The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1918-12-18
$4,000 MILE TRIP ALONE.
Hermit Skipper Roves Seas on Three
Year Voyage.

head or nav 9atlon on the feHoEScOti |
after $4,000 miles cruising in three
years is the unique record of the thirty |
two foot sloop the Sir Francis, of
Seattle, recently at the Bangor ferry
slip Her captain is Thomas Drake,
also Of England, and his propensities
for rowing the seas is what led to his
making q 10000 mile voyage alone. He
caihe from seattle to Key West, ar
irving thcrc last year aud continuing
10 the West Indies and then coming
north To the Pine Tree state rock
hound coast Of which he had heard
so much and had longed 20 see.
The Sir Francis is doughty little
craft. and She is as dry rs a bone in
all sorts Of seas, her owner, crew skip
per and historian declared.
The captain was eating some deli
ciuus looking biscuits he had just
finished baking when seen. His berth
had long since been strapped up
against the wall and his breakfast
board was laid y miniature cook
stove i'm one corner with its accompany
ing pots and pans was such as TO de-
light a housewife. bespeaking tidiness
no less than did the tiny shining brass
ships lamp over the table. Purple sea
feathers and yellow sea fans, all from
the West indies, star fish and shells
were everywhere to be seen.
The Sir Francis is of the Norwegian
type. five ton fitted with q five horse
Regal engine for going against tide
waters, or in emergency, but the sloop
I spreads 400 square feet of canvas
aud viii make six to ten miles an hour
under IT, She carries q small boat
across Her stern, back of the steering
wheel No scxtant or other navigating
instruments are carried, only Coast
+ Pilots. rs the books used BY masters
of vessels are called, charts compass,
lead line, field glass and two baromc
tors.
The captain said he had been arrest
4 eel in jamaica, suspected of being 4
j German spy. lie ran into Portland,
Point Jamaica, in September Of 1917,
ana not finding a customs official,
handed his papers TO corporal at the
police station. The corporal held the
ship and her captain until he got the
sergeant, who went down with twenty
men aud seized the Sir Francis. bunch
Of bananas, sea shells and all. The
captain went to Jail for three days
and then was released with permission
to sail for Port Royal.
The captain is going TO South Amer
/, lea when lie has finished touring Maine
waters. lie saws he heard of Bangor
and the beauties of the river trip from
the sea while in ror a aud 50 he
came.
lie SAYS he travels alone so he need
! rot be troubled by a partner finding
, fault with his cooking and that hi
. object is To see all the waters of thc
globe. He keeps q diary Of the day :,
E doings, ships log in an edition d.
E luxe. one might term it, for in il ar
descriptions story teller might envy
Half lifetime spent Mt sea in larg
vessel. gave him. the captain SAYS. tn
desire 10 cruise and roam into strange
wild, little known LAYS and rivers.
Captain Drake was born in 1863 q
Glavp,cnd England. on the Thamc,
from which harbur sailed the o!dtm
square riggCd ships Of the Hudson Ia,
Fur company. He built the Sir Fran
els because after score of years 4
sea be had gone ashore and had On
tered the lumber business but ha
later found the call OF the sea too str2n.
fn june Of 1916 he arrived at tn
! Panama Canal. He spent three month
/. in the Canal Zone end ON the mornin
T, Of The Fourth Of July reached tn
8 town Of FL Lano, which he awoke Wit
h four shots Of dynamite rs celebratio
cf the Fourth Of July. lie then sale
= down the river. the stars and strip,
j flying az the masthead.
> On August 81, 1916, he sailed f,
N famous old Porto Bello, where Admir-;
4 Francis Drake died and was buried
ii sea. This is the stronghold Of Pan
ma.
y Captain Drake docs not live up
Il The accepted definition Of a hermi
Il although he has Ecen called the herm
Q. Of the seas. He is genial, eourteo
in and kindly and welcomes all visitor
is lie is IN interesting tal6er upon i
4. experiences and sailing the seas Il
in no way lost its attraction for hin