INDOMITABLE NORSEMEN CROSSED OCEAN IN FRAIL 18-FOOT ROWBOAT

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 217, 2 December 1927, Page 10

INDOMITABLE NORSEMEN CROSSED OCEAN IN FRAIL 18-FOOT ROWBOAT

EFFORTS OF THREE DANES TO REACH BOMBAY IN SKIFF RECALLS EPIC OF NINETIES WHEN TWO INTREPID NORWEGIANS ROWED FROM NEW YORK TO FRANCE WITH NOTHING BUT FOUR OARS TO PROPEL THEIR TINY CRAFT

From the days of the Vikings the call of the sea lias been strong in the blood of the Nordic races. These days the thirst for conquest has swung to the airways of the world, but the old love of battle against salt spray and ! storm-tossed waters still lingers on. j ADVENTUROUS DANES This week’s cable news records the arrival of three Danes off the entrance to the Mediterranean in a small rowing skiff, in which they hope to reach Bombay. It recalls the famous adventure ot Frank Samuelson and George Ilarbo, two intrepid Norwegians who crossed the Atlantic in 1896 in an 18-foot rowboat after a bitter 60-day struggle with the elements. These old-timers had nothing to gain from their amazing feat. Modern publicity which brought Lindbergh a fortune for his transatlantic flight was unknown in those days and the two adventurers were as happy in the mere winning of their goal as if they had received a huge prize. They started out with the utmost confidence in themselves and in their boat, for the latter had been built under the personal supervision of Harbo, who knew to a splinter just what had to go into the construction of a seagoing vessel. Stout cedar planking was used and it was built as a double-ender. VENTURE DEEMED SUICIDE Allowance was made forward for a generous supply of water—6o gallons, for they calculated on taking 60 days in getting across and their log showed at the journey’s end that they had not missed their guess by many minutes. As the disposal of one gallon of liquid and several pounds of solid food relieved the little boat of its ballast at a fair rate, the resultant tendency was not that of increased steadiness. They were under no illusions as i to the task they were attempting. Beforehand they mapped out their schedule—lß hours out of the 24 each day were allotted to rowing, five were allowed for sleep, and one for meals. With but little variation the schedule was kept in the face of terrible hardship throughout the journey. KEEPING CLEAR OF SHIPS

Possibility of collision was a danger that had to be given much consideration, for while the ocean was not exactly cluttered up with shipping, one bump against any other vessel in a running sea •would have sufficed to send them down where the deep-water fish hang out. On the other hand, an avoidance of shipping meant a reduction in possibilities of assistance should the need arise for it. But after due consideration they concluded they had better keep out of the shipping lanes, so chose a route somewhat to the south of them, to such good effect they spoke but two vessels throughout the entire June 6, 1596, was the day selected for the start toward Havre, France, the port which they decided on as their goal. When they “set sail'’ from the Battery a great crowd had collected to witness the two .men embark on what was termed “the most astounding feat in the way of ocean navigation that had ever transpired.” Men and women pressed forward to bid them a safe, speedy journey. Old-time tars who had followed the sea so long a time they were as full of salt as the water they sailed over, did not view the rowboat with much favour. They had been on windjammers of more or less dubious seaworthiness, but whatever decks they

had trod thereon appeared staunch in ! comparison when they glimpsed the ! scant twelve inches of planking that ! showed above the waterline on the boat j then before their eyes. PERILS SOON APPEARED With the cheers of the spectators i ringing in their ears, I-larbo and Sam- ! uelson bent to their oars, the Fox j (which they had named the boat) slid slowly out to mid-stream, then turned its nose down the river in the direction of the open sea. What occurred after they got out of sight of land was. of course, known only to themselves, and it was not until their return that the story of the terrible struggles they encountered became known to their friends. As the days passed slowly by, the cramped quarters, the continuous plunging back and forth and the unvarying monotony of the surroundings made their self-imposed task anything but a joy-ride. KEEPING THE COURSE Ste.ering the right course also produced a great strain on both men, who had not alone to ply themselves to getting the boat forward, but frequently had to battle with all their combined strength to keep it headed for Havre and not for ’Frisco. At one stage they would feel themselves roasting under the sun’s rays, at another they were shivering with cold, especially at night. When the Fox got within the Gulf Stream influence it was decidedly “fair and warmer.” Later on sharks got on the trail of the boat and their presence acted as a reminder of what was likely to happen to the seaman that fell overboard. .However, nothing could shake the indomitable pluck of the men and they kept right on without relaxing the scheduled efforts they had set for themselves. They pulled and pulled and the sight of the shark fins did not make either of them lose a stroke in the rowing. But the sight of French soil, which hove in view on the morning of August 2, caused them to set to work at the oars with increased fervour, and it was not far into the afternoon when they stepped out on the dock at Havre much to the astonishment of natives, who could scarcely credit the fact when they learned the pair had made the trip overseas in that eighteen-footer. SIX OR EIGHT? THE OVER IN CRICKET AUCKLAND RETAINS EIGHT Although the New Zealand Cricket Council has decreed a return to the six-ball over, the Auckland Cricket Association has decided to carry on with eight balls to the over. It" is a somewhat anomalous position, but there appears to be wide support for the A.C.A.’s decision. Just what influenced the Dominion body of control in its decision is hard to say. The argument about the extra strain on the bowler is largely imaginary. It might be so in Australia, which has a hotter and more trying summer than we have here, but the Australians are still playing eight balls to the over, and apparently getting on very well with it.

The eight-ball over has worked very satisfactorily here, at any rate. It saves time, and gives the bowler a greater opportunity to exploit a systematic form of attack. No very sound reasons have been advanced for a. return to tlie old order of things, and in the circumstances the A.C.A. has every reason to decide to leave things as they