Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1883-04-06


From the San Francisco Chronicle, March 22l
On the 10th of August, 1882, Bernard Gil
foy, native Of Buffalo, N. Y, left the port
Of San Francisco, bound ION a voyage Of
pleasure to Australia, The craft in which
he sailed was q dory Is feet long, feet beam,
a depth of 2 feet 6 inches, and register Of
two tons. Gilfoy was the only passenger,
and started with the determination Of per-
forming the unparalleled feat of crossing the
Pacific single-handed in common sailing
boat The cutter for she was little more,
was named the Pacific, and wis covered in ali
over with the exception of couple Of
matches, one amidships and one aft. The
fore part was used mostly for the water casks
which were filed with salt water as the fresh
was used up, and the afterpart was used as
kitchen, cabin and sleeping-room Nothing
was heard from Gilfoy until the arrival in
this port of the barkentne Tropic Vance from
Tahiti whose captain reported that he had
sighted the Pacific Nov. 10. He had given
Gilfoy his correct bearings and a quantity of
fruit and had learned that after week Of
favoring weather the Pacific had encountered
20 days of alternate calms and headwinds
which had driven Gilfoy to shorten his allow
anco. He crossed the line in longitude 1862
on Friday, Sept. 30 and then met with good
winds, before which he ran south between
ATTITUDES 3 south and 10 south. His prin-
cipal discomfort he said, had been the too
familiar habits Of the sharks, which every
night came humping the boat with their
ugly shouts. To rid himself of them he
made a. harpoon out of boathook and sue
ceeded in rendering them SO shy that by
propping up his shirt at night in the place
where he usually sat by day he was enabled
to take his rest comparatively undsturbed.
The conclusion of the Pacifc's extraordi-
nary voyage is gathered FROM long account
published in the marlborough (Queensland)
Chronicle of Feb. Sd. 1t appears that after
leaving the Tropic Vance things went badly
with Gilfoy. On the 18th of December, be-
ing then to the south of the Friendly Isles,
a heavy sea broke over the boat and capsized
her. He went backward into the water, and
il was only by an hours hard work, with the
aid of floating anchor" that he was en-.
abled to right the dory. No sooner was she
righted than another heavy sea capsized her
a second time. Again he righted her and
passed the night in baling and the day in
making things as shipshape as possible. By
the 10th Of December he had got things un-
der way again and was enjoying pleasant
weather, when the boat was pierced by a
sword fish On Christmas day he found him
self near Hunter Island, barren rock, with
all his instruments gone and nothing left of
his provisions except ~ pounds of corned
meat two quarts of alcohol, and - gallons
of water. He then tried to make for New
Caledonia, but the wind and current were
against him, and on the l4th of january he
ate the last of his meat. Two days after he
lost his rudder, and had to rig up make
shift, and from that time on he had to sub
sist on whatever fish he caught or birds he
shot On the 10Th Of January he ate his last
cooked meal, bird singed over a heap of
broken matches, and after that he sucked the
bsrnscles. Then the days came in which he
knew nothing and cared nothing, steering
amlessly here and there. Just as the last
hope had fed he sighted the Alfred Vittery
on Monday Jan. %, bound for Mary borough
The Vittery saw him aud few minutes after
Gilfoy was saved He was then but 100
miles of Sandy Cape, and after being fed
told the singular story of an extraordinary
feat so nearly accomplished. He was kindly
cared for on his arrival at Mary borough but
the latest news reports him as being down
with typhoid fever, the result of exposure
and hardghipg