Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
flying ace who turned to the sea for the thrills he now needed.
Another restless young man, who refitted an old square-rigger for
his venture explained that he and his companions 'looked upon our
voyage as a gesture of defiance in a gloomy world'.
2
The sense of adventure was strong among young men who had
survived the war or had stayed at home while friends and brothers
went to the front or had been too young to be sacrificed on the
altar of human folly. New Englander Bill Robinson named his 32-foot
ketch-rigged yacht
Svaap
, which is Sanscrit for 'Dream' before set-
ting out to escape from humdrum reality. His meandering around
the world certainly brought him life-enhancing experiences in
plenty. They included a passionate affair with a Norwegian girl in the
Galapagos, an extensive tour of the South Sea Islands, eating human
flesh at a cannibal banquet, being nearly swamped by a waterspout
and being abducted by Arab tribesmen on the Red Sea coast.
The advent of the popular press and the newsreel turned sev-
eral of these long-distance sailors into celebrities. Some, like French
military aviator Alain Gerbault, craved fame. After the war he did
everything he could to stay in the limelight. He became a national
tennis champion and also represented his country at the bridge
table. When those pastimes palled he deliberately took up yachting
as a means of staying in the headlines. His westabout meandering
from Cannes to Le Havre between 1923 and 1929 was an extended
publicity tour. He sent messages on ahead to ensure that cheering
crowds and reporters would be at every quayside to greet him. He
gave interviews, played demonstration tennis matches, delivered
after dinner speeches and produced a steady stream of articles and
books. Returning to a hero's welcome, he was decorated with the Leó-
gion d'honneur by a grateful nation for raising the profile of France
with such panache. Ordinary people increasingly looked for, and per-
haps needed, vicarious thrills and glamour, and circumnavigating
free spirits took their place among film stars, cricketers and baseball
