THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



FITTING OUT THE 



JL-Miotograph by Ralph Stock 

 f DRDAM SHIP'' FOR ITS TRIP HALF AROUND 

 THK WORLD 



This staunch little 23-ton vessel, 47 feet in length and with a beam 

 of 15 feet, was a Norwegian-built craft, designed as a lifeboat for 

 service with the North Sea fishing fleet. It was equipped with an 

 auxiliary engine, with which the skipper had trials which only he 

 can describe (see pages 14 and 15). 



money. I have never 

 had any money; but 

 that is a detail that 

 should never be al- 

 lowed to stand in the 

 way of a really desir- 

 able dream. It was 

 necessary to make 

 some. How ? B y 

 conducting- a stubborn 

 offensive on the Arm> 

 authorities for my 

 war gratuity ; by sit- 

 ting up to all hours 

 in a moth-eaten dress- 

 ing-gown and a mi- 

 croscopic flat writing 

 short stories ; by as- 

 siduously cultivating 

 maiden aunts ; by co- 

 ercion ; by — but I re- 

 fuse to say more. 



A SISTER OF THE 

 RIGHT VARIETY 



The Dream Ship 

 became mine. But 

 what of a crew? I 

 have a sister, and a 

 sister is an uncom- 

 monly handy thing to 

 have, provided she is 

 of the right variety. 

 Mine happens to be, 

 for she agreed to fore- 

 go all the delicacies 



found her — a Norwegian-built auxiliary 

 cutter of twenty-three tons register, de- 

 signed as a lifeboat for the North Sea 

 fishing fleet, forty-seven feet over all, 

 fifteen feet beam, eight feet draft. 



Such was my dream ship in cold print. 

 hi reality, and seen through her owner's 

 eyes, she. was, naturally, the most wonder- 

 ful thing that ever happened. A mother 

 on the subject of her child is almost de- 

 rogatory compared with an owner con- 

 cerning his ship, so the reader shall be 

 spared further details. 



Having found her, there was the little 

 matter of paying for her. I had no 



of the season and 

 float with me on a 

 piece of wood to the 

 South Sea Islands. 

 So also did a re- 

 cently demobilized officer, who, on hear- 

 ing that these same islands were not less 

 than three thousand miles from the near- 

 est early-morning parade, offered his 

 services with almost unbecoming alacrity. 

 Behold, then, the crew of the Dream 

 Ship — Peter, Steve, and myself — and try 

 not to laugh when I tell you that we 

 learnt what we could of navigation inside 

 of three weeks. On the first of July, 

 1919, we sailed from Devonshire, Eng- 

 land, with a combined capital of £100 

 and a "clearance" for Brisbane, Australia. 

 We sailed, and have been sailing ever 

 since, first across the dreaded Bay of 



