Wednesday, August 19, 2020

LOST

It's the New York Times so they never just come out and say it but here's a little clue. If you sail beyond the friendly horizon and go out into the deep water without any navigation tools, you are lost. Why they choose to perpetuate the myth that this guy had ducklike position location spells is beyond me. One of the last wonders of the world is that if one sails east to west or west to east, eventually one will find oneself on some continent or other. All one must do is endeavor to persevere.
In 1943, he earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the New Jersey State Teachers College at Glassboro, as Glassboro State was then known. After working as a schoolteacher and principal in Alloway Township, N.J., he earned a master’s in educational administration from the University of Pennsylvania.
Well, perhaps that says it all. Did he set out for a 3 hour sail or was it by design that he got lost for 513 days?

9 comments:

Anne Bonney said...

What an amazing story. I think maybe this says it all . . . “It is almost an obligation to know the planet one lives on. How awful to die and never know what’s over the hill.” - Marvin Creamer.

Brian said...

Says he had a small crew, then goes on to say only 2 people believed he would be back. Does that mean his crew was made up of suicidal people?

Larry said...

I don't know. I define "lost" as not having any clue where you are. He couldn't have known exactly where he was, but I doubt he was any more "lost" than Vikings or Polynesians. I don't think not knowing exactly where you are is 100% "lost". There are degrees of "lost", it's not really black or white, IMHO. Some people's dead reckoning is better than most others. Obviously, luck was involved, though.

capt fast said...

speaking of getting lost, has anyone noticed that the chicoms just started launching their own gps network for when the american systems go down? in as much as most PGWs are gps guided today, is it possible some polity out there has certain plans to take the existing gps constellations-including the russian network-down when the time comes? asking for a friend...

HMS Defiant said...

A greater truth revealed by one at who went sailing. When I was young I would be in the company of people my age who had never seen the sea or been to the other side of the mountain. I peered behind all the mountains and if some were curious I would mention that yeah, I did a bit more than look.

HMS Defiant said...

Even the worst of us is sometimes optimistic. We have the courage of our skills and figure even if it all goes to hell we'll make it out ok.

HMS Defiant said...

I did what he did but in the time of war. I spent Desert Storm sailing from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas on a 40 foot wooden boat with no charts, lights, nav gear beyond a log and lost doesn't begin to describe it to a guy who used to have ISS, HYPERFIX, LORAN C, GPS, SATNAV, etc. By my hand we tried to keep about 200 miles between us and the Baja coast and we'd ask the occasional ship for their whiskey because I got used to doing that in the Gulf. The funny thing was that the merchant ships knew what I was asking and gave me a lat/long without hesitation.

HMS Defiant said...

There's a dozen different GPS constellations up there. Us, the Russians and others have 'pioneered' the field and it is well stocked. OTGH, i find myself too often behind the kind of dweeb that waits until the last moment to start rummaging in their giant bag to find their money or credit card. I really don't like them a lot.

Larry said...

:-D