Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1889-02-08
A PERILO'Js VOYAGE.
Capt Andrews P,elates His Experience Of
Crossing Tho Ocean In a Dory


Perhaps few among the audiences
that nightly attend the performance
OF "A Dark Secret" know that the Capt.
Andrews who appears during the
fourth act is the plucky sailor who at
tempted to cross the Atlantic in his
dory the Dark Secret. A Mail re.
porter had n very interesting CONVEX
sation W III the captain and asked him
| for br account of his attempt to
cross The ocean blue.
Il started" he said, Gin the little
dory from Point of Pines beach near
Boston, Monday, June IS. This is the
boat III which | made my journey.
1t measures, keel IL feet, beam 5 feet,
depth 2 feet. 1t was built under my
direction and supervision. Yes,
started all alone, not even a dog or
cat on board. When l crossed the
Atlantic in 1878 in the little dory
Nautilus my brother Walter accom-
panied me. That boat was four feet
longer than the Dark Secret. We
made the voyage in the Nautilus in
forty-hve days from land to land, but
we had better weather than | expert
enced on the last trip.
The rigging and sail are very sim
pie had only one sail, what is usu-
ally called lateen, or three cornered
sail, and the rigging consisted of Just
three pieces of rope. Yes, the Dark
Secret is an excellent sea boat. She
behaved beautifully in the terribly
bad weather encountered / made a
mistake in starting from Boston. The
Wnnt hnp q (rnnprrn'c 10 l. -
and 1t was month before | got out of
the bay and into the northern cur
rent. After that did not have quite
SO hard time of it. The longest time
went without rest was forty eight
hours during gale, and didn't eat
much during that time, either. In
fact, all | did eat during the voyage
was crackers and canned provisions
| had an alcohol stove with me, but it
became useless after the first day out.
Living on crackers and drinking as
little water as possible evidently didn't
agree with me, for l weighed 2OS
pounds the day | started. When
picked up tipped the beam at 1875,
after eating hearty dinner at that.
The Norwegian bark Nor picked
me up about 1853 miles from my
starting point Aug. 81, after l had
been just sixtytwo days out. was
indeed in a sorry plight. l had lost
my drag, with which l held the boats
nose to the sea when l turned in, my
oiled clothing was completely worn
out, my provisions and water were
running short, and the boat was in
bad condition.
How did sleep1 l put the craft
to, threw out my drag, and turned in
for brief periods only. My mattress
got wet during the first gale and was
not very comfortable bed, but it did
not keep me from sleeping like a top
when | got chance. Some nights
the boat drifted back so far that it took
me from one to three days to make up
lost ground. During heavy gales /
used oil on the water You have read
IN the good book about putting oil on
the troubled waters We'll, it works
first rate. | let it trickle out at the rate
of ten drops a minute. 1t has Won
derful effect in reducing the waves.
What started me on such a trip2
Well, have always been an enthusi-
asst on boating, and believe that small
boats can be built, if correctly mod
eled, that will live through storms
that would sink an ocean steamer. and
my ambition has been to cross in the
smallest boat alone. | think it is
mistake to go alone, as one man can
steer or cook while the other is sleep
ing. Chicago Mail.