Evening star., 1953-08-11
Colonel Tests Sea Legs Sailing
Cutter7, 900 Miles From Italy

Reliable. yacht moored at Buz-
yards Point; Mrs. Clarlce In
ness, vino used to work for the
Chinese Embassy here: her son
Robert, Is, and three or four
others whose names the colonel
can't recall.
Later, with service on the con-
tinent over. Col. Henry received
orders to return to Washington
to become deputy commander of
the Civil Air Patrol, with head
quarters at Boiling Air Force
Base here.
Part of Crew From u. S.
Mr.. Titus and his wife, who
had left Europe, flew back again,
just to join the crew for the
westward voyage. John c. Holt
of New York. already on the
continent. also joined up. The
cutter stocked up with fuel and
provisions at Via Reggia. Italy,
and there shipped on board an
Italian seaman, deep-tanned
Giovanni Del Pistoia. Among
the line they also acquired a
mascot, a cat called Tiger, who
was seasick all the way to the
United States.
The route home followed that
Of Christopher Columbus: From
Via Reggia to Naples for refuel-
ing. Then on to Gibraltar and
Las Palmas, in the Canary Is
lands. From there to the Cape
Verde Islands and the long sail
to Antigua. in the British West
Indies. Next stop was San Juan,
Puerto Rico, and then to More
head City, N. c., Norfolk and
Washington.
The duties on the cutter were
doled out with care. Everybody
stood the traditional watch.
Col. Henry was master, owner
and engineer. Able seamen were
Giovanni, young Robert, Mr..
Holt and Mrs. Inness. The
bearded Mr.. Titus was naviga-
tor, and Mrs. Titus. rightly
"the mate to the navigator" All
were cooks at one time or an
other.
Anchor Cable Snaps.
The return journey was not
without it's incidents.
At Cape Verde, unusual wind
gusts and currents snapped
20-foot anchor cable which was
3s of an inch thick. There was
considerable danger of the chain
fouling the propellers of the two
200-horsepower Diesel engines.
But native boys dived for the
chain and retrieved it. 1t cost
Col, Henry hashlight and three
cartons of cigarettes for this
service.
At San Juan, Mrs. Titus was
leaning over the rail watching
the scenery. An expensive watch
fell from her pocket into the sea.
This time a Navy diver recovered
it.
At Gibraltar unusually strong
currents again wreaked their
havoc. A piece Of wood a mere
half-inch thick rammed right
through the 11a inch thick
wooden hull of Windsom and re-
pairs were necessary.
In the Canaries, the ship was
mistaken for a smuggling craft
because smugglers used similar
vessels. A functionary ap-
preached in a small boat and So
licitiously inquired of Col. Henry:
What have you to sell?"
Weathers Storm.
One of the biggest thrills, how
ever, came with sudden fury
about 2 am, the last night out,
when the vessel was within SO
miles of the North Carolina
coast. A heavy thunderstorm
struck and it took the seaman
ship of all to bring Windsom
through
The trip over and back was of
interest to the Pentagon. When
it started, the Air Force, with
little or no precedent. had a bad
week with Col. Henry's interpre--
tation of the transportation
clause. It took the military that
long to figure out how to cut
orders for travel by private
water carrier"
"Since then" said Col. Henry,
"a lot of officers have wanted to
do it. But I don't thing the Pen
tagon is going for the idea"