There were no lights and fans-the engine wouldn't work-nothing worked! No ship ever went to sea with more things wrong with her. And so the unfortunate vessel creaked and groaned its way across the Pacific toward Hawaii, the sport of every wave.
The size of the galley was negligible. It would have been considered small for a clothes closet. Martin said that here the old saw about having to go outside to turn around was literally true-if he had a dish in his hand.
On Monday, May 20, 1907, the Snark, after skirting disaster for twenty-seven days, dropped anchor in Pearl Harbor and furled her sails. It seemed a paradise to those six sea-weary souls. It was so good to be on solid ground again. According to the newspapers, the Snark had been given up as lost and reported gone down with all hands on board.
Martin could hardly walk. The land tilted just like the ship, and for days he would find himself spreading his feet apart to keep from falling.
They had bad weather from the start, mounting to the proportions of heavy storms. The light boat pitched like a cork. It leaked like the proverbial sieve. The sides leaked, the bottom leaked; water poured in, ruining the tools in the engine room and spoiling a good part of three months' provisions. The coal had been delivered in rotten potato sacks and was washing through the scuppers into the sea. The floors of the galley and cabins were ankle-deep in water.
In many, many years no vessel had ever attempted to cross the Pacific by this treacherous and isolated route. Some had tried it but had been blown far off their course. Others had never been heard from again. But the Snark and her crew accomplished the impossible, and in sixty-one days out of Hilo, Hawaii, they put safely into Taiohae Bay, in the Marquesas.
Of course, all were desperately seasick. Tochigi lay in his bunk most of the time as if paralyzed; Martin made for his at every opportunity.
Martin was advanced to engineer and was beside himself with pride. He had learned all the idiosyncrasies of the seventy-horse-power engine and was undoubtedly worthy of the promotion, but I suspect that Jack did it to get a new cook. Martin wrote to Jess Utz, his cooking teacher, "I guess, Jess, my cooking wasn't so much of a success-they've hired someone else."
With these as a crew, the refurbished Snark sailed out of Honolulu, stopping at Hilo and the leper island of Molokai, and on October 7, 1907, cast off the shore lines to begin the two-thousand-mile sail across - 29956
The size of the galley was negligible. It would have been considered small for a clothes closet. Martin said that here the old saw about having to go outside to turn around was literally true-if he had a dish in his hand.
On Monday, May 20, 1907, the Snark, after skirting disaster for twenty-seven days, dropped anchor in Pearl Harbor and furled her sails. It seemed a paradise to those six sea-weary souls. It was so good to be on solid ground again. According to the newspapers, the Snark had been given up as lost and reported gone down with all hands on board.
Martin could hardly walk. The land tilted just like the ship, and for days he would find himself spreading his feet apart to keep from falling.
They had bad weather from the start, mounting to the proportions of heavy storms. The light boat pitched like a cork. It leaked like the proverbial sieve. The sides leaked, the bottom leaked; water poured in, ruining the tools in the engine room and spoiling a good part of three months' provisions. The coal had been delivered in rotten potato sacks and was washing through the scuppers into the sea. The floors of the galley and cabins were ankle-deep in water.
In many, many years no vessel had ever attempted to cross the Pacific by this treacherous and isolated route. Some had tried it but had been blown far off their course. Others had never been heard from again. But the Snark and her crew accomplished the impossible, and in sixty-one days out of Hilo, Hawaii, they put safely into Taiohae Bay, in the Marquesas.
Of course, all were desperately seasick. Tochigi lay in his bunk most of the time as if paralyzed; Martin made for his at every opportunity.
Martin was advanced to engineer and was beside himself with pride. He had learned all the idiosyncrasies of the seventy-horse-power engine and was undoubtedly worthy of the promotion, but I suspect that Jack did it to get a new cook. Martin wrote to Jess Utz, his cooking teacher, "I guess, Jess, my cooking wasn't so much of a success-they've hired someone else."
With these as a crew, the refurbished Snark sailed out of Honolulu, stopping at Hilo and the leper island of Molokai, and on October 7, 1907, cast off the shore lines to begin the two-thousand-mile sail across - 29956
About the Author:
Jasek Prague: Make no mistake he has a love for popcorn. The Best Popcorn makers. Take a look at Presto Popcorn Maker.
