Deep Water Page #6

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Hee-hee!

He's given

this lunatic Crowhurst

a tape recorder, yeah.

And 74,000 miles

of tape.

What can he do?

He's got to deliver a load of gibberish

in order to fill up

the space, matey.

Do you see?

I think I'll just have

another little swig of this bottle here.

Ahh!

Swinton:

For Crowhurst, after four months,

the waiting was

coming to an end.

And like Moitessier,

the prospect of

his return was troubling him.

Within days, the route

of his fake voyage

would come past

his actual position.

He had to plan

how and where

to rejoin the race,

when to break radio silence.

Above all, he had to prepare

the written evidence

of a circumnavigation.

Kerr:

Once he'd arrived successfully,

the panel of judges would

want to see his logbooks.

They would want proof that he had

been round the world.

He would have

to fake his position

for every day he was supposed

to be in the southern ocean.

That was an amazingly

difficult thing to do.

Winspear:

That would create enormous pressure.

He might think, "Well,

I don't think I can go through with it."

By this stage, I think

Don genuinely felt

that winning the race

wasn't part of the plot.

Kerr:

All he wanted really

was to come in quietly

as the man who came forth.

Nobody wants to see

their logbooks...

not too much scrutiny.

The interest in them

wouldn't last long.

Winspear:
Don was very much at risk

in his game here.

But he just wanted

to go back.

He was coming home.

Hynds:
One morning, Rodney

calls into the office

and said,

"Ah, he's back!"

I said,

"Oh, who's back?"

And it was,

"Donald Crowhurst is back."

There's a phone call

from Portishead

saying Crowhurst is

back on the air.

Clare:
Rodney Hallworth phoned me

very early one morning.

He said, "My face is covered

in shaving cream,

but I've had a message

from Donald saying he's safe and well,

and on his way home."

Young Clare:
L... I don't know...

I just don't know what to do.

Quite frankly,

I'm absolutely stunned.

I thought that when I heard,

I would go absolutely crazy

and I would go off

buy lots of champagne

and, you know, do all sorts

of mad things.

But at the moment,

I think I just want to keep the news

a bit to myself

and sort of absorb it

before l... I completely

lose my head.

Clare:
The feeling that the whole

world was different...

didn't matter there

wasn't enough money for this or that.

Everything was different

all of a sudden.

Young Clare:
Then l... I picked up

the telephone to tell a friend

and suddenly I was

absolutely overwhelmed.

I couldn't... I couldn't talk

for a long time.

Simon:
It was as if a switch

had been thrown.

Suddenly this elation...

not only was

he alive and well,

but he was actually in...

still very much in the competition.

Hynds:

Our faith is deserved.

He's back with us.

Swinton:

Crowhurst turned for home,

slipping in behind

Nigel Tetley,

who'd passed just

100 miles to the east of him.

Everyone believe Moitessier

was ahead of them,

chasing Robin Knox-Johnston

to the finish...

until a message

arrived in Paris.

Swinton:

After seven months at sea

and barely six weeks

from home,

Moitessier abandoned the race

and turned south again.

He was sailing on

around the world

a second time.

Bernard:
I do not know how to explain

to Franoise and the children

my need to continue

towards the Pacific...

to be at peace.

I know I am right.

I feel it deeply.

I know exactly

where I am going.

How could they

understand that?

It is so simple.

But it can't be

explained in words.

The pictures of my children

blur before my eyes,

though God knows

I love them.

Man:

Morning of Tuesday, April 22nd.

Plymouth awaits the arrival

of Robin Knox-Johnston

aboard his 32'

ketch "Suhaili,"

now only a few miles

away from the finish

where he'll become

the first man

to sail around the world

on his own, nonstop,

a journey which has

lasted 312 days.

The crowds now pouring in

all around the Cornwall Coast;

Binoculars and telescopes

are out.

As his bows cross

the line,

a cannon should be fired,

and the voyage

will be over.

There he is.

Look at the smile.

He really is enjoying this.

This is tremendous.

And the cannon is gone,

and Robin Knox-Johnston

and "Suhaili"

have sailed nonstop

around the world.

Knox-Johnston:

It was all a bit of a dream.

You look at all

these people and say,

"I've done this, this thing that people

said you couldn't do.

I've done this now."

I don't have to

come yell, scream, shout about it.

It's inside.

Man:
Robin Knox-Johnston

came out onto the balcony

to acknowledge the cheer.

He's the first ever

to round the world alone nonstop.

He's averaged

92 miles a day

on this marathon voyage.

It's not enough to

win him the cash prize

for the fastest time,

because Nigel Tetley

and Donald Crowhurst

are still battling it out

in the Atlantic.

Swinton:

All eyes now turned to the contest

for the fastest voyage.

Either Nigel Tetley

or Donald Crowhurst

was about to become

the most famous man in Britain.

Winspear:

Right, the game playing is over,

We're back

to real life now.

How are we gonna

match the two?

Not a very easy

thing to do.

Whilst he was out on his own,

that's one thing.

But he has now got to

continue playing his character.

He's got

a role to play

and he mustn't drop

a line.

Donald:
"I think my effort will be

faster than Chichester's

and should be quite fast enough to give

me'The Sunday Times' race."

So I'm feeling

fairly bucked,

fairly chuffed

with myself.

Simon:

The whole plan, in reality,

depended on Tetley

coming in first

with the fastest

circumnavigation.

Then his notebooks would

be closely examined,

while Donald Crowhurst's

notebooks

wouldn't need to be closely examined

at all. He's just a runner-up.

Winspear:
He was going strong

and it was looking great.

Then we got the telegram

that there's no chance...

of catching Tetley.

We're thinking,

disappointment,

but not devastation.

As far as we're concerned,

our boy has done good.

He's gone through

some of the Ioneliest,

toughest seas

in the world.

Even the most skeptical folk

are saying,

"He has come in good

and fair play to it."

It was bloody marvelous.

And then suddenly,

out of the blue...

Tetley sunk.

Clare:

I heard Nigel Tetley had been rescued.

I heard that

before I heard

that his boat

had gone down.

Winspear:

That finished it, basically.

He was going to win.

Clare:

Donald was not a stupid man.

He knew what

it would mean.

He couldn't glide

into port and fade away.

He knew that everything

would be scrutinized.

Winspear:
There was going to be

a committee of reception.

What did you think about

when you went round the Horn?

Everything would

be verified.

Tell us about some of the problems

that you found on this voyage?

And Don knew very well

that it would end up

in total humiliation.

Could you do it again?

That's not an option

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