Bitterman - Sailing to the Far Horizon: the Restless Journey and Tragic Sinking of a Tall Ship

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Sailing to the
Far Horizon

The Restless Journey and
Tragic Sinking of a Tall Ship

PAMELA SISMAN BITTERMAN

THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN PRESS / TERRACE BOOKS

Terrace Books

A trade imprint of the University of Wisconsin Press

1930 Monroe Street, 3rd Floor

Madison, Wisconsin 53711-2059

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Copyright 2004

The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any format or by any means, digital, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or conveyed via the Internet or a website without written permission of the University of Wisconsin Press, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles and reviews.

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Bitterman, Pamela Sisman.

Sailing to the far horizon: the restless journey and tragic sinking of a tall ship / Pamela Sisman Bitterman.

p. cm.

ISBN 0-299-20190-2 (cloth: alk. paper)

1. Sofia (Schooner) 2. Bitterman, Pamela SismanTravel. 3. ShipwrecksSouth Pacific Ocean. I. Title.

G530.S724B58 2004

910.4 1dc22

2004005376

ISBN 978-0-299-20194-4 (pbk.: alk. paper)

ISBN 978-0-299-20193-7 (e-book)

This book is dedicated to my father,
who has somehow always trusted that Id be all right

It is in memory of my mother,
who is holding my hand

And my brother,
a real hero

And the sea will grant each

man new hope

as the sleep brings dreams

of home.

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS

Make voyages. Attempt them. Theres nothing else.

TENNESSEE WILLIAMS

CONTENTS

Illustrations

PHOTOGRAPHS

The author at the helm of the Sofia

A view from aloft on Sofia

Esau caulking Sofias decks

Molas, the Cuna Indian artwork, spread across Sofias decks

A rare photograph of a Cuna Indian

The author as boatswain on Sofias deck

View aloft from the main deck of the Sofia

Crew and locals on board Sofia

The Varmit

Crew of Sofia in bilges drilling the keel bolts for the new keel Sofias Keel Project haul-out and crew

The Sofia under sail

Composite of Sofia survivors in New Zealand and aboard the Vasili Perov

Collage of newspaper accounts of the rescue

The author and a fellow crewmember leaving port aboard Sofia

MAPS

The Voyage of the Sofia

The Final Voyage of the Sofia

DIAGRAM

The Sofia

Acknowledgments

The events in this book occurred nearly twenty-five years ago. That I amnew-sectionsable to recount them in such vivid detail is due entirely to the faith thatnew-sectionsmy parents had that I would someday commit the adventure to print. Theynew-sectionspreserved my letters, journals, photographs, and newspaper and magazinenew-sectionsarticles. My mother even transcribed the most worn and weather-beatennew-sectionspages, word for word, in her own graceful script. If I had retained posses -new-sectionssion of my records of the journey, they would have gone down with thenew-sectionsship and been lost forever. My mom simply believed that my telling thisnew-sectionsstory was bashert, Yiddish for meant to be.

I gratefully acknowledge the following people for their support and inspiration; without them this manuscript might never have completed the long journey to publication:

Sheila McMahon, the editor who saw the book in my story

MaryLee Dungan and Susan Milne, my computer gurus

Steven Milne, for creating the map of the voyage

Tom Barnett, for chapter 5

Tobi Sisman, for watching over the home front

Denise LeVine, my first reader

Rigel and Hallie, the reason

Joey, for the next great adventure

Chronology

20 AUGUST 1978 The author joins the schooner Sofia in Boston, where the ship is preparing for her second circumnavigation.

25 OCTOBER 1978 The author sets out of Boston aboard the Sofia bound for Martinique in the West Indies.

NOVEMBER 1978 Sofia makes Hamilton Harbor, Bermuda, after running from Hurricane Kendra.

NOVEMBER 1978JUNE 1979 Sofia traverses the Caribbean, making port in Martinique, Dominica, Ille de Saints, St. Vincent, Bequia, and Barbados (where she hauls out) in the Windward Island Group of the West Indies before continuing on to the Isla de Margarita in the Lesser Antiles, Puerto La Cruz on the north coast of Venezuela in South America, Curaao, in the Netherland Antilles and on through the San Blas Islands in the Archipilago de las Mulatas.

JULY 1979 Sofia enters Panama in Central America at Cristbal on the Atlantic side of the Canal Zone. The author jumps ship to spend the next several weeks back in the United States.

september 1979 The author travels overland from Bakersfield, California, through Mexico and Central America, to meet the Sofia in Golfito, Costa Rica.

NOVEMBER 1979 Sofia sails up the coast of Costa Rica from Golfito to Puntarenas.

DECEMBER 1979JANUARY 1980 Sofia departs Puntarenas and enters the Canal Zone at Taboga, via the Bay of Panama.

JANUARY 1980 The Panamanian government charges Sofia and her crew with unauthorized entry and international trespassing. Later that month, Sofia hauls out in Vacamont, Panama.

FEBRUARY 1980DECEMBER 1980 Sofia crosses the South Pacific calling into the Archipilago de Coln (the Galapagos Islands), the Marquesan Islands, the Tuamotu Archipelago, the Societies Islands of French Polynesia, the Cooks, the Samoas (where she hauls out), and the Kingdom of Tonga.

DECEMBER 1980 The author jumps ship in the port of Russell in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand, and again returns to the United States.

JANUARY 1981 The author rejoins the Sofia in Nelson, New Zealand.

JANUARY 1981JANUARY 1982 Sofia rests in Nelson, New Zealand, where she undergoes two haul-outs, the construction of a false keel, a failed mutiny attempt, and a significant crew turnover.

FEBRUARY 1982 Sofia departs Nelson, sailing North About, laying over in New Plymouth en route to Auckland, New Zealand.

21 FEBRUARY 1982 Sofia departs New Plymouth, New Zealand.

23 FEBRUARY 1982 The schooner Sofia sinks off the North Cape of New Zealand.

28 FEBRUARY 1982 The survivors of the Sofia are rescued by the Vasili Perov.

AUGUST 1983 The U.S. Coast Guard Department of Transportation officially informs Evan of the charges being brought against him.

Sailing to the