The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1889-11-22
A pERILovs VOYAGE.
Capt. Andrews Relates Hts Experience or
Crossing tho Ocean In a Dorv.

| Sso"s Heiatcs HtS experience Of
Crossing tho Ocean In 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 tho Atlantic in his
dory the Dark Secret. A Mail re-
porter had very interesting conver-
| Satien with the captain and asked him
Tor brief account Of his attempt to
cross the ocean blue.
II started,n he said "in the it'll.
dory from Point of Pines beach neor
Boston, Monday, June IS. This ia the
boat in which made NV ;onrnew 70 e
1t measures, keel ~ feet. beam & feet
depth 2 feet. It was built under nv
direction and supervision. Yes, I
started all alone. not even n doc or
cat on board. When ]. crossed the
Atlantic in 1873 In the little dorv
Nautilus my bnc&her Walter accora. s
panied me. That Boat was four feet
longer than the Dark Secret. We
made the voyage in tho Nautilus in
forty-five days from land to land. but
we had better weather than experi-
enced on the last trip.
Tho rigging and sail arc yerv SIM
pie. l had only ono sail, what is usu-
ally called q lateen, or three cornered
sail, and the rigging consisted of lust
three pieces OF rope. Yes. the Dark
Secret is an excellent sea boat She
behaved beautifully in tho terribly
bad weather encountered. I made a
mistake in starting from Boston. The
weather at Georges bank was awful.
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 1t. The longest time
l went without rest was forty-eipht
hours during gale, and didn't eat
much during that time, either. In
fact, all did eat during the yoyaoe
was crackers and canned provisions.
l had an alcohol stove With me. but II
became useless after the first day out
Living on crackers and drinking as
little water as possible evidently didn't
agree. with me, for I weighed 2Os
pounds the day started. When
picked up tipped the beam st 1875.
after eating hearty dinner at that.
Tho Norwegian bark Nor picked
mo. up about ,555 miles from nv
starting point Aug. 81, after I had
been Just sixty-two days out. WAS
indeed in a sorry plight had lost
my drag, with which I held the boats
nose to tho sea when turned in, nv
oiled clothing was completely worn
out, my provisions and water were
running, short, and the boat was in
bad condition.
"How did l sleepa put the craft
to, threw out my dragy add turned in
for brief periods only. Ny mattress
got wet during the frst gallo and was
not keep me from sleepis., .,ssst.it did.
whom | got chance. Some nights
the boat drifted back SO far that IL took
me from one to three days to make up
lost ground. During heavy gales ]
used oil on this water. You have read
in the good book about putting ell on
the troubled waters We'll, Il works
first rate. let it triclsle out. ut the rate
Of ten drops minute. It has won
derful effect in reducing the waves.
what started me on such a tripf
Well. ! have always been,an enthusi-
ast 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. I think it. is a
mistake to go alone, as ono man can
steer or cook while tho other. ia sleep
ing."-Chicago Mail.