Sailor's Route To The Lizard

As many a tourist will testify, an ocean voyage is a pleasant and relaxing way to get to England. But when Skipper Richard Nye sailed his 53-foot yawl Carina across an angry Atlantic it was anything but relaxing. The crew came aboard at Newport, R.I. expecting a leisurely passage, only to find Nye in a hurry to get to England for the traditional summer sail race from Cowes to Fastnet Rock and back to Plymouth. With the determination of a Captain Bligh he mapped a northerly course past Newfoundland, which was having its worst year for ice since 1937. This disturbed Nye not a bit—he had always wanted to see an iceberg firsthand.

On the run to St. John's harbor, Newfoundland, Nye saw his first iceberg, and many more that swirled out of the mist. Once at St. John's, reports came in of a tropical storm working its way up the coast. Rather than wait it out, Nye headed Carina back into the mist for England. After four days the fog lifted and the barometer dropped. Nye stuck to his course, and Carina rolled, heaved and slammed her way through shouldering seas. At sunset on the 11th day, with dolphins to greet them, they sighted The Lizard, rocky outpost of England. With an average daily distance of about 182 miles, it was a record crossing for a boat Carina's size.