"Just for the Hell of It" : 331 



itself. Fortunately, at this time he had all sail in and was riding to 

 a sea anchor. By the time the storm blew out he was conscious again 

 but with a feeling of a spUt head. But he got in his sea anchor and 

 set sail. 



He began to pick up ships and in recognition of his courageous 

 attempt they were glad enough to give him his position so that he 

 gave up his own navigating. But the passing vessels had their draw- 

 back too, for in 1876 many ships sailed without running lights, so 

 Johnson was forced to stay awake all the nights and to do his sleep- 

 ing in brief snatches during the daylight hours. Once, on the way 

 over, after speaking to the brig Maggie Gander, in the midst of a stiff 

 gale the dory capsized with him. After waiting in the water by the 

 side of the dory for twenty minutes, another huge sea permitted 

 him to right the dory. After some six hours of bailing he was able 

 to clear his little ship of water. Then he went through four days of 

 rain, followed by a fog, during which time he made very little prog- 

 ress. Much of his food had been rendered useless by the dip in the 

 sea. Still he held on. He finally made the Welsh port of Abercastle, 

 but he had decided that he would sail his dory into an English har- 

 bor and Abercastle did not seem to meet the specifications. 



So he pushed off again and made his way to Liverpool. This time 

 the news of his successful undertaking was spread abroad and a 

 whole steamer full of people had come out to meet him, but he 

 avoided the reception committee in the center of the town and went 

 up the Mersey to a little hotel dock. This was on the 21st of August. 

 He could have made money and publicity out of his enterprise. P. T. 

 Barnum wanted him to exhibit, and he himself had planned to have 

 his ship at the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia. But he was a 

 modest seaman and not a good businessman. He was too late for the 

 exposition, and he turned Barnum down and went back to live as 

 a fisherman in Gloucester. 



One of the most persistent of the small-boat sailors is W. A. 

 Andrews. His name first appears in 1888. In this year, in a small 

 boat, the Dar\ Secret, he sailed from Boston in an attempt to reach 

 Europe; but after sixty-eight days of adverse weather he had made 

 only 150 miles. He was then fortunate enough to be picked up by 

 a ship named the Nor and was returned to Boston. 



An ordinary man who had spent over two months at sea and, in 

 all that time, had averaged only a little over two miles of progress 

 per day might well be discouraged with small-boat sailing. Andrews 

 was no ordinary man, and his confidence in his seamanship was un- 



