Shrimpy sails again !!

[chinita]

Here is another guy 'Just Doing It'

http://newslite.tv/2010/09/30/sailor-captain-calamity-crashe.html

Admirers, form an orderly queue,

 

[Signed Out]

So...

Is it OK to admire anyone? If so who?

Is it OK to do something individual? If so what?

Is it OK to not spend much money? (If so how?).

Is it OK to not have much money? Clearly not.

Is it OK to be yourself?

Is it OK to ask what is the point in the human race otherwise?

 

[chinita]

So...

Is it OK to admire anyone? If so who?

Is it OK to do something individual? If so what?

Is it OK to not spend much money? (If so how?).

Is it OK to not have much money? Clearly not.

Is it OK to be yourself?

Is it OK to ask what is the point in the human race otherwise?

Of course it is OK to do all of the above.

He did it, and got away with it. He survived and enjoyed a degree of admiration and some financial gain. Many have been inspired by his actions, some have also achieved but I suspect many have not.

However, let's not get too dewy eyed before someone comes along shortly calling him a 'Hero'.

 

[maby]

There's a real risk of oversimplifying these questions - and they can be very contentious as has recently been discussed in the current thread devoted to the Chandlers. I had the temerity there to suggest that they were foolhardy and irresponsible in their actions, and I was leapt upon by their many sympathisers and admirers.


As I pointed out there, there are double standards potentially at play in some people's attitude towards people that take risks, sometimes getting into trouble. If I had set off across the North Sea in the middle of winter in my little Caprice with a comparable level of experience to that which Shane Acton had when he set out on Shrimpy, and I had got into serious trouble, requiring the Lifeboat crew to come out in terrible weather, risking their own lives to rescue me, most people here would condemn me for irresponsibility - and rightly so. Shane Acton got away with it and many people look up to him for it. As an old Caprice owner, I have enormous respect for his achievement, but that doesn’t alter the fact that he really was not equipped or competent to complete the voyage, and he could easily have made others risk their lives to save him if he had not been so ridiculously lucky on many occasions.

 

[carl170]

He was a hippy who chose to express himself by taking to sea. Nothing wrong with that BUT, as a seafarer he does not rate, even by the standards of his own day.

May I suggest that his admirers take the time to read Roger Taylor's two books and compare the two individuals in terms of attitude and ability.

"as a seafarer he does not rate, even by the standards of his own day" - I don't follow this at all, what "standards" are you judging him by?

I have read Roger Taylors first book. Its a good read, but that is all. It didn't inspire me in the slightest. It just doesn't have the excitement of the unknown that Shane Acton seems able to convey in his writing.

I think that people love the fact that Shane Acton was a regular guy who decided to have an adventure, and ended up doing something most of us only dream of from the safety of dry land. Maybe, just maybe, we could all be like him if we had the mindset (instead of spending most of our time argiung on forums).

Taken from Wikipedia about Robin Knox-Johnston

"In 1965 he sailed his Colin Archer design sloop Suhaili from Bombay to England. Due to a lack of money he had to interrupt his voyage for work in South Africa and was only able to complete it in 1967"

Sounds exactly like Shane Acton if you ask me!

Regards

Carl

 

[Signed Out]

Sorry if my questions were over simplistic and badly worded, I was being a bit reactionary, but I stand by the intention of the post.

As for the endangering others issue; since entering this thread earlier today, I have opened the pdf and am getting into it nicely, and so far I don't see much likelihood of his causing others coming to his rescue- I see no sign of how he could call for it-

His radio is a little japanese tranny that is totally unreliable. And not a transmitter.
I don't beleive there were spot trackers and epirbs in 1973.
And so on... This is not just about the one man, but the idea and way. So far he refers to numerous folk "in the same boat" as such- Geoff Stewart in his Drascombe and the Graingers in Aegre. Then of course there is Moitessier, who turned down a radio offered by the Times(?), Heyerdahl, who did a fair few miles on a heap of shrubbery.

Dare I mention Hasler, Richey and the rest of the Jesterites?

Noone here yet has referred to Acton as a hero, though he mentions Moitessier as his (and I have done in the past, mainly for his big decision), and I am sure many have hailed Heyerdahl as such.

I am enjoying the book. He was not a great writer, but a great spirit (so far). But then I enjoyed Moitessiers The Long Way far more than Sir RKJ's or Sir FC's, and have no interest in reading modern racer's (probably ghost written production line) stuff.

Interesting to note his mood being dragged down (page 29) on leaving St Vincent, by "sunday sailors"/self-styled experts who'd never left the sight of land...

Too many people on this planet and most are drones. We don't all want to follow suit, even if that is only in our dreams.

 

[Robin]

There's a real risk of oversimplifying these questions - and they can be very contentious as has recently been discussed in the current thread devoted to the Chandlers. I had the temerity there to suggest that they were foolhardy and irresponsible in their actions, and I was leapt upon by their many sympathisers and admirers.


As I pointed out there, there are double standards potentially at play in some people's attitude towards people that take risks, sometimes getting into trouble. If I had set off across the North Sea in the middle of winter in my little Caprice with a comparable level of experience to that which Shane Acton had when he set out on Shrimpy, and I had got into serious trouble, requiring the Lifeboat crew to come out in terrible weather, risking their own lives to rescue me, most people here would condemn me for irresponsibility - and rightly so. Shane Acton got away with it and many people look up to him for it. As an old Caprice owner, I have enormous respect for his achievement, but that doesn’t alter the fact that he really was not equipped or competent to complete the voyage, and he could easily have made others risk their lives to save him if he had not been so ridiculously lucky on many occasions.

I owned a Debutante 21, same designer but bigger so very much appreciate what Shane Acton achieved in one 2ft shorter and actually in volume terms smaller even than that.

He obviously was competent enough to make his voyages as he did complete them. I fail to see how anyone would have been been made to risk their lives to rescue him either, exactly how would he have called for help?

BTW Chay Blythe set off and gave up (off Africa IIRC) in a bilge keeled Kingfisher 30, and he had little experience either. I guess they should both have been locked up until they had at least obtained their Day Skipper Certs.

 

[Even Chance]

Fergie, yer a star my good Sir. Many thanks......

 

[Blueboatman]

To me Shane Acton was and remains a seaman in the highest calibre.

He knew a thing or two about mental toughness and 'the right stuff', I reckon too.

But, as I say, this is IMO.

I have his second book onboard, it is a more mature work ( perhaps). There is candidness there, he was by then 'famous' for better or worse.

A shame that the only time I 'met' him was at the Earls Court boatshow, upon his successful return from rtw, he and his miss seemed inundated by the throngs and hoards tapping and peering at them and their wee boat. As I would be after only one hour!

 

[maby]

He obviously was competent enough to make his voyages as he did complete them....

No matter how incompetent you are, there's a finite chance you'll survive each crisis and, if you do, you'll learn in the process. By his own admission, Shane Acton knew very little about sailing when he left Cambridge. With a great deal of resourcefullness, he managed to survive long enough to actually learn how to do it. After eight years in that tiny boat on open ocean, I have no doubt that he had become a very competent sailor.

On the same subject, several years ago I was working with a woman who was a keen sailor but had never heard of Shane. I lent her a copy of the book and she came back to me a little later pointing to various pictures from the Pacific leg of his journey and telling me that she knew this place and that person. Quite independently she had followed almost exactly the same route across the Pacific a few yearss earlier - small world...

 

[fergie_mac66]

Fergie, yer a star my good Sir. Many thanks......

if you delete the shrimpy as in

http://members.multimania.co.uk/marybonney/PDFs/

there are one or 2 other books/pdf's

 

[Chrusty 1]

Dear Contessa man,

I will call you sceptical

SA achieved a massive amount in a boat few of us would take to sea in

all before GPs and done wityh a cheapo plastic sextant

he achieved more than most of us on these boards is ever likely to

no idea how you read between the lines and come up with the stoner accusation

he was certainly addicted to nicotine and was very happy when he found the cigarettes floating in the sea. It was tobacco that did for him in the end

how many of us have an alcohol or tobacco free yacht....not me for sure

by reading the book it seems to me that he worked his way around the world

he stayed in places and worked until he had enough money for the next leg

he wrote two books at 100,000 words each

most hacks I know are happy if they write 1,000 decent words in a day

that is 100 days work for no guarantee of a return

I know as a sailor of of a small boat that there are some owners, not many fortunately, of much nicer more expensive and classic yachts such as (fill in your own blanks) who look down on small boat sailors as impecunious losers

so I do call you sceptical and horribly dismissive of one of the UKs great sailing adventurers

all done without sponsorship

He was an inspiration to me and made me realise that I do not need a £20,000 yacht and fifteen RYA qualifications before taking a boat out on the water

Dylan

Sometimes Dylan, the things that you write in these forums get right on my tits..............

But not this time dear boy! Well said you

 

[Coaster]

I've read Shane Acton's (first) book several times, over the years, having bought a second hand paperback copy about twenty years ago. It's a jolly good story and I'll probably read it again sometime during the next ten years.

I'm fascinated by all this judging of the late Mr Acton's character. It had not occurred to me to judge him in any way. Several thoughts arose when reading the book, such as he seemed a bit (actually a lot) underprepared when setting off but that's all part of the story.

Is it a character flaw that I don't automatically judge everyone that I meet or read about?

 

[Chrusty 1]

I think being judgemental about the likes of Shane Acton just helps some people cope with their own shortcomings, but am I being too judgemental?

Acshully, I couldn't care less, blokes like Shane Acton are few and far between in this risk adverse society we seem to find ourselves in, somebody quoted something along the lines of "those that can do, and those that can't criticise those that can". That about sums it up for me.

 

[LittleSister]

I'm not sure that Shane Acton could be decribed as 'unprepared'. His kit was limited, but he was an extraordinarily resourceful, very tough, very bright, and self-aware man. He was bright enough to be able to judge what he could manage without, and what he needed. He was actually pretty safety conscious, as far as I can see (e.g. tied to the boat at all times at sea).

But even if I'm mistaken about that, and he was, as some here have claimed, unprepared, a bit of a sponger, and a complete stoner, I'm glad that he did what he did, and I got to read about it. Thank goodness there are people like him - who do something a bit different with their life, and don't let themselves be constrained by the normal limits. People like me, and dare I say, a society like ours, needs a few 'outliers' to make us feel that we are not as constrained and as predictable as we are, and that maybe one day we'll do something different.

 

[Coaster]

I'm not sure that Shane Acton could be decribed as 'unprepared'. His kit was limited, but he was an extraordinarily resourceful...

I entirely agree about his resourcefulness.

However, to quote from his first book, describing his departure from Kings Lynn:

"It took me quite a while to figure out where all the wires and ropes went, for never before had I set foot on a yacht (let alone sailed one). Eventually, everything seemed to be in its right place and I was ready to attempt my first sail."

To be fair, he then spends some time getting to know Shrimpy and overwinters in Falmouth before properly setting off on his circumnavigation.

 

[electrosys]

I have read Roger Taylors first book. Its a good read, but that is all. It didn't inspire me in the slightest. It just doesn't have the excitement of the unknown that Shane Acton seems able to convey in his writing.

I think that people love the fact that Shane Acton was a regular guy who decided to have an adventure, and ended up doing something most of us only dream of from the safety of dry land.

I think here you've spotted the 'essential ingredient' of inspirational writing - it needs to contain identification: the quality of "if he/she could do this, then so could I".
Three pieces of writing come to mind: The £200 Millionaire; Annie Hill's Voyaging on a Small Income; and of course Shrimpy. These three are all based on the same format: an ordinary someone with limited sailing experience achieves an extra-ordinary outcome. I bet if Pete Hill had written VOASI, the book wouldn't have attracted the same cult following which it has.

The voyages of Taylor, Knox-Johnson, Chichester, Slocum and the rest are all interesting enough - and are all stimulating in their own way, as well as being educational, but none of them contain that inspirationally seductive "hey - I could do that" element.
And that's why a couple of blokes rowing unaided across the Atlantic - as brave and impressive as that kind of feat may be - doesn't touch me in the slightest ... same with blokes climbing Everest ... kind of 'nothing to do with me' sort of response.

 

[GART]

Hi Gelmaster
This thread goes on for 6 pages, but, has anybody given you what you asked for in the first place?
I have read Shrimpy Sails Again I borrowed it from the library, my local one did not have it, but they got it in from another library for me.
PM me if you are still looking for a copy, I will see if I can help I do not have a PDF, but I did scan the book prior to returning it, but it is rather a large file, and I have not checked it as it was only for my personal use if I wanted to re read it.

 

[carl170]

I think here you've spotted the 'essential ingredient' of inspirational writing - it needs to contain identification: the quality of "if he/she could do this, then so could I".
Three pieces of writing come to mind: The £200 Millionaire; Annie Hill's Voyaging on a Small Income; and of course Shrimpy. These three are all based on the same format: an ordinary someone with limited sailing experience achieves an extra-ordinary outcome. I bet if Pete Hill had written VOASI, the book wouldn't have attracted the same cult following which it has.

The voyages of Taylor, Knox-Johnson, Chichester, Slocum and the rest are all interesting enough - and are all stimulating in their own way, as well as being educational, but none of them contain that inspirationally seductive "hey - I could do that" element.
And that's why a couple of blokes rowing unaided across the Atlantic - as brave and impressive as that kind of feat may be - doesn't touch me in the slightest ... same with blokes climbing Everest ... kind of 'nothing to do with me' sort of response.

Electrosys - I had never heard of "The £200 Millionaire" and have just finished reading it - Thanks for that. The same type of feeling as when I read any of the Acton books!. You just totally think "He is just like me - Ordinary!", and as you say - "I could do that!"

Here is the link I found :

http://www.bluemoment.com/200pm.html

I also have VOASI somewhere and will hunt it out tonight.

Its nice to see there are a lot of us who have these secret desires!

Regards

Carl

 

[carl170]

Hi Gelmaster
This thread goes on for 6 pages, but, has anybody given you what you asked for in the first place?
I have read Shrimpy Sails Again I borrowed it from the library, my local one did not have it, but they got it in from another library for me.
PM me if you are still looking for a copy, I will see if I can help I do not have a PDF, but I did scan the book prior to returning it, but it is rather a large file, and I have not checked it as it was only for my personal use if I wanted to re read it.

Someone in a previous post had mentioned the estate of Shane Acton was still active.

Is the 2nd book not still under some sort of copyright?

Also, you will devalue the paper copies out there. I think I paid about £35 for mine!

Regards

Carl