Deep Water Page #3

---

saying, "It isn't ready.

The boat isn't ready."

And as we walked back

we met Stanley Best,

the sponsor,

and Rodney Hallworth

who stood to make a lot of money

if he succeeded

and nothing

if he failed.

So when he told them

he couldn't go,

the boat wasn't ready,

they said, "Donald, tomorrow

it's October the 31st,

the very last day to go.

You have to go."

What do you think of

the weather tomorrow?

I don't know.

I would think at this time of year

the southwestern winds...

Yes very nice.

Kerr:

It was unstoppable.

There was so much

at stake.

How could he say,

"I can't go"?

At the least, he faced ridicule

and embarrassment.

What would he be,

in his own eyes,

if he didn't go?

Radio announcer:
Now we turn

to Teignmouth in South Devon,

on the last day in which

Donald Crowhurst could start

on his round-the-world

voyage.

The rules of "The Sunday Times" race

said that all competitors

must have started

by the end of October.

And at 3:
00 this afternoon,

after innumerable delays,

start Mr. Crowhurst did.

How many

can you manage?

- What about?

- Donald:
The kids? Yeah, all right.

We're terribly short of time.

The pilot is waiting.

I'm awfully sorry.

Simon:

I remember going on a small rowboat

with my brothers

and my sister,

and my father

kissing us goodbye.

It wasn't

a feeling of sadness

so much as excitement.

But I suppose there was a feeling also

in the back of my mind,

"Well, you don't quite know

what's going to happen next."

Clare:
The children were oblivious

to the danger,

without any doubt.

And it's just as well,

really.

Man:

Well, she's left Teignmouth at last.

The 41-foot trimaran,

"Teignmouth Electron,"

at the helm...

Donald Crowhurst,

this 36-year-old

engineer

who even at

this last stage

hasn't given up the idea of recording

the fastest time.

Yes, he's got this yellow

one-piece suit on,

and still his tie.

And out here too is his wife Clare

and four young children.

They're all very small,

chanting,

"Bye-bye, Daddy."

Oh, something's

gone wrong out there.

He's taking a tour again.

Something I think has

gone wrong with the sail.

She's being towed back.

Oh, this is a tragedy.

Clare:
The buoyancy bag at the top

of the mast was fouled.

The sails wouldn't go up.

Yeah...

Man #2:

Well it was a delay of only two hours.

By 5:
00, Mr. Crowhurst's trimaran was

being towed out a mile from the shore,

and a cannon shot marked the official

start of his race around the world.

Clare:

All I could see was this tiny figure

on what seemed to be

a minute boat,

disappearing

over the horizon.

Knox-Johnston:

Nowadays with GPS

you can pinpoint your position

to within a few feet

on any portion

of the globe.

In the'60s, that just

wasn't the case.

Don Crowhurst sailed

over the horizon

and effectively

into oblivion.

Knox-Johnston:

I don't think people understand

what it was like

in those days...

pre-special foods,

pre-weather forecasts,

pre-satellites.

Bernard:
You can't imagine

how intensely I was living,

how good it is to

be on your own.

You climb up

and you look back at your boat.

There is the sea, the wind,

the sound of the water...

above all, the beauty of the boat

surging forward.

On your own you can discover

who you really are.

Swinton:

Bernard Moitessier had now been at sea

for two months.

He was sailing faster

than any of his rivals,

averaging speeds

of 120 miles a day,

and closing rapidly on the race leader...

Robin Knox-Johnston.

Behind them, at the back

of the field of seven men,

was Donald Crowhurst.

The voyage he'd staked

his future on

was finally underway.

Donald:
I've been at sea now

very nearly 14 days.

And I'm on my way

to a rendezvous

with Cape Horn.

That explains

why I'm here,

in the North Atlantic

in the middle of November

making tape recordings

in a small boat.

Kerr:

I wanted film of him at sea

and I wanted

his thoughts,

so I got him

a 16mm camera

and a tape recorder.

Like in Teignmouth,

when the camera was on,

he was the bold,

outgoing confident figure.

He was playing

the character

of the long-distance

sailor.

Donald:

The thing about single-handing is,

it puts a great deal

of pressure on the man.

It explores

his weaknesses

with a penetration

that very few other

occupations can manage.

Winspear:

Don was always totally positive

and confident...

on the surface.

But the log revealed

a totally different story.

Donald:

"November 5th, Tuesday:

Rachael's birthday.

Happy birthday, Rachael.

Hell of a morning

for me, though.

I was feeling pleased

with myself

when I noticed bubbles were blowing

out of the port forward hatch.

All the evidence was

that the compartment was full of water.

November 7th,

Thursday:

Saw that more screws had fallen out

of the self-steering gear.

That's four gone now.

The cockpit hatch

has been leaking,

and it's flooded the engine

compartment and electrics.

This bloody boat is

just falling to pieces."

Kerr:
There were a lot of hatches

on these outer hulls,

and they were

all leaking.

While he was in

these calm waters,

he could walk out

to them and bail them out with a bucket.

But once he got

into the southern ocean

the boat would be

swept by waves.

There was no way

he could empty them.

The hulls would fill

and he would drown.

Donald:

"November 15th:

Racked by

the growing awareness

that I must soon decide

whether or not I can go on

in the face

of the actual situation."

Winspear:

I think doubt started to set in...

When reality started

to set in.

And that reality wasn't quite

as perfect as the idea.

This is why

ideas are dangerous.

Donald:
"As the boat stands:

In its present condition

my chances

of survival would not,

I think,

be better than 50-50."

Winspear:
He knew the risk of going

to the southern ocean

was very very

high indeed.

Swinton:
Crowhurst was now heading

into that ocean

in a leaking boat

he had to bail by hand.

And confirmation of just how dangerous

those seas could be

came later

that November.

Knox-Johnston:

I'd heard about Ridgway and Blyth.

Next news I got

was off New Zealand.

And I learned about

King and Fougeron.

Kerr:

Bill King got turned over by a big wave

off South Africa

and lost his mast.

There was the Italian.

The stress made him

so ill,

he had a stomach ulcer.

There was another

French sailor.

He had 27 days

of the most appalling weather,

and he packed it in.

Hynds:

It came down to the last four:

Tetley, Knox-Johnston,

Moitessier

and Don Crowhurst.

Only four.

Swinton:

The odds were shortening on Crowhurst

all the time.

But his progress

was painfully slow.

His only communication with land

was through occasional

telephone calls

patched by radio operators

and through

Morse code cables,

and the cables

catalogued the problems.

Crowhurst was averaging

barely 60 miles a day,

half of the speed

of Moitessier,

in a boat that would not

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes