museum somewhere?

For a while she was: the 32ft bermudan-rigged, teak-built ketch (44ft length over spars) went on display at the National Maritime Museum Greenwich in 1997 but her planking started to shrink in the controlled atmosphere so Robin removed her in 2002.

For the past three years she has been on the hard of a Solent boatyard, slowly being restored back to her former glory – note, not modernised, but restored – ready for her owner to take her cruising again.

He does most of the work on Suhaili himself, with help from a shipwright and his grandson. When we arrive at the boat, he shouts from the hard: “I can’t hear the sander!”

“I’m sanding by hand!” comes the replying shout from inside the boat by Ralph, 16 – who certainly has enough dust covering him to prove it.

Suhaili is the only boat that Robin owns now, although he is contemplating buying another (we’ll come to that later).

He and a couple of friends built her in the early 1960s in a Bombay dockyard. “It took foreeever,” he says, stretching out the word to add emphasis. Her keel was laid in 1963 and she was finished in 1965, and sailed first, with a crew of three, comprising his brother Christopher and Heinz Fingerhut, to South Africa. Then, after her skipper took a break to earn some much-needed cash in Durban by stevedoring and captaining a trading coaster, they sailed her on to Britain. Following his groundbreaking circumnavigation in the Sunday Times -sponsored Golden Globe race in 1968/9 she would go on to be cruised quietly by Knox-Johnston through the 1970s and 1980s.

And now she’s back in the yard, being put into tip-top condition ready for the start of the Golden Globe Race 2018, the event being held to mark the 50th anniversary of what Robin acknowledges is probably his biggest achievement – being the first person to sail solo non-stop around the world.

I’m not using journalistic licence when I say that you wouldn’t know, looking up at her on her stand on the hard, what this yacht was.

It is only when we climb up the ladder that we see how dated she is. The cockpit, by today’s standards of cruising boats, is remarkably exposed. There’s a flat teak deck, with a square pit in the centre, deep enough for sitting. There is no protective coaming, no sprayhood, no steadying grab-rail within easy reach of the helm.

The sheet winches – no self-tailers here – are the originals, embossed with ‘Tuff Fittings’, and they are incredibly small, perhaps only four inches in diameter, and were fitted in the 1960s. “I went to Beaulieu Boat Jumble and picked up a spare,” he tells me. “It goes in my Suhaili box. There’s all kinds of things in there.”

The idea of Sir Robin riffling through odds and sods at the boat jumble is incongruous but actually here, sitting with him on the coach roof in his paint-speckled shoes in the August sunshine, I can well believe it – just another bearded bloke looking for bits for his boat.

“I wouldn’t change anything about Suhaili . Why not just keep her as she was?” he asks. “We got an awful lot right when we built her.”

Much of the work to date has been in replacing the fastenings. “We stripped her out so I could renew all the fastenings – 1,400 of them – and replace them with bronze. That took time. I was doing about eight a day and then we developed a method and then that was 80 a day. Much nicer! We put new keel bolts in and we’ve been rebuilding her quietly ever since.”

The boat looks incredibly small inside, stripped back, the original wood exposed by all of Ralph’s sanding. “He’s cottoned on to the value of money now,” Robin says. Payment in pork pies is no longer enough.

None of his five grandchildren has particularly taken to yachting as “their sport” – certainly not in the way that their grandfather did, who has made it his life’s work. There can’t be a sailor in the land who hasn’t heard of RKJ, as he signs off his emails.

Born in March 1939, in Putney, London, the eldest of four brothers, he went to sea in the Merchant Navy in 1957 as a deck officer. In 1962 he married his childhood sweetheart, Suzanne, whom he had known since the age of eight (and who died in November 2003 as a result of ovarian cancer). Their one child, Sara, was born in Bombay 1963.

He was made CBE in 1969; went on to success in various race campaigns; in 1994 with Peter Blake won the Jules Verne Trophy for the fastest sailing circumnavigation of 74 days 22 hours 18 minutes and 22 seconds; was knighted in 1995; and named UK Yachtsman of the Year four times, ISAF World Sailor of the Year and last year Sailing Today readers voted him Sailor of the Year for competing in the Route du Rhum singlehanded race from St Malo to Guadeloupe aged 75.

In addition to patronages and presidencies of all manner of sailing and maritime-related organisations, he also founded the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, in which crews of amateurs sail, in legs, around the globe.

Others might say the Golden Globe victory was his greatest achievement, Robin says, but “in a way I think Clipper is. We have introduced nearly 5,000 people to sailing now. All of them have crossed an ocean, and about 700 have sailed around the world. Making sailing available to someone who has never been on a boat before and training them up and making them safe and getting them to cross [an ocean] – that’s quite an achievement.”

The latest Clipper Race ended a couple of weeks before we meet and it is impossible not to raise the tragedy that marred this edition, during which two members of the crew of IchorCoal , Andrew Ashman and Sarah Young, died – Andrew when he was hit by the boom or mainsheet during a reefing manoeuvre off Portugal, and Sarah when she was washed overboard in the Pacific Ocean.

“Both cases were caused by people breaking fundamental rules,” Robin says, calmly. “One being in a danger area, the other one not clipping on. We have put AIS beacons on the danbuoys now just to speed up recovery because people drift much faster than you think. You need to get them out of the water fast. If you throw a danbuoy into the water you know that’s going to be within 100m of them. It cuts down the time spent searching. [Sarah was in the water for over an hour]. Apart from that it’s just [a case of] emphasising it: always clip on.” He pauses and looks out to sea before turning back to me. “I have been through all the photos of Sarah and she was always clipped on. It was just that one time. I know they say you never speak ill of the dead but it’s true, they were both nice people. It was just tragic.”

Tragedy is one of the unfortunate aspects of sailing that there is no getting away from. The original Golden Globe race was not without its own – competitor Donald Crowhurst took his own life after becoming depressed and mentally unstable during the event. A film, The Mercy , starring Colin Firth, is slated for release early next year.

Robin gave his £5,000 race winnings away to Donald Crowhurst’s family. “They were about to lose their house.” He says he will probably go and see the film.

The anniversary race will start on 14 June 2018, the same day Robin set off. So far there are 27 entrants. The rules are strict – all skippers may use only the same type, or similar equipment and technology that was carried aboard Suhaili in 1968/9. They must carry a GPS chart plotter in a sealed box for emergency use only. Boats must be between 32ft and 36ft, built before 1988 and be of a particular construction; three replica Suhaili s are being made. The course will be mainly in the 40-50° band of latitude, going westabout, and there will be a gate in Storm Bay, Tasmania, where competitors must drift for approximately 90 minutes, meet the race director, media, and family, and pass over film/ photos /letters, then sail back through the ‘gate’ without touching shore, or any person, or being resupplied.

“I think it’s a cracking idea,” Robin says of the event. “It’s back to real adventuring.”

Solo circumnavigating, he says, is not such an adventure now as it once was.

“It has been done. It’s like climbing Mount Everest. It is still the ultimate but it’s not the same as when Hillary and Tenzing did it. The adventure has gone out of it a bit. Modern equipment has made it a lot safer.”

Although he will take Suhaili to the start, he is not tempted to circumnavigate again. “I might do the next Route du Rhum but round the world? I don’t think so.”

Instead, his eye is firmly on cruising. “I do not do enough cruising. I love cruising, particularly to places where there aren’t too many people, places like the west coast of Scotland. When I was living up there nearly 40 years ago, once you got past Tobermory you very rarely saw another yacht.”

Greenland is another favourite. “I have been up there three times, including once in Suhaili with Chris Bonington [the climber]. You might bump into the odd Inuit but it’s just bare. It is Scotland’s rugged sister – and the midges in Greenland are even worse than the Scottish ones! You wear a mosquito net when you go ashore.

“These are the sorts of places that appeal to me. I have to get Suhaili afloat and see if I buy another boat. I sold my [Imoca] 60,” – here he laughs – “That’s given me a tax problem because I sold her for more than she was written down for so I either pay tax or buy another boat – so I shall have to buy another boat.”

What would he get, I ask, expecting him to name some fast, engineless catamaran, like the 60ft and 70ft cats Enza, Sea Falcon and British Oxygen that he competed in.

And after the start of the Golden Globe, whether or not he gets the Hallberg-Rassy, what will he do with Suhaili ?

“I will potter around in her – maybe Newtown Creek.”

So if you’re in a Solent boatyard over the next couple of years, or dropping the hook in Newtown Creek or some pretty Highlands anchorage, and you notice that the boat next to you is a 32ft wooden ketch or a HR52, look closely – that white bearded skipper next to you might just be one of the most famous sailors of all time.

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Suhaili – Sir Robin’s trusty ketch is relaunched following restoration

• Katy Stickland

After three years' work, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston has now relaunched his 32-foot Suhaili. The legendary sailor spent hours restoring the boat which took him around the world.

The renovated Suhaili

“No one would call Suhaili a greyhound, but she is solid, strong and a very good seaboat,” writes  Sir Robin Knox-Johnson about the Bermuda ketch.

Arguably one of the most famous yachts in sailing history, Suhaili is the first boat to ever sail non-stop around the world.

The 32-foot boat has now been lovingly restored by Sir Robin at a Solent boatyard.

Winning the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race on board Suhaili on 22 April, 1969 propelled the Putney-born sailor into the limelight – he was the first man to sail solo, non-stop around the world.

Robin Knox-Johnston on board Suhaili as he finishes the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race. Credit: Bill Rowntree / PPL

It also marked the start of an incredible career which included further racing records, yachtsman of the year accolades, a knighthood, patronages of sailing organisations all around the world, and 20 years of inspiring amateur sailors to follow his experience.

The Clipper Race Chairman originally built Suhaili on a slipway in Bombay Docks in 1963.

Sir Robin was serving as 2nd Officer on a deck passenger ship trading between Bombay and Basra when he came up with the concept for the Bermudian ketch.

Suhaili becomes the first yacht to sail non-stop around the world

This week, more than half a century after construction began, Suhaili has been relaunched.

The teak ketch will have one of its first outings when Sir Robin competes in the Hamble Classic Regatta on 24-25 September.

The restoration of the William Atkins’ designed yacht comes as preparations continue for the 2018 Golden Globe Race.

It is being staged to mark the 50th anniversary of the legendary original.

Suhaili at full sail

Entrants must depart Falmouth, England on 14 June 2018 and sail solo, non-stop around the world, via the five Great Capes and return to Falmouth.

Those taking part have to sail without modern technology or the benefit of satellite based navigation aids, using same type of yachts and equipment that were available to the competitors in that first race.

Suhaili – “solid, strong and a very good seaboat”

Competitors must sail in production boats between 32ft and 36ft overall designed prior to 1988. The vessel must have a full-length keel with rudder attached to their trailing edge.

There will be a prize of £75,000 for the first yacht to finish before 22 April 2019.

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston wins top sailing accolade

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston won the prestigious title of Raymarine/YJA Yachtsman of the Year

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45th anniversary of Sir Robin Knox-Johnston's record circumnavigation

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19 February 2012

❖ the great solo circumnavigator ❖ ❖ robin knox-johnston and suhaili.

My most memorable recollection is dealing with those who told me the voyage was not possible and I could not do it. I thought differently. Don't worry mate. You instigated a lot of others to follow you.

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• ❖ The Ship THERMOPYLAE ❖ Victoria B.C.
• ❖ The Great Solo Circumnavigator ❖ ❖ Robin Knox...
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Time Line of other Marine History Articles (143) only listed here.

• 1750 ❖ (circa) OZETTE Mud Slide on Olympic Peninsula
• 1775 ❖ DESTRUCTION IS.❖
• 1792 ❖ REAR ADMIRAL OF THE BLUE ❖ PETER PUGET
• 1860-1956 ❖ THE SAN JUAN LIMESTONE TRADE
• 1867 ❖ SAN JUAN ISLAND ❖
• 1871 ❖ THE AMAZING RACE
• 1883 ❖ POLE PASS LIGHT ❖
• 1888 ❖ STEAMER OVER THE RAPIDS ❖
• 1891 ❖ SEMIAHMOO CANNERY, BLAINE "SPIT"
• 1895 ❖ STEAMER BUCKEYE CAPSIZED, ONE LOST.
• 1896 ❖ CHINESE WORKERS FOR THE CANNERY ❖
• 1896 ❖ THE CAYOU'S CHRISTMAS DAY DIP
• 1898 ❖ S. S. LYDIA THOMPSON ON SHAG ROCK, ORCAS IS., WA.
• 1899 ❖ OFF TO HONOLULU
• 1899 ❖ TRAPS BOUGHT OUT
• 1900 ❖ INDIAN TOM of the OLD RANCHO
• 1901 ❖ LAUNCH HERMOSA of West Sound, WA.
• 1901 ❖ First steamer launched from Otis, Lopez Island.
• 1902 ❖ Abandoned at Echo Bay, Sucia Island.
• 1902~~ SHIPBUILDING IN SAN JUAN COUNTY
• 1903 ❖ A MARINE LABORATORY SITE ❖
• 1905 ❖ Shrimp at Flat Point
• 1905 ❖ BUILDING OF ROSARIO ❖
• 1906 ❖ The Windjammer GANGES (updated.)
• 1906 ❖ Ore Barge Wreck ❖
• 1906 ❖ SHEEP B--b---b--band--of FROST ISLAND
• 1907 ❖ CLAMS for the Lopez Cannery ❖
• 1907~~ LOST IN THE DARK
• 1908, June 6 ❖ CAYOU'S STANDARD
• 1909 ❖ FIELD CAMP AT OLGA ❖
• 1910 ❖ EARLY OLGA INN BY STEAMER ❖
• 1910 ❖ TWO SALTS ON SALT
• 1910 ❖ NORTON'S INN ❖ DEER HARBOR, Orcas Island, WA.
• 1911 ❖ STERNWHEELER LOST in GUEMES CHANNEL
• 1912 ❖ ELDER "BOSTON TOM"
• 1912 ❖ REVENUE LAUNCH GUARD WRECKED ❖
• 1912 ❖ BEEF HARBOR FISH TRAP
• 1912 ❖ Benson Log Rafts Heading South
• 1912 ❖ The new SHAW hauling canned fish
• 1913 ❖ S. S. ADMIRAL FARRAGUT
• 1913 ❖ YANKEE DOODLE COMING THROUGH
• 1914, February 25. Schooner WILLIS A. HOLDEN, Disabled.
• 1917 ❖ Bark UNION ❖ Salvage attempt
• 1917 ❖ SCHOONER SANWAN ❖ by Robert Moran, Orcas Island
• 1917 ❖ KINGSTON DAY at Friday Harbor
• 1919 ❖ YACHT EL PRIMERO with a bet of 1,000 "Bones" (Updated)
• 1921 ❖ KENNEWICK-PASCO FERRY -- with the LAUNDRY TRUCK ABOARD
• 1922 ❖ THE BIRTH OF THE MARINE DIGEST ❖
• 1922 ❖ BOOZE RUNNER PIRATES
• 1923 ❖ THE HENRIETTA OF DOLPHIN BAY
• 1924 ❖ RUM RUNNERS TO THE GALLOWS ❖
• 1926 ❖ Tug HUMACONNA Out Yachting
• 1927 ❖ MAIDEN VOYAGE ❖ FERRY CITY OF MUKILTEO
• 1929 ❖ RELIC OF THE PAST
• 1929 ❖ A 4th CLASS POST OFFICE COMING THROUGH ❖The CHICKAWANA
• 1930 ❖ OSAGE LAUNCHED ON DECATUR ISLAND
• 1930 ❖ Campfire Coffee on Lopez Island
• 1931 ❖ DRY DOCK at PUGET SOUND NAVY YARD
• 1932 ❖ THE STAR CLASS-- PI Regatta--Update.
• 1933 ❖ S.S. TACOMA to Friday Harbor ❖
• 1933 ❖ LIVESTOCK OVERBOARD at SHAW LANDING
• 1934 ❖ DELLWOOD WITH LUMBER FOR NOME
• 1935 ❖ MAIDEN TRIP FROM PUGET SOUND TO THE SKAGIT RIVER
• 1935 ❖ A NEW BRIDGE ❖
• 1936 ❖ SAANICH TRIBE WIN AT COUPEVILLE (updated)
• 1937 ❖ FRIDAY HARBOR MARINE LABS❖
• 1938 ❖ STEAMING THROUGH THE LOCKS ❖
• 1939 ❖ FLATTIES FLAT RACING ON LAKE WASHINGTON
• 1939 ❖ ORCAS MAN TAKES 8,500 MILE SAIL ❖ by Lew Dodd
• 1939 ❖ GOLITHON WINS FOR OLGA
• 1940 ❖ RARE FOSSILS FOUND ON SUCIA ❖
• 1941 ❖ MAIL STEAMER OSAGE CRUISE-POPULAR WITH TOURISTS
• 1941 ❖ LIGHTS OUT ON LAKE UNION
• 1942 ❖ JENSEN SHIPYARD IS SCENE OF ACTIVITY WITH MORAN MACHINERY
• 1942 ❖ Friday Harbor Men Part with the MOUNT McKINLEY
• 1943 ❖ CORKEY FINDS A FLATTIE
• 1943 ❖ SINBAD of the SAN JUANS
• 1944 ❖ LAKE UNION HOUSE SINKING
• 1947 ❖ LANDING OF NEW OWNERS OF YELLOW ISLAND, San Juan Archipelago.
• 1947 ❖ CHANTEY and I LIKE FEBRUARY SAILING ❖
• 1948 ❖ DEADMAN ISLAND
• 1949 and BACK. THE SAN JUANS with Gladys Howard.
• 1950 ❖The Bellingham Shipyard
• 1951 ❖ Freshened Up for Island Life ❖ M.V. KLICKITAT (ex-STOCKTON)
• 1951 ❖ Sad Day on the Ferry Slip
• 1953 ❖ ALASKA PLYWOOD ARRIVES
• 1953 ❖ SEINERS GET REEL-EQUIPPED
• 1953 ❖ Silverware for Capt. Noel Davis, Tug MONARCH ❖
• 1955 ❖ CANNON HUNTERS ❖
• 1956 ❖ ORCAS ISLAND Yacht Club–– First Meeting
• 1957 ❖ PRESERVING RELICS OF THE SEA ❖
• 1957 ❖ SALMON TENDER KENMORE ❖ FLAGSHIP FOR THE DAY ❖
• 1957 ❖ BARRELS OF GOLD IN FROM ALASKA ❖
• 1958 ❖ ONE OF BURT'S BOATS ❖
• 1959 ❖ Ferrying Past Horton's Hook, Wasp Pass ❖❖
• 1959 ❖ 1951 L-190 International with a full load ❖❖
• 1960 ❖ CAPTAIN EIKUM'S CAKE ❖
• 1960 ❖ CHARLIE AND BUDDY HEADING TO ALASKA
• 1961 ❖ AFRICAN STAR ❖❖ In the Mud with Broom
• 1961 ❖ PUGET SOUND LIVE STEAMERS MEET
• 1962 ❖ The YARMOUTH Attends the Seattle World's Fair
• 1964 ❖ Gillnetter CALYPSO
• 1965 ❖ Playing with Boats
• 1966 ❖ FOSS ICEBREAKER
• 1967 ❖ PRESTON ON PARADE
• 1968 ❖ SPENCER SPIT STATE PARK, LOPEZ ISLAND, WA.
• 1969 ❖ GIANT STERN TRAWLER OUT OF BELLINGHAM, WA.
• 1969-1978 ❖ Hudson's Bay Replica NONSUCH ❖ London to Friday Harbor (updated)
• 1971 ❖ SAKI FOR ANELA
• 1972 ❖ S.S. VIRGINIA V Anniversary Party
• 1972 ❖ STEAMING with S S VIRGINIA V ❖
• 1972 ❖ ERNEST K. GANN & STRUMPET ❖
• 1972 ❖ LAUNCH OF THE M.V. SPOKANE ❖
• 1973 ❖ First Log Entry USCG STATEN ISLAND (WAGB 278)
• 1974 ❖ CAPTAIN "SPIKE" EIKUM ❖
• 1976 ❖ DIGGING ON BAINBRIDGE
• 1977 ❖ LOW IN THE WATER at STUART ISLAND ❖
• 1977 ❖ AN OLD SALT AND A NORWEGIAN BEAUTY ❖❖
• 1978 ❖ LETNIKOF COVE ❖
• 1978 ❖ ONE-HUNDRED TWENTY-TWO FEET OF FISHING BOAT
• 1979 ❖ STEAMING DOWN THE STREET with Engineer Tommy
• 1979 ❖ WARWICK THOMPKINS, JR. ❖ VICTOR
• 1981 ❖ MARINER GLADYS PRINCE ❖ and ALLRIGHT
• 1982 ❖ GRAYS HARBOR with MR. SCAYLEA
• 1983 ❖ The W. T. PRESTON now a National Historic Landmark
• 1983 ❖ A SALTY GREETING CEREMONY FROM LIME KILN LIGHT
• 1983 ❖ SUPER CLASS FERRY KALEETAN ❖
• 1984 ❖ OLYMPIC GOLD for Seattle
• 1987 ❖ DYNAMITE BLOWS IN FRIDAY HARBOR (Updated)
• 1989 ❖ THE STATE'S LADY WASHINGTON ❖
• 1989 ❖ PHIL SMART, King Neptune XXXX
• 1992 ❖ GOLD DREDGE with a Four-Foss-Escort
• 1992 ❖ BRIG LADY WASHINGTON MARKS A BICENTENNIAL OBSERVATION
• 1993 ❖ WATMOUGH BIGHT GIFT
• 1993 ❖ WINTER CALM IN FRIDAY HARBOR ❖
• 1998 ❖ A PHANTOM OF THE FANTOME ❖
• 2000 ❖ CAPTAIN EARL E. FOWLER (1903-2000) ❖
• 2012 ❖ PACIFIC NORTHWEST PASSAGE ❖ by crew of SOL
• 2019 ❖ MT. BAKER WITH ONE BALDIE
• 2020 ❖ SAVE THE GLORY OF THE SEAS
• 2020 ❖ ROUND ORCAS ❖ Third Annual Sail

LAUNCHINGS (148) In the SAN JUAN ISLANDS. Work in progress.

• AFFINITY (Official Number 211467) 33.8' x 9.5' x 4.2' ; 8.81 G.t., 5.99 N.t. Blt by & for L.P. Schruder at Richardson, 1913. MCC on file.
• AILSA (107856) 31.' x 10.3' x 4.5' ; 9 t. burden, Ketch blt by R. C. Willis at Olga, WA., for C. B. Willis. No house. Compl. 1903, MCC on file.
• ALCO 40' x 11.8' x 5', Fish tender blt by E. B."Bert" Fowler, Shaw Island, for Alaska Sanitary Packing Co. of Seattle, 1917. Reported lost to fire, Juneau, AK 1927, 5 escaped. MCC on file.
• ALERT (107479) Sch. of 8 T. burden by A.F. Ackley for self and Thomas Ackley at Fri. Hbr. 1899. MCC on file.
• ALOMA (243877) 25.36 G.t./ 17 N.t. Fish 46.8' x 12.5' x 6.7' by Norman F. Mills at Fri. Hbr., for N. & T. Mills, of Beach, WA. 1943. MCC on file.
• ALPHA (107658) 53.9' x 14.2' x 6.4' Stmr for Inland frt., blt by A. Marcusen, Richardson, Lopez Is., 16 n. tons, for builder & D.N. McMillen, P. Benseth, W. A. Frisby, 1901, MCC on file.
• AMANTE (291083) 24 G.t. /17 N.t., 38.7' x 14.' x 5.8' Ycht blt for M./M. Alfred A. Lambeth of Bellevue by Jensen Shipyard of Fri. Hbr., 1964
• AMAZONE (107645) 30' x 9.9' x 4' Sloop blt. by M. Norman at Richardson, WA. for Carl Olsen & Mathew Martin 1901. MCC on file.
• ANIAKCHAK (231258) 43.4' x 11.3' x 6' fish boat blt. by I. D. Nordyke at Fri Harbor for self 1931. MCC on file.
• ANNE H. (211391) 51' x 13.8' x 4' , 25 G. t. & 17 N. t. Blt Fri. Hbr by Albert Jensen for Steel Bros., 1913. MCC on file.
• ANNIE B. (202177) 37.5' x 11.2' x 3.7' Gas. sc. blt. by Wm. H. F. Reed of Decatur Is., for John Babarovich of Anacortes 1905. MCC on file.
• ARTHUR G. (107619) 34.5' Tug/Tndr blt on Fisherman Bay, Lopez Is., by D.E. Hoffman, commuting from Shaw Is., for J. S. Groll, Lopez Is., 1901. MCC on file.
• BALDY (204064) 55.2' x 14.1' x 5.4' ; 7 n. t. fishboat blt by M. Norman, Richardson, Lopez Is. 1907. MCC on file.
• BÅTEN Near 20' wood plsr craft designed by S.J. Islander Jay Benford, launched by Jensen/ Sons, SJ Is. for Anderson & Adams then of Crane Is. 5 April 1978.
• BERMUDA (206177) 47.15' L x 11.8' B Tug/fish tndr blt. by D.E. Hoffman, Shaw Is., for 3 Fowler bros. of Shaw Island, E.B., Jr., B.E., & W.O., 1909. MCC on file.
• BLACK MARIE fine launch by Reed's, Decatur Is., for T.W. Wilson. 1909.
• BLAKELY (235543) 41.9' x 12.2' x 6.4' fish boat 23 G.t., 15 N.t. blt by R. S. Spencer for R.S. Spencer and E. D. Spencer at Thatcher, WA. 1936. MCC on file. In 1964 her home port was Los Ang., CA.
• BLUE SEA (215357) 42.3 Reg. L' x 14' x 6.2' fish boat blt by F. E."Gene" Fowler of Shaw Is. for San Juan Canning Co. 1917. Wrecked AK in 1928. MCC on file.
• BUDDY (232345) 40' x 11.2' x 6', 14 G. 9 N. fish boat blt by Albert Jensen, Fri. Hbr., for Chester Tift of same. 1933. MCC on file.
• BUFFALO blt. at Reed's yard, Decatur for Mr. Gandy. Later owned by Henry T. Cayou of Deer Hbr., Orcas Is., 1907.
• CALCITE (206056) 43' x 13.3' x 4' ; Towboat blt by P. Schruder & son, Lopez Is. in only 2.5 mnths for Roche Hbr. Lime Co. 27 Mar. 1907.
• CAPRICE (201965) Gas s. 13.73 G./ 9.34 N. / 50.4' x 11.8' x 4.6' Fish bt blt by Wm H.F. Reed on Decatur Is. for Fidalgo Is. Canning Co. 1905. MCC on file.
• CHARLIE BOY 32' L, 12 Ton Steel hull gillnetter b. 1969 by owner Pierre Franklin of Lopez Is. Christening and potluck at Odlin Park. To be shipped to Bristol Bay.
• CILSIDE 50' x 12' x 5.6' frt. boat blt. by P. Schruder & son, Lopez Is, for Roche Harbor Lime Co, S.J. Is. 1907.
• CITY OF ANACORTES (O.N. 206462) 58.8' L x 12.2' x 3.5' ; 15 G.t. Passenger designed by Wm. H.F. Reed /blt. under his direction on Decatur Is., for R. L. Fullerton(1/2) & Norman L. Driggs (1/2) of S. J. Is. (Inland Pass.& Expr. Co.) Presented by Caring Peterson summer 1909. Lost in AK., 1933. MCC on file.
• COMMANDO (ex-TRIO) 209486; 52' x 16.3' x 6.6' ; for shrimping then conv. to Tug for Cary-Davis. Blt. by Wm. H. F. Reed, Decatur Is., for Walter Larson (1/3), Oscar Cammon (1/3), & Martin Cammon (1/3) all of Gertrude, WA. 1911. MCC on file.
• CONCORDIA (204567) 45' x 7 x 2.6', 7 T. burden, Pass. vessel with 60-H.P. blt. by R. L. Fullerton of Fr. Hbr. at Decautur Is., for Fullerton & C.W. Johnson (1/2 & 1/2) 1907, MCC on file.
• CONFIDENCE (127121) 31.4' x 11.2' x 3.6', 8 T. burden sloop blt. by/for P. Schruder at Richardson, Lopez Is. 1896, MCC on file.
• CORCOVADO 37' Pilothouse cutter blt by John Guzzwell of Orcas is., WA (J.R. Benford design No. 125) for Hal Cook of Orcas Is. Launched 15 Sept. 1979.
• CREEL (202902) 50' x 12.8' x 4.7' Frt. boat blt. by Wm. H.F. Reed at Decatur Isl. for Fidalgo Is. Packing Co. 1906, MCC on file.
• DARING (224495) 43.1' x 10.3' x 5.5' 15 G.t., 10.62 N.t; fish blt by Wm. H.F. Reed & J.M. Reed on Decatur Is., for Wm. H.F. Reed, 1925. MCC on file.
• DEEP SEA ( 218145) 52 G.t./35 N.t. (70.6' x 16.' x 6.5' ) Fish tender/tug Blt. by Albert Jensen, Friday Hbr. WA. on file. Lost at Anchor., AK in 1942.
• DENNY M. (260098) 39.6' x 12.4' x 6.3' Fish Bt 20 G.t./ 13 N.t.,blt at Jensens Yard, Fri. Hbr., for Ed Martel 1950.
• DOLPHIN 32' cruiser blt by Albert Jensen & Son Shipyard, SJ Is. 1938 for Ted Blodgett of Orcas Is., for fishing parties at Dolphin Bay.
• DOLPHIN BAY 43.3' x 13' x 7.5' oil sc. by Nourdine Jensen, Fri. Hbr. Heavy cruiser des. by William Garden blt for John M. & Ann L. Sorenson of Seattle, WA. 1951. Value $20,000. MCC on file.
• DORA (216384) 38.5' x 11.1' x 5'; G.t. 12.65/ N.t. 10.69 Blt by Wilhelm Sebelin at McKay Hbr., Richardson, WA. for Sebelin Bros. 1918. MCC on file.
• DUCHESS 24' 8-in cruiser by Albert Jensen Shipyard for E.D. Roberts . Design by Frits Jensen of Seattle. 1957.
• ECHO (222201) 41' R.L x 12.5' x 5'; 18.01 G.t. 14.02 / N. t. Blt by J.W. White on Sucia Island for self. 1922. MCC on file.
• EDNA 32' x 7.1' Pass/frt with 10-HP Campbell engine by D.E. Hoffman, Shaw Is. for Wm. Jakle of Friday Hbr., April 1908.
• ELDRIE J. Launched at Reed's yard, Decatur Is., for Mr. Judy. Their largest to date. 27 April 1907. For AK.
• ELLA MARIE 42' x 14' x 4' Yacht Designed by Ed Monk; Nourdine Jensen's 14th ship built at Friday Hbr., WA. 1970. Owned by Pug. Snd. Pilot, Capt. Leonard Davis of Lopez Is.
• EMMA H. (240674) Ga. sc. 19 G. t. 13 N. t. 39.4' x 11.9' x 6.5' Fish boat blt by Alb. Jensen at Fri. Hbr. for Sigvard Hansen of Ketchikan, AK. 1941.
• ERBANA (169243) Ga.s. 10.38 G.t., 39.1' x 10.3' x 3' Scow blt. by A.T. Erb of/at Pt. Stanley, Lopez Is. 1925. MCC on file.
• ETHEL M. (269819) 32.31' x 11.1' x 5.1' fish Blt at Jensens for Kenneth Martin. 1955.
• EVELYN (211378) 15 G.t./10 N.t. Gas. s. 39' x 13' x 4.2' fish boat blt. Richardson in 1913.
• FAIRBANKS (222940) Ga.s. 59.5' x 18.5' x 8.6' ; 55.47 G.t. / 37.72 N.t. Blt by Albert Jensen for Ira Nordyke of Fri. Hbr. 100-H.P. Oil Burner, 1923. MCC on file.
• FALCON (216360) 38.4' x 9' x 4.4' blt. by E.B. Fowler on Shaw Is. for Alaska Sanitary Packing of Seattle, 1918. MCC on file.
• FAWN (ON 121132) 37' x 10.4' x 4.3', 11 G., 7 N. t. burden steam fishboat. Launched 12 April 1900 by J. Jones/J. M. Reed at Decatur Is., Model by Wm. H.F. Reed. Heading to AK. MCC on file.
• FEARLESS (210192) 80' x 17.4' x 8' Fish Tender Blt. by Wm. H.F. Reed on Decatur Is. 1912 for Henry T. Cayou (sole owner). Lost in AK in 1960. Clyde Welcome drowned. MCC on file.
• FIDALGO (228387) 36.1' x 11.2' x 5.2'/ 13 G.t. / 9 N.t. Blt by L.P. Schruder at Pt. Stanley, Lopez Is, for Salina Packing Co.,1929. MCC on file.
• FRAM (121059) 28.7' x 8.9' x 3.8' sloop blt. by and for P. Schruder at Richardson, Lopez Is. 1897, MCC on file.
• FRANCES (209053) 9 G.t/ 9 N.t. 30' x 8.4' x 4.4' Slp blt. Lopez Is. 1911
• FREDDIE blt. on Decatur Is. for Wm. H. F. Reed & Wiley Perry, 1908.
• FREDDIE II (211495) Launch 42' x 12' x 6.4', blt. by Wm. H.F. Reed of Decatur Is., 7/1913.
• GOGEBIC (219935) 12.7 G.t./ 10.23 N.t. 40.2' x 10.9' x 4.1' Tow bt blt by Albert Jensen, Friday Hbr. for John F. Malcom in 1920. MCC on file.
• GRIFFIN ( 86473) 11 g. tons Tender/Tow boat 46' x 11.2' x 4.5' blt by Albert Jensen & father Benjamin, Friday Hbr, 1899. Name change to MacDOWELL. Lost to fire.
• GRIZZLY (O.N. 209663) 19 tons 62.6' x 14.7' x 5.21' blt. 1912 by Albert Jensen for Frank Nordland. MCC on file.
• GROWLER 62' L, 58 t. Sch. blt by John M. Izett for Capt. Edw. J. Barrington, Whidbey Island, WA. 1859. Lost 1868.
• HECTOR (O.N. 96374). fish tender 41.7' x 9' x 3'. Blt by James Holden at Roche Hbr, S.J. for self 1897. Explosion/fire in 1913 but still documented in 1915.MCC on file.
• HELEN T. (ON 208930) 51.4' x 15.2' x 5.5' 32 G.t. Fish Tender blt. by Wm. H. F. Reed on Decatur Is. for Henry T. Cayou, Orcas Is., 1911. MCC on file.
• IMP (ON 200873) 36.1' x 9.1' x 4' Gas. sc. by P. Schruder & son at Richardson, Lopez Is., for Wm. Frisby, 1903, MCC on file.
• ISLANDER (221640) 91.6' x 21.1' x 7.2' Gas sc. Passenger boat designed/built by Albert Jensen, SJ Is., for San Juan Transp. Co., 1921. Capt. "Charlie B". MCC on file.
• ISLANDER (O.N.201240) 72' x 18.9' x 9' , 87 N.t. burden passenger boat blt. by J.A. Scribner of Fr. Hbr. at Newhall, Orcas Is., for Andrew Newhall, 1904. MCC on file.
• JEAN G. (233602) Ga.s. 29.4' x 8.1' x 3.8' Pass. blt at Pt. Stanley, Lopez in 1928.
• KATY THOMAS (O.N. 161054) 38.1' x 12' x 3.6' Fishing Sloop blt. by A. J. Hinckley on Waldron Island for Thomas Bros. of Waldron Is., in 1894. MCC on file.
• KITTY RADER 34' fish boat b. by A.R. Rader, Shaw Is., for John Ross 1883.
• KLATAWA ( O.N. 210245) 50.2' L x 15.8' B x 4.8' D Tug/tender b. by D.E. Hoffman, Shaw Island, WA. 1912 for Wm. Jakles, F.Hbr. MCC on file.
• LA OLA 248669 (43' x 11.5') Ycht blt. by/for John G. Jones under superv. of Jensens. Fri. Hbr. Two 100-HP Cummings diesels. 1945.
• LADY ESTHER (256465) 32 G.t., 47.2' x 13.2' x 6.2' Ycht blt by Nourdine Jensen, Fri. Hbr. for Arthur W. & Ester Carlson1948. MCC on file.
• LITTLE BIT (237843) Aux. sail Pls. boat 30.25' x 10.15' x 4.45' Blt by Lars Erickson at Fri. Hbr. for Launor M. Carter of Seattle. Value $3, 500. 1938 . MCC on file.
• LOBO DEL MAR 38' Fish tender built c. 1980. Designer, builder, owner, Tom Chamberlin, of Lopez Is.
• LOPEZ (162322) 40' x 16' x 3' 15.59 t. burden Scow blt by James Meiklejohn for Lopez Lumber Co., Lopez Is. 1904, MCC on file.
• LOPEZ NO. 2 (29' x 10' x 2.6') scow blt by James Meiklejohn of Lopez Is. for Lopez Lumber Co. 1911. MCC on file.
• LORNA (280970) 31.9' x 11.5' x 5.8' Fsh boat blt by Jensens, Fri. Hbr., for P.A.F., Bellingham 1960.
• LOTTIE (140599) Stm.s. 45.19 G.t./30.17 N.t. 50' x 14' x 4.6' Blt. on Cypress Is., SJC by E. Hammond for A. J. Edward in 1882. Well known stmr that worked out of Vict. MCC on file.
• MAGGIE (91108) Sch. 30.26 G.t./ 30.26 N.t., 55.5' x 15.2' x 4.6' blt on Samish Island, WA. 1878.
• MARGGE (201764) 30.6' x 10.4' x 3.7' sloop blt. by Wm. H.F. Reed at Decatur Is., for John L. Abrams of Decatur Is., 1905. MCC on file.
• MARINER (207667) 61.5' x 13.1' x 5' Blt. and owned by Al Jensen, 1910 of S.J. Is. Lost on Iceberg Pt. in 1911.
• MARS (93386) 38' x 12.6' x 5.2' Sloop blt by M. Norman for himself at Richardson, Lopez Is., 1903. MCC on file.
• MARY C. (93374) 70.7' x 18.3' x 8.8' ; 92.52 G.t, 47 N.t., 380-HP Steam s. tug blt. by Wm H. F. Reed 1/2 owner with H. T. Cayou at Decatur Is. First boat blt by Reed at this yard, 1903. MCC on file.
• MARY F. PERLEY (92047) Sternwhlr 104' x 20' x 5.5' blt Samish Island, WA. 1888.
• MAUDE (113.5' L. x 21' B x 9' D. 214 tons gross) Sidewheel Steamer b. 1872 on S. J. Is. by Burr & Smith for J. Spratt, East Coast Mail Line of Victoria, BC. Scrapped 1914.
• MESSENGER (93260) Inland tow bt 25 G.t., 15. N.t. 52.5' x 15.' x 4.9' by Albert Jensen and bros. in Fri. Hbr. in 1902. Ran for 3 yrs. Sold to AK /Lost.
• MIDA fish boat blt. at Jensens yard Fri. Hbr. for Ed Pinnow in 1971.
• MONAGHAN (208815) 56.2' x 14' x 5.8', 36 G.t, 25 N.t. Freight/ fishing boat b. 1911 at Orcas, WA. by Chas. H. Curry. With Capt. R. Griswold, Shaw Island, she brought to shore many bodies from the 1918 Vanderbilt Reef wreck of the PRINCESS SOPHIA. Lost 1963 Ketchikan, AK. MCC on file.
• NELLIE (130865) 38.8' x 11' x 3.7' Schooner blt by A. Ohlert at Olga, WA. for self in 1900, MCC on file.
• NELLIE JENSEN (130710) 54 G.t, 59.8' x 19.2' x 6.7' St. Schooner b. by B. Jensen of S.J. Is. for Joe, Al, & Frank Jensen. 1896 MCC on file. See PNW wrecks below.
• NEMESIS b. by L.P. Schruder on Lopez Is. July 1909
• NEREID (209491) 72.7' x 16.75'. Fish tender blt. by Albert Jensen 1911, S.J. Is. for himself. Source: federal MCC on file.
• NETTIE BELLE (130800) 35.4' x 12' x 4.9' Sch. blt by A. Ohlert for self in 1898, MCC on file.
• NOKOMIS (205152) 52.4' x 11.2' Gas Sc. fish boat designed by C.H. Clift, Jr., built by F. L. Clift on Shaw Is. for C. H. Clift of Orcas Is. and D. Campbell of Bellingham, WA. 1908, MCC on file.
• NORINE (204248) 36' x 8' x 3.9', 5.51 n.t. burden, Gas sc. by Wm. H. F. Reed at Decatur Is., for The Taylor Hotel Co., Inc. in 1907, MCC on file.
• NORTH STAR (130452) 39' x 11' x 3.5', 12 t. burden. Sch. blt by B. Jensen on San Juan Is. for Peter Jensen in 1889. MCC on file
• OCTOO (205743) 38' x 11' blt 1908 at Reed's Yard on Decatur Is. for Seattle Oyster & Fish Co.
• OLENA (218838) 9.56 G.t. 32.5' x 8.3' x 4.8' blt by V. F. Coder at Pt. Stanley in 1919. MCC on file.
• ORCAS (19392) 37.7' x 13.1' x 4.1', 10.77 G.t. Sch., blt by Daniel & Robert McLachlan at Langdon, Orcas Is. for Lime business at Estsound Kiln. Launched 1871.
• ORCAS BELLE (274551) 45.9' x 14' x 5.8'. Sailing yacht blt. by Chet North, Deer Hbr., Orcas Is., for Chris Wilkins 1957, Designed by Wm Garden.
• ORLOU (206804) 35' x 11' x 3.8' Shrimp boat, sister to OCTOO; blt. Decatur Island for Seattle Oyster Co. Christened by Katie Krider, 1909.
• OSAGE (230256) 59.1' x 14.7' x 7.7' Oil sc. Mail, freight, passenger boat blt 1930 by and for Wm. H. F. Reed on Decatur Is., WA. MCC on file.
• OTTER 33' x 7' x 3' by and for Capt. L.P. Schruder /15 H.P. Buffalo, May 1908 Lopez Is. Christened by owner/builder's sister, Jessie.
• OWASEE , launch with 10-HP Campbell engine for S. M. Bugge by Ed Scribner. Launched foot of Spring St April 1907.
• PARADISE (225569) 59.2' x 16.2' x 7.5' 51 G.t. /34 N.t. fish boat blt by J.M. Reed and Elmer Barger in Anacortes in 1926.
• PATRICIA (34' x 11.3 ) Blt by Jensen, Friday Hbr for J.G, Jones as a gillnetter then conv. to a troller. June 1965.
• PEGGY R. c. 25-ft tug built by Nourdine Jensen of Fri. Hbr. for Maurice Rodenberger of Orcas Island, c. 1956. Later renamed the HARRY FRANCES BODDINGTON . Sold back to Rodenberger family in 2005.
• PEGGY SUE (261547) 39.2' x 11.8' x 6.1') 19 G.t. Fish boat blt. Lopez Is. 1961
• PROSPECTOR (150468) 32' x 12.8' x 4' Sloop blt by A.W. Thomas for himself and brother on Cypress Is. in 1889. MCC on file.
• PROTECTOR (226927) 42.3' x 12.2' x 5.9' ; 50 G.t./ 14 N.t. Blt by J.M. Reed of Anacortes on Decatur Is. for J.M. Reed. Value-$5,000. MCC on file.
• PUFFIN (506547) 44.1' x 15.1' x 8.7' Ycht blt. at Jensens, Fri. Hbr. 1966
• RELIANCE (205170) 30.8' x 10' x 4.5', 7 t. burden sloop by D.E. Hoffman, Shaw Is. for A. Lauson for codfishing AK. MCC on file, 5 Sept. 1907.
• ROSEBUD (210899) 43.2' Reg. L x 12.3' x 3.75' /14 G.t./ 10 N.t. Blt by Albert Jensen of Fri. Hbr. for Ira D. Nordyke. 1913. MCC on file.
• RUSSWIN (257327) 19 G.t., 37.3' x 11.6' x 6.1' blt by Jensens, Fri. Hbr., for Doc Frank C. Russell 1949.
• RUSTLER (110606) 50' x 16.6' x 5.8' Schooner blt. 1883 by/ for J. N. Fry, East Sound, WA. Later sold to J.D. Warren for Sealing in North. Wrecked Boxing Day 1887 at Nitnat. Capt. J.W. Dodd and crew saved. MCC on file.
• RUTH M. (216204) 31.3' x 9.0' x 4.8' /5.43 tons burden blt by L. P. Schruder of Mud Bay, Lopez Is., for O. L. Ahlquist, 1918. MCC on file.
• SANCO (214983) 40' reg. x 11.8' x 5' ; Gas screw blt. by E. B. Fowler of Shaw Is. for Alaska Sanitary Packing Co. of Seattle 1917. MCC on file.
• SANWAN 219 T. 107.6' Reg. L x 26' x 15.1' Aux. schooner designed & blt under direction of Rbt. Moran at Rosario, Orcas Is., 1912-1917. Hundreds came to the launching incl. the Pug. Snd. Navy Yard and Prof. E. Meany. MCC on file.
• SARA JANE (255768) 17 G.t. / 14 N.t., 36.7' x 11.1' x 5.9' blt. by Nourdine Jensen, princ. carp. of Albert Jensen & Sons, Fri. Hbr., for Dr. James J. Frits 1948. MCC on file.
• SEA BIRD (254837) 34.2' x 10.6' x 5.4' Deep sea troller b. 1948 at Albert Jensen Yard, S.J. Is., for Alfred & Barney Chevalier of Stuart Is.
• SEA GULL 32', 10HP, Cabin launch b. 1903 by D.E. Hoffman for Weeks bros. of Lopez.
• SEA LION (216502) 30.3' x 9.6' x 4.4' ; Ga. sc. 6.87 Tons burden Blt by L.P. Schruder of Mud Bay, WA. for Harry Peterson of Tacoma. 1918. MCC on file.
• SHAW (210357) 36.1' x 12.7' x 4' Frt. 11 G.t. 7 N.t. ("Not too pretty.") By F. Gene Fowler. On Shaw 12 July 1912, photo on file.
• SINBAD (243428) 32.9' L x 9.3' B blt 1943 by Art Hoffman of Shaw Is. for himself. New name SNOOSE. USCG Vessel Lic. on file.
• SKIDDOO c. 32' fish boat Launched 5 Jan. 1911 at Reed's Shipyard, Decatur Is. 1st powerboat for Henry Cayou. Lost to fire Mitchell Bay, in 1920s or 30s. Bruns family photo on file.
• SPANNER (ex-STUBBY) by C. North at Deer Hbr, for Bill "Mississippi" Toler as 24-ft boom boat, for Orcas work.
• STEADFAST (269544) 32.7' x 11.1' x 5.1' Fsh bt. 13 G.t./ 10 N.t. Blt at Jensen's Yard, Fri. Hbr. for Jim Spencer of Lopez Is. 1955
• STRUMPET (539162) 32.9' x 12.6' x 5.2' troller des. by Jay Benford, blt by Jensen Yard for Ernie Gann 1972.
• STUBBY 24' tug built by Chet North, Deer Harbor, for Bill "Mississippi" Toler. Mark Freeman named her Spanner when he bought her in 1982.
• TANYA (232155) 33.4' x 9.' x 4.4' Fsh boat blt Mud Bay in 1927.
• TASMANIA (208577) 33.9' x 9.6' x 3.7' ; Ga.sc. Blt by Wm. H.F. Reed on Decatur Is. for S.S. Spencer (1/3), R.D. Spencer (1/3), W. V. Spencer (1/3). 1911 MCC on file.
• TRANSPORT Frt boat 35.7' x 11.8' x 3' / 11.18 Net and 11.18 G. tons. Blt. by/ for L.P. Schruder of Mud Bay, WA (sole owner). 1911. MCC on file.
• TULIP KING (228881) 41.8' x 11.4' x 5.3', 21.15 G/t. 14.38 N.t., Passenger boat. Blt on Sucia Is. by / for Wm. H. "Cap" Harnden 1929.Value $6,000. MCC on file.
• U and I 28' x 8' aux. launch with 7.5 HP Miamus engine at L. P. Schruder boat yard, Lopez Is. in 1912 for Geo. T. Peterson who will fish at Cape Flattery.
• UNO Small launch built 1894 by Michael Norman at Mud Bay, Lopez Is. Steaming with owner Stephanie Hylton since 1973.
• VELVET (265677) 37 G. t. 46.8' x 14.1' x 8.1' Crab fish boat b. by Albert Jensen & Sons for E/N Peacock, launched Nov. 1952.
• VENTURE (204609) 70.5' x 15.3' 36 G.t. tender blt. by Al, Frank, Joe Jensen, 1907. Coal burner, later conv. to diesel. Later in towing service and then to Foss Launch & Tug as HILDUR FOSS.
• VENUS (204019) Scr. stm passenger 149 G, 101 N, 117.6' x 21' x 6.3'. Blt. by T.H. McMillin of Ballard; at Fri. Hbr. for self and Clifford C. Griggs, 1907. Sold in 1910, soon after lost to fire. MCC on file.
• VERDUN ( 217946) 33.9' R.L. x 10' x 4' fish boat blt. by Frank Jensen, Fri. Hbr., WA. For Frank and Joseph Jensen (1/2 &1/2) 1919. First used trolling in S. E. AK. MCC on file.
• VIBES (233120) 38.95' x 10.6' x 5.3', 14 G., 9 N. Fsh boat blt. by Alphonse Meyer of Oak Hbr. on Decatur Is. for Roy E. Erb & N.G. Miller (1/2 & 1/2) by Alphonse Meyer of Oak Harbor, WA. Value $4, 500.1934 . MCC on file.
• VINA (232568) 28.95' x 9.05' x 4', 7.48 G.t. fsh boat blt by/ for Victor Wesander of Pt. Stanley, Lopez 1932. MCC on file.
• WADENA (210020) 50.4' reg. L x 13.8' x 5' ga.s. 24 G.t., 16 N.t., 30-HP Fish boat blt. by Albert Jensen, Fri. Hbr. for Straits Fish Co. 1912. MCC on file.
• WAMEGA (210023) 57.8' x 13.8' x 5' Gs.s. 24 G., 16 N.t. Fish boat blt by Albert Jensen for Straits Fish Co. 1912. MCC on file.
• WANDERER (209488) Fsh tender; Orig. a Schooner 43.5' x 12' x 4.4' , 14-tons burden. Blt by S. V. Blake of Pt. Stanley on Decatur Island, 1911 for SELF. MCC on file.
• WASECA (210021) 50.4' Reg. L x 13.8' x 5' Gas s. 24 G.t. Fish boat blt by Albert Jensen for Straits Fish Co. in 1912. MCC on file.
• WATER BABY (239444) 46' x 11' x 6' Fish boat by Albert Jensen of Albert Jensen & Sons, Fri. Hbr. for Clyde Welcome, 1940. MCC on file.
• WAUNETA (210022) 50' Reg. L x 13.8' x 5' Gas. s. 24 G.t., 16 N. Fish boat blt by Albert Jensen for Straits Fish Co. in 1912. MCC on file.
• WAVE (204697) 42.4' x 10.3' x 4.4' Pass. launch blt by Wm. H.F. Reed on Decatur Is., for Maurice Johnson (sole owner) of Deer Harbor. 1907, MCC on file.Home port of St. Michael, AK.
• WILDFIRE (227233) Gas. s. 8 G.t. 34.2' x 10' x 4' Fsh boat blt on Guemes Is. in 1924.
• WINDENTIDE (265894) 39' x 10.8' x 5.8', 14 G.t., 11 N.t., fishing troller blt. by & for Chet North, Deer Hbr, WA. 1953.

Shipwrecks of the San Juan Archipelago and Northwest Corner of Washington State (29) to date.)

• ALBION gasoline tender blt Coupeville 1897 lost to fire on the Sound 9/1924. First steamer on Seattle-Everett-Whidbey Is. route, blt by H.B. Lovejoy. Two on board escaped fire.
• AMERICA (105439) 232.8' x 43.1' x 19.3' three-masted full-rigged Cape Horner blt. Quincy, Mass. 1874. Capt. James Griffiths bound Vanc., BC with coal in tow of tug LORNE. Lost on rocks of West San Juan Island, 1914.
• BRISTOL (227502) 60' x 17.2' x 7.4' , Capt. E. W. Chevalier, working as mailboat when lost in collision in San Juans. Cold, wet crew but no loss of life. Some mail sacks later found on beaches. 1960.
• CHICKAWANA (210031) Ol.s. 55.4' x 12.9' x 5.1' blt. 1912. Operated by Bellingham Transp. Co. for many years with a 4th Class Post Office on board. Lost to fire on mail run from Stuart Is. to Waldron. Owned by Mason Lewis. No loss of life. 1948.
• FANNY LAKE (120220) Paddle stmr 91'. x 20.8' x 4.8' blt. Seattle 1875. Burned in Sullivan Slough, nr LaConner. 1893.
• FEARLESS (210192) blt on Decatur Is. lost with 4 fishermen nr Kodiak, AK. 2/1960
• GENERAL HARNEY Numerous wrecks in past. Last was en route Dungeness to Whatcom, Capt. W.G. Clarke of Seattle. Stranded and lost on Goose Island, SJC. 1889
• GOVERNOR: Steamship rammed by WEST HARTLAND, near Port Townsend, WA. Loss of life c. 10 people. Please see the blog under "Wrecks". Lost 1921.
• H. C. PAGE c. 70' blt at New Whatcom in 1854 by Will. Utter, her master Henry Roeder, & P. V. Peabody for the Bell'hm Bay & Vict. trade. Wrecked 1860 en route from Pt. Ludlow to Vict., caught in tide rip 4 mi. SE of Trial Is. Deck load shifted, she filled, capsized. Later drifted ashore on Whidbey nr. Decept. Pass.
• HOOSIER BOY (96409) 31 G. t., blt 1898 for Coast Fish Co. of Anacortes. Lost on Salmon Banks no lives lost. Crew came ashore on life line. 1911.
• J. B. LIBBY (13464) Paddlewheel pioneer steamer blt Utsalady 1863, wrecked 10 miles off Whidbey Island between Smith and S.J. Is, Capt. Frank White. Owned by H.F. Beecher. 1889.
• LIBBY former mail, frgt, pass. boat to islands. Loaded with Roche Hbr lime; lost in straits to Pt. Tnsd. No lives lost. 1942.
• MARINER (207667) 61.5' Tug blt by Albert Jensen of Fri. Hbr. in 1910. Lost on Iceberg Pt., Lopez Island Jan. 1911.
• MARTHA FOSS (157183) 87.5' x 22.4' tug owned by Foss Launch and Tug blt. 1886. Lost in collision off Ediz Hook. Loss of 2nd eng. Nelson H. Gillette. 1946.
• MICHAEL J. 35' gillnetter owned by John Jackson Cannery sank at Salmon Banks in 300' of water. Aug. 1955
• MURIA (215186) 50.9' x 14' x 6' Purse Seiner blt. 1917 at Dockton. Owned by Crosby bros. and John Jackson of Fri. Hbr. Lost in Andrew's Bay. 1950.
• NELLIE JENSEN Blt in 1896 by Jensen Ros. Driven ashore at Freshwater Bay, 8-mi west of Pt. Angeles, in gale 2-1905. Destroyed by fire. Owner,Capt. Benjamin, all saved.
• NORTHERN LIGHT Lost during a gale on 31 Mar. 1967 on rocks near Hibbard's Lime Kiln; Bound for the kiln for a lime cargo. Source: Puget Snd Weekly Gazette, 1867.
• Nellie Coleman (130285) Schooner 97.9' x 25.7' x 9.5' blt 1883, Lamoine, Hancock County, ME. lost with all hands (c. 30) Nov. 1905 Cape Yakataga. Owned by Seattle & AK Codfish Co. of Seattle, value $20,000.
• ONTARIO, Sch. owned by H.L. Tibbals, sailed by James McCurdy, parted moorings 25 Mar. 1875. Driven on rocks and wrecked on San Juan Is.
• PROWLER Tender lost south of Smith Island with 12-T. of salmon. Crew lifted off by US Navy helicopter. July 1976.
• RAINBOW, 26' Motor Whale Boat MK II. 26' x 7.2.5' Blt by Blind Bay Boat Shop, SJC, for John M. Campbell. Delivered 12/2006.
• ROCK RUNNER 35' Charter cruiser to fire in Fri. Hbr. Loss of 1 man aboard and 1 volunteer. 1970.
• ROSALIE famous darling of the P.S.N. Co. which served the Alaska goldrush miners as well as SJC residents. Lost to fire in Duwamish waterway. 1893 -1918. Loss est. at $70,000.
• SAN JUAN II, Reliable mailboat owned by Charlie Maxwell, skippered by Capt. Geo. Nelson, swept on rocks near Olga, WA. No lives lost, some mailbags later found on local beaches. 1929
• SEA LION Powerful 107' x 22' steel tug blt 1904 in Aberdeen. Rammed by the schooner OCEANA VANCE and sent to the bottom of the Strait of Juan de Fuca near Race Rocks towing a scow load of Waldron Is. sandstone to Grays Hbr. Crew saved. 1909.
• T. W. LAKE (145700) 70.6' x 16.5' x 7.8' St. s. blt in Ballard in 1895 for Capt. T.W. Lake, father of Mrs. Driggs of Fri. Hbr. Owned by Merchants Trans. Co., Capt. E.E. Mason. Winds 72-mph when lost with 8-tons of canned goods and 500 barrels of lime between Shannon Pt. and Decatur Island. Valued at $20,000. All hands lost, c. 13. Dec. 1923.
• TRANSPORT, Capt. Ira Myers. Blt. in Oly. in 1899, 111' x 21'. Owned by Star Steamship Co. Total loss of ship, 2nd engineer, 1,700 barrels of lime at Cattle Pt. 1911.
• UNION: Bark with 600 t. of coal, Capt. A. W. Berry en route Anacortes to S.J. Is. 10 Feb. 1891.

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Suhaili 50 Falmouth, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston Returns to Visit Falmouth

Ever had an idea that grows and builds to become an obsession? Robin Knox-Johnston did, and on June 14th 1968 (a Friday, considered amongst sailors’ as an unlucky day to start a voyage!), he climbed aboard his 32 foot Bermudan Ketch, ‘Suhaili’, and recovering from illness (jaundice), with no sponsorship, crew, or certainty that the yacht would even make it, Robin set sail from Falmouth. His obsession being, to become the first person to sail solo, 30,000 miles around the globe, non-stop.

In 1967 Sir Francis Chichester circumnavigated the globe, only stopping once in Australia for a major refit, making him the first person to complete the longest ‘non-stop’ voyage. It was this that inspired Robin to take on the only great circumnavigation challenge left, to sail solo and entirely non-stop.

9 entrants took part, in an attempt to attain the purpose created, Sunday Times Golden Globe Trophy, for the first person to sail single handed and non-stop around the globe, and a £5.000 prize fund, for the fastest time. The rules were, entrants must set sail solo from anywhere in the British isles between June 1st and October 31st 1968, and return to the same port. Robin was the 3rd to depart.

For over 10 months, Robin battled through just about every weather condition imaginable, Suhaili suffered polluted water tanks, leaking seams, ripped sails, loss of self steering and for 8.5 months of the journey Robin sailed with no radio. It wasn’t until 1,200 nautical miles from home that a tanker sighted him using his signal lamp, this must have been a great relief for everyone wondering where he was after all this time.

On April 22nd 1969, Robin sailed back into Falmouth, and not only became the first person to circumnavigate the globe solo, but he also completed it in the fastest time, he donated the 5,000 prize to fellow competitor Donald Crowhursts family, after Crowhurst committed suicide during the race.

In the years that followed Robin has continued to compete, including completing three more circumnavigations. He has been awarded a CBE and received a knighthood in 1969 and now quite rightly, is known as Sir Robin Knox-Johnston.

For several years, one of Britains most famous yachts was on display at the National Maritime Museum Greenwich, but the controlled atmosphere was having a detrimental effect on her planking. Sir Robin made the decision to remove her from the museum in 2002, and spent the next few years restoring her back to her original form. Sir Robin and Suhaili have since returned to racing together!

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Golden Globe Race, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston and Suhaili will return to Falmouth, along with the Golden Globe 2018 fleet, on June 11th. The fleet will moor at the Falmouth haven Marina, next to Custom House Quay. The haven will be open between 11am & 2pm on the 11th & 12th June for the public to view the fleet.

The parade of sail led by Sir Robin and Suhaili, will take place on June 14th at 10 am, then at 13.30 pm the SITRaN charity race  from Pendennis Point to Les Sables d’lonne France will start. The first stage of the 50th anniesary Golden Globe Race commences on July 1st.

CLICK HERE for more information and full programme of events.

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GETTING HERE

Falmouth is a very straight forward destination to reach by road, rail or by air.

GETTING ABOUT

Explore Falmouth in many different ways, including by bus, traing and by boat.

Falmouth is a destination for any taste, whether it is a beach holiday in Cornwall, a sailing trip or a cultural holiday.

View various web cameras in Falmouth and the surrounding areas to get a live view.

Yachting Monthly

• Digital edition

Golden legend: Sir Robin Knox-Johnston

• Katy Stickland
• August 8, 2018

Only one sailor completed the 1968-69 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race. Katy Stickland meets Sir Robin Knox-Johnston as he recalls 
his groundbreaking voyage which started 50 years ago

Sir Robin says he is happiest at sea, alone. Credit: Graham Snook Photography

‘The waves are so much bigger,’ muses Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, as he remembers his first time sailing a yacht in the blasting winds of the Southern Ocean.

It was 1968 during the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race .

‘Waves went straight over the top of the boat. Sitting in the cockpit, you’re crushed, bruised. I saw one particularly big one and I realised I couldn’t get to the safety of down below and went up the rigging, otherwise I would have been washed off. You have to learn how to deal with that. Every boat handles differently. I was incredibly lucky because I found Suhaili was very responsive once I learnt how to look after her. But, the only way to find out was down there.’

It is just over 50 years since Sir Robin left Falmouth on his Bermudan ketch Suhaili . His aim: to sail non-stop around the globe. Out of the nine entrants, he was the only one who finished.

So what drove the then 29-year-old Merchant Navy officer, who had previously sailed Suhaili the 15,000 miles from India to Gravesend, Kent with his brother Chris and friend Heinz, to carry on whilst others retired?

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston was the one entrant to win the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race. Credit: Bill Rowntree/PPL/GGR

He admits the early days sailing in the Southern Ocean ‘were pretty frightening,’ where the impact of the waves ‘is like someone swinging an anvil against the hull.’

There were times that he felt ‘fed up’ but at no point did quitting cross his mind. It wasn’t until he reached New Zealand in November 1968 that he knew he was leading, by which point he had ‘too much to lose,so any doubts I might have had went.’

A barely functioning radio meant he didn’t know his nearest rival Bernard Moitessier had dropped out of the race until 10 days before he crossed the finish line between Pendennis Point and Black Rock in Falmouth. What does he think would have happened if Moitessier had stayed in the race?

‘The French insist he would have been the fastest; actually, [Nigel] Tetley would have been. The French also insist he would have got back before me. Would he? They insist he would but actually, where is the evidence? And he didn’t, so what is the point? He and I did not fall out over it,’ notes Sir Robin.

Past and present

The French are certainly the favourites in the retro Golden Globe Race, which started from Les Sables d’Olonne on 1 July. Sir Robin has his money on seasoned solo sailor and current record holder for the fastest solo westabout circumnavigation, Jean-Luc Van Den Heede .

‘Don’t underestimate Jean-Luc. He is a real pro. He is going for this seriously. People ask who I think will win. I say Jean-Luc. He has been sailing the boat for three years. He is so experienced; five times ssinglehanded around the world. He has got to be the favourite.’

Continues below…

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston shares his cruising wisdom

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston: The sailing legend shares his top tips for making the most of time on the water

Golden Globe Race 2022: The Long Way

Katy Stickland meets the skippers turning their backs on modern technology to take part in the slowest yacht race around…

Gipsy Moth IV: rebirth of a British legend

Katy Stickland talks to Gipsy Moth IV’s new owner Simon Oberholzer about his passion for the yacht and the plans…

50th anniversary of Sir Robin Knox-Johnston’s Golden Globe Race victory

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston's epic 312 day circumnavigation aboard his beloved Suhaili will be celebrated in Falmouth on 22 April

Sir Robin agrees that the likes of Britain’s Susie Goodall and Australian Mark Sinclair are also well prepared. But, there are others who will inevitably drop out, those Sir Robin describes as ‘the dreamers’, who don’t know the magnitude of what they are taking on. ‘Just so long as they are sensible enough to say they are giving up,’ he notes wryly.

One thing is certain: for those who stay in the race, it will be unlike any other voyage they have sailed before. No GPS, no AIS, navigating with only a sextant, the sun and the stars.

Apart from safety gear and a few other exceptions, like self-tailing winches, the skippers must only use equipment that was on board Suhaili during the race.

A well deserved pint of beer after finishing the Golden Globe Race. Credit: Alamy Stock Photo

The list certainly won’t include razor blades (Sir Robin’s friend forgot to put them on board) and solder (he ended up having to melt the bottom of navigation lightbulbs to try and repair his fickle radio), both of which Sir Robin wishes he had taken in 1968/69, as well as ‘a few more luxuries in the food line.’

‘It was all very, very simple because I couldn’t afford anything else. My luxury was six jars of pickled onions; that was all I could afford. I had no sponsor as such. I didn’t have very much money. My last £16 I spent on a coil of 2in polypropylene rope which saved my life actually [he used it as a trailing warp to help keep Suhaili under control in the Southern Ocean]. I had no money for anything else.’

As for what he wishes he had left behind – a book ‘about some parasite in fish in some remote artificial lake somewhere in Russia,’ one of 100 books loaned to him by the Seafarers’ Education Service. ‘Bertrand Russell was much easier to understand than that one,’ he laughs.

Home at sea

At the time of the original Golden Globe Race, there was speculation about what affect sailing around the world, alone, on a tiny boat while battling the elements would have on those taking part.

Some psychiatrists suggested entrants would go mad. Coping with loneliness was one of the questions a journalist put to Sir Robin before he left. His reply: ‘Dunno, if I am back in two weeks I am not [coping], it is as simple as that.’

Sir Robin onboard his beloved Suhaili. Credit: Graham Snook Photography

Like Moitessier, Sir Robin says he finds inner peace while at sea, alone. ‘I am happy at sea. It doesn’t mean that it isn’t dangerous. I am fully aware of that and I’ve lost a lot of friends over the years but nevertheless, I am complete in a boat at sea.’

To win the retro race, the skippers will certainly have to find that connection between themselves and their boats, and to learn quickly how to handle them in the world’s toughest oceans.

Only then can they repeat the feat of this pioneering sailor.

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My haven, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston: The solo, round-the-world sailor, 80, in the sitting room of his home in Portsmouth

• Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, 80, shared significant items in his Portsmouth home 
• The round-the-world sailor treasures the sextant used during his global travel
• He also values a photo taken on his wedding day in Cambridge during 1962

By Angela Wintle For Weekend

Published: 17:31 EDT, 5 July 2019 | Updated: 17:31 EDT, 5 July 2019

View comments

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, 80, (pictured) reveals the items of personal significance inside the sitting room of his home in Portsmouth. The solo, round-the-world sailor has published an autobiography

1 ALL AT SEA 

This room is crammed with mementos from my sailing career. This photo is of me as a child on the Wirral in Merseyside. 

My dad David worked for a shipping company in Liverpool, but a bomb destroyed our flat so we moved further out to Heswall. 

From the kitchen we could see the River Dee where I launched my first attempt at a boat, a raft made from an orange box – sadly it sank under my weight. 

2 RECORD BREAKER 

The boat this is modelled on, Suhaili, is like family to me as she's been part of my life since I was 23. 

I sailed around the world in her in 1968. 

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Sir Francis Chichester had sailed around the world alone a year earlier with a month-long rest and refit, so I had to do it non-stop. 

During the voyage I got jaundice, my boat sprang a leak that I had to repair in shark-infested waters, I lost my radio transmitter and fresh water supply, and even suffered a burst appendix.

3 BRIGHT IDEA 

When my radio packed up after my boat was hit by a huge wave, my only method of communication was this signal lamp. 

On Easter Saturday, 1969, after four and a half months out of radio contact, I managed to send a message, via Morse code, to say I was alive and well and heading home.  

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston treasures this sextant (pictured), used to chart his position while sailing around the world

But it wasn't until 7.20pm that a British ship – the 18th vessel I'd called – answered my signals and told London that I'd been sighted. 

4 LOVE OF MY LIFE 

Suzie and I married in Cambridge in 1962. 

We'd met when I was eight and she lived across the road from us. 

We divorced three and a half years after this wedding photo was taken, because I'd sometimes be away at sea for more than a year. 

I didn't even know my daughter, Sara, had been born until after her birth. 

We never fell out of love, though, and remarried in 1972. She died of ovarian cancer in 2003 and I miss her very much.

5 STEERED BY THE STARS  

I used this sextant to chart my position while sailing around the world, the same method Captain Cook had used. 

When I sighted Australia I was only out by two miles. 

Then in 1989 I replicated Christopher Columbus's voyage to America using the astrolabe in front of it on the table here, a copy of the one he used [it calculates your location using the position of the sun or the Pole Star]. 

I was just eight miles out in latitude, which showed that people could navigate much more accurately then than we thought.

6 IN A PICKLE  

After acquiring a taste for lime pickle in my early 20s while based in Bombay [now Mumbai] with the Merchant Navy for four years, I still make a batch every year to an authentic Indian recipe. 

When I sailed around the world in 1968 I was desperately short of money and my provisions were pretty basic – 218 tins of bully beef kept me alive. 

One of my few luxuries was four jars of pickled onions, which I eked out over the ten-month voyage. I still love them. 

Running Free: The Autobiography by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston is published by Simon & Schuster at £20. 

Share or comment on this article: My haven, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, 80, in the sitting room of his home in Portsmouth

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