Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
When it came to it, the rounding of the awesome southern cape
passed off without serious incident. Indeed, the only remarkable
thing that happened underscored the way that deep sea adventure
had changed. While Chichester was enjoying his private view of the
Horn, standing out of the sea, as he later described it, like a black
ice cream cone, a light aircraft full of press photographers zoomed
down from the clouds and circled the boat before heading back to
land with a cheery waggle of its wings. It was a foretaste of things
to come. The closer he got to home the more intrusive became the
newshounds. Chichester was pestered by fatuous radioed questions,
such as, 'What did you eat for your first meal after rounding the
Horn?', and whenever he was near land boatloads of journalists and
sightseers came to gawp and prevent him getting on with the neces-
sary routines of running the boat.
Like many solo voyagers Chichester found it hard to make the
adjustment to being with other people after months of isolation. In
some ways the enthusiasm of the crowds was more difficult to deal
with than the savagery of the waves. But he had to live with it be-
cause, of course, he returned to be acclaimed as the greatest Eng-
lishman of the age. Thousands thronged Plymouth Hoe on 28 May
1967, as Gipsy Moth slipped back into the harbour nine months and
one day after her departure. More taxing celebrations were to come.
The boat made a triumphant progress along the coast to the Thames
estuary and thence to the Port of London, where she arrived to the
wail of ships' sirens and the plumes of water cannon. Chichester was
feƓted at the Mansion House and the pageantry of his investiture at
Greenwich was watched on television by almost as many people as
had witnessed the queen's coronation.
It had been a magnificent achievement but, as the international
yachting community fully realised, it pointed the way to something
even more spectacular. Chichester's voyage had been in two stages.
The ultimate challenge was a non-stop solo circumnavigation. The
 
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