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National Geographic : 1966 Feb
Contents
Like floating jackstraws, slender Tikopian outriggers cluster about Yankee's awninged afterdeck. A Solomon Islands chief and his aide climb aboard seeking gifts: Others bring pandanus mats to trade for tobacco. Robed in radiant saffron, Buddhist priests stroll through the massive ruins of Angkor Wat. Khmers, ancestors of today's Cam bodians, built the temple in the 12th century; its lower gallery extends for half a mile. Volcanic spears pierce the sky above Ua Pou in the Marquesas. Only these giant lava plugs remain of an ancient volcano that eroded away. Crew members keep watch as Yankee noses toward shore. It took three months of negotiation to pur chase the ship, and when finally she was his, Captain Johnson sent her round for refitting to the yard ofJ. W. and A. Upham at Brixham. There Devon shipwrights, whose ancestors had sailed with Drake against the Spanish Armada, went lovingly to work on Yankee. Topmasts and yards were dubbed out of North American pitch pine by old-timers with adzes, a tool, says Exy Johnson, which "no one under 60 seems qualified to handle." Mrs. Johnson loved listening to the yard men talk among themselves of "t' Yank." She heard one old boy say to another, "Her'll take a heap o' drivin'." "Aye," replied his mate, "her'll go. Ain't nothin' to stop she." Years of sailing had taught Irving Johnson what was needed in a ship to circumnavigate the world with an amateur crew in comfort and safety. Duhnen's schooner rig had been best for coastwise navigation, variable winds, and handling with a small crew. But as Yan kee she would sail for long periods in the steady, unvarying trades. For running before a stiff breeze, square sails are more efficient as well as safer, as there is no danger of an accidental jibe. On the other hand, for beating to windward, fore-and-aft sails are superior, as they permit the ship to sail closer to the wind. To have the best of both worlds, John son rerigged her as a brigantine. Here again Johnson's original thinking baffled some observers, though not the ex perts. When I showed a photograph of Yankee under full sail to Howard Chapelle, the Smith sonian Institution's authority on sailing ships, he said, "She's a brigantine, all right, but...." It is this "but" that gives pause to others who know only conventional rig. For example, her foremast should have one more yard, which Skipper's wife, Mrs. Electa Johnson, em broiders in the captain's cabin; her needle work map depicts the vessel's adventures. Memento of a mutiny: Bounty's anchor, found by Yankee crewmen, emerges from 50 feet of water off Pitcairn Island. Earlier, author Luis Marden had discovered Boun ty's lime-encrusted remains close inshore. KODACHROMES BY THOMASJ. ABERCROMBIE(UPPER) AND LUIS MARDEN @ N.G.S, 267
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