The Incredible Voyage - book

The Incredible Voyage, Tristan Jones (Sailors Bookshelf Publishing, 1977).

A few days ago I had to visit our local Court House. As I was leaving a man I know (although not very well) approached me from behind and handed me a small piece of paper upon which was written, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, Ambrose Bierce.” He said it was one of his favorite short stories. I was so lost in thought and surprised and taken aback I did not immediately recognize him. He must have thought I was either rude or perhaps a bit “dotty.” I had never read this story although it has been widely anthologized, provided the basis for several movies, and was called by Kurt Vonnegut one of the greatest works of American literature (who added that anyone who had not read it was a “twerp”). I have been a fan of Ambrose Bierce for a long time, but I knew of him only through various quotations and, more importantly, his famous “Devil’s Dictionary.” Strangely, I guess, I had never thought of him as a writer of short stories. I mention this because it has reminded me of just how vast our literature is, and how impossible it is to read it all. It also applies to The Incredible Voyage, which, having been published in 1977, is a book I somehow missed all these years, even though it is precisely the kind of book I am often most interested in reading. I think it is fair to say that although I have been an avid reader all my life, even a binge reader at times, and reading has been one of the unremitting pleasures of my life, I cannot even hope to read all the books I would like to read.

The Incredible Voyage is an incredible book by an incredible man about an incredible tale about an incredible sailing adventure with an incredible goal. Tristan Jones set out to accomplish what he calls a “vertical voyage.” That is, he wanted to sail both the Dead Sea, the lowest body of water, and Lake Titicaca, the highest body of water (that could be sailed). This turned out to be a six year journey of unbelievable hardships, sailing thousands of miles in two small yachts, a failed attempt to reach Peru from the Atlantic, via the Amazon River, a subsequent trip through the Panama Canal, a voyage all the way around the African Continent, most of the way around South America, three crossings of the Atlantic, and even transporting the smallest of the two yachts by land clear across South America.

The voyage began in a 38 foot yawl, Barbara, that belonged to a wealthy friend who wanted Jones to sail it to the Mediterranean for him, with the understanding that he would join him from time to time as he sailed from one place to another to eventually reach the Dead Sea and then Peru. This was his sixteenth crossing of the Atlantic. As the Barbara had no dependable self-steering gear he had to take on a crew, but he has at times sailed an estimated 180,000 miles solo. At later stages of his adventure he took on a crew member as required. When Barbara eventually proved to be too large to navigate the Amazon and be shipped overland to Lake Titicaca, he returned it to the owner and bought a smaller 20 footer, the Sea Dart that allowed him to complete his journey and eventually return to England.

Tristan Jones , a Welchman, claims to have been born at sea on his father’s ship offshore the island of Tristan Da Cunha, but according to Wikipedia was actually born in Liverpool as Archie Jones, the illegitimate son of a working-class woman. In any case, with little formal education he went to sea at thirteen, joined the Royal Navy when World War II began, was sunk a number of times, suffered a severe spinal injury that brought him a discharge. Since then he has apparently sailed somewhere in the vicinity of 400,000 miles. His left leg was amputated in 1982 but he still sails, teaching handicapped children the arts of sailing.

At some point in the 1970’s he decided to become a writer and has written a number of books, and many, many articles. He seems to have had a natural gift for writing, as for sailing, and has managed to sail the world unsponsored for most of his life. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Explorer’s Club, the Slocum Society, and other sailing organizations. He also holds the First Award for Literature in Wales.

It is said that most of his writing is a blend of fact and fiction, with a bit of sailor’s exaggeration added in the best tradition of Welsh storytelling. In The Incredible Journey he recounts stories of rather extreme moments of hunger, being jailed, having to deal with crocodiles and piranhas, as well as occasional hostile natives. You wonder how much of this might be exaggerated but there is no way of knowing for certain. There is no doubt that he did accomplish what he set out to do, as there are photographs, and he kept careful logs of ports of call and repairs to his yachts and so on. If there is a bit of exaggeration I’m sure it merely adds a bit to the tale in general. If you were an incurable romantic as I was as a youth, and dreamed of sailing around the world, reading this book will probably make you thankful that you did not actually attempt it. On the other hand, perhaps you will be envious of the grand adventures you missed.