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N E w S

S E P I E M B E R

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THE NORTHERN LYNX ilL

THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE ADVENTURERS' CLUB OF LOS ANGELES

EDITORIAL

THE ADVENTURERS' CLUB NEWS is the "Official Voice" of the Adven-turers' Club of Los Angeles. To serve as editor of this publication is a great honor for any man who may hold that position. At the same time the position carries with it an awesome responsibility. To keep you informed as to the guidelines under which the editor works, I print below a portion of the Club By-Laws which sets forth policy for the editor and the publication. (Portions of Article IX, Sec-tion 1):

(d) The editor shall be appointed by the President and confirmed by the Board of Directors at its first meeting during the year. He shall serve without salary.

(e) Full responsibility for the content of each issue shall rest with the editor whose selection of manuscripts and other reportorial material shall be at his dis-cretion. (NOTE: The editor shall continually be guided in his selection of manuscripts by the Objectives, Policies and Traditions of the Club. Nothing may be printed that would reflect unfavorably upon the club or an individual member without prior approval of the Board of Directors.)

(g) The editor may be removed from office, or the publication suspended for good cause, at any time by the Board of Directors.

(i) The editor shall confer with the Public Relations Committee whenever questions arise concerning content of material to be published. The chairman of the Public Relations Committee shall report to the Board of Directors where, in his judgement, a difference of opinion may arise concerning the content of material to be published.

As editor, I continually seek manuscripts relating the adventures of any mem-ber of the club. From those submitted in the past four years, I have selected the best and have published them for your information and enjoyment. The reporting of the weekly club meetings, done by a number of fine member-volunteers, are carried in their entirety as submitted, not so much as literary gems but as a recor-ding of history. Through this method, we will be able to look back, in the years to come, and refresh our memory as to the events of the present time.

Constructive criticism of the layout or content of the publication should be submitted to the Board of Directors through the chairman of the Public Relations Committee. Compliments will be accepted with humble thanks without further Board action. R. C. W.

Aavo-nture0 4": ttub ̀ 0 ow's PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE ADVENTURERS' CLUB, LOS ANGELES

706 WEST PICO BOULEVARD, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90017

I Volume 24:9 September 1981 Founded 1921 I

"It was then that I saw the most phenomenal sight. I had read of old square-rigged vessels getting caught in whirlpools at sea and nearly going "down the drain." Here was a huge whirlpool about one-and-a-half miles off the atoll being created by the awesome outflow of that huge lagoon. The offshore current setting westward coming laterally at 1'/2 knots was joining the mighty channel flow and was creating this ominous sucking whirlpool about 300 yards wide. It was absolutely unreal to listen to and watch."

DOWN THE DRAIN by AL A. ADAMS

There is an island very few people will ever sail to. Very few have sailed to it and a big majority may not be interested to sail to it at all. But to me, it was worth the effort, for it is unique and different and in some respects weird.

The little island is a tiny coral atoll, of triangular shape, approximately 9 miles in length with a barrier reef which encloses a large lagoon studded with coral heads, crossed by numerous reefs.

The water of the lagoon is not deep enough for boats other than those of shallow draft (1 to 1½ feet) and even then they would move with great difficulty due to the reefs and coral heads and one must be cautious of sharks. The land is but a narrow fringe varying in width from 100 yards to 500 yards and rises, not very fast, to 20 feet above sea level. The reef

outside the narrow strips of land extends out to seaward only 400 yards at the greatest width. The little atoll is very steep-to, for off the narrow reef the sea depth drops sharply to more than 1800 feet. It is a dramatic sight to watch the sea's slamming surf break heavily on the weather side and on the three points of the triangular shaped atoll.

Westerly winds are unknown to have blown over the tiny island and there is no fresh water source on the atoll. I found evidence of an old well on its northeast rim, which years ago some poor soul tried to bring in the chance for life. The island is practically bare of vegetation with only very sparse bunch grass and kou bushes. Due to the warm air rising from the lagoon's warm water, rain rarely falls on the island. Off the island there are frequent rain squalls and east to east-northeast winds prevail even though the island lies 2050' below the equator or nearly 180 miles south. The island

(Continued on page 3)

ADVENTURERS' CLUB NEWS

THE ADVENTURERS' CLUB NEWS USE'S (389-310)

Published monthly

Editor .........Bob Williams

Reporters - Bill Buchanan, Smo key Storms John Boden, and others.

SUBSCRIPTION PRICE. . . $1.00 per year

Entered as second class postage at the Post office at Los Angeles, California.

CLUB MEETS AT

ADVENTURERS' CLUB ROOM

706 West Pico Boulevard

Los Angeles, CA 90015

Phone 749-3537 (Thursday nights only)

1981 OFFICERS

President ......George Manchester

1st Vice President $6 L± Dick Kyle

2nd Vice President . Owen O'Callaghan

Secretary ........Roy Roberts

Treasurer

........Charles Ross

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

John F. Cameron Marvin Rosenberg

Donald G. Orosz Peter C. Parfitt

William L. Carr "Smokey" C. Storms

Dwayne L. Merry

EXOTIC FOODS HORS D'OEUVERES TABLE

Venison (Special Recipe) furnished by Gerry Evans

Peruvian Abalones - furnished by Herman Jesson

Loganberries from Sweden furnished by Ray Frederickson

Cerviche - furnished by Bill Roberts

IN THE LIBRARY with JOHN BODEN

WAY OF THE LANCER by Richard BoleslaVSki.

Don't let that mild title turn you off. Any-one with adventure in his blood should find thrills aplenty. The author was an officer in a regiment of Polish Lancers under the Czar in World War I. His account covers the last part of serious fighting by the Russian Army and the chaotic period of the regiment's adventures during the Bolshevik takeover. The narrative is reminiscent of tales told by Greg Ptitsin, No. 314, of his wanderings in holding his cavalry unit together during the same perilous period. Not only is it a highly entertaining story but it fixes in the reader's mind a moving history, the disintegration of the Russian Imperial Army and the breakdown of a colorful civilization. There is a timely note in reading it now for it gives an insight into Polish character and national aspirations now so much in the news.

LOWCLL r3OmAs

HAMM! RSLY HILl.

PAWLIM. NEW VORY. I6

July 29, 1981

Dear Bob Silver:

Many many thanks.

I hope I can be there.

(See Bob Silver if YOU wish to participate)

THIRD ANNUAL NIGHT OF HIGH ADVENTURE, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1981

September 1981

Page 3

"DOWN THE DRAIN" (From page 1)

lies 1800 miles southwest of the Hawaiian group and is approximately half-way between the Aleutians and Antarctica and half-way between the Philippines and Ecuador, South

America. American whaling ships may have been to

the island first, probably before 1820. It has had several names through the years being called Mary, Swallow and Mary Balcourt. Com-mander R. W. Meade of the USS NARAGAN-SET!' surveyed the island and named it after the New Bedford whaleship CANTON which was wrecked on the island in 1854.

Probably from the CANTON wreck rats were brought to the island. They are now plentiful. Lizards and land crabs abound and several species of birds make the island their home. One night I saw thousands of baby turtles hatch and make for the sea. They swarmed over the sand racing for the ocean in the moonlight. It was a sad, maddening sight to watch those little Hawkbihl babies hurrying so intently and to see the rats, the land crabs and the birds devouring them. I ran all night rescuing them from the hungry hordes, chasing rats away with a stick while pulling land crabs off the frantic, helpless infants. I found myself hating those rats, gulls and crabs. All night I picked up the little guys and ran them down to the water only to run back and see their brothers being devoured or crippled. A vicious scene in the moonlight.

The lagoon is infested with sharks, moray eels and rays. I also fished, for they were very abundant, but those fish caught in the lagoon or off the reefs must be given serious considera-tion for they may be poisonous, even red snapper and rock cod. Barracuda, wahoo,

rainbow runners, tuna and ulua are usually safe and excellent to eat but beware here at Canton as most all fish have been found to be toxic under certain conditions of location where taken, and time of the year. Summer months in the locale of these reefs seem to be the time and area of concern. It is believed that the cause of the poisonous toxin is due to the fish feeding on very small unicelled plants, on and within the coral. Fish eating fish as predators causes all the varieties to be subject in the chain of survival. In fish to fish infection, it is sometimes likened to rabies so if in doubt eat a small portion of the prepared fish and wait. Should there be any concern caused by nausea, cramps or any slight illness, you have the answer. Don't partake of large portions and always wait three to four hours before eating the remainder.

On my way up from Fiji on this cruise I landed at the beautiful little island of Funafuti. While there, practically every dog and cat in the village became either violently ill or died. The cause, toxic fish. When on shore in these places it is good common sense to ask the natives which fish are usually safe. Down on the island of Nevis in the West Indies, I noticed the natives going through the catch in a net brought to the beach and separating out quite a variety of fish, not throwing them back in the water but to be buried on shore. Off Roncador Cay in the Caribbean Sea between Jamaica and Honduras I caught a beautiful red snapper, prepared it and put it in the ice chest. In the night, while sailing to Old Providence Island, I opened the ice chest in the dark to get a cool drink. To my amazement, the fish was so totally saturated with radiation flourescence I could see my way around the chest. It actually glowed so I didn't take a chance on eating it.


Recent studies of marine biotoxicology have confirmed that several disc ; carried by fish are deadly to man. World War II Armed Forces were warned in survival manuals about this problem. Studies are continuing on the ciqua-tera syndrome and it is thought to be related to toxins.

The American Armed Forces in a survival attempt in out of the way places were warned as follows: "All important fish with poisonous flesh belong to one large order, the Plectognathi, almost all tropical in habitat. (They include file fishes, puffers, triggerfish and related kinds having their bodies covered with body plates or spines). They all lack ordinary scales such as occur on bass, grouper and sea trout. Instead, poisonous fish are covered with bristles or spiny scales, sharp thorns or else they have a naked skin. Never eat a fish which blows itself up like a balloon..

Fish eaten raw should be given equal consid-eration due to the rather recent discovery of fish transmitted parasitic worm disease which, when the infected fishes are eaten can spread to a person's liver and bile duct and can cause cirrhosis and death.

Well, back now to our odd little island of Canton, where we left those frantic little turtles. Once the turtles got into the ocean, they swam as violently as they had run from their land oppressors, for the sharks were lashing in the surf swallowing them with reck-less abandon. When I see a full grown turtle, I marvel that he has survived so much. Now, man seems ready to annihilate him.

As an atoll, Canton is a bit more unusual in that the land rim is unbroken except for two small openings on its west side which creates the good and the bad. The larger of the two openings has a depth of 12 feet at low tide, is very narrow and has many coral heads within

its entrance. To add further to the ominous channel there was the hulk of a huge World War II troopship, lying broken on the reef. It was a reminder for those who had ideas about entering this off-the-beaten-path atoll as far from Street Car service. This troopships frantic to escape a Japanese submarine, like the little turtles and the sharks, had preferred the reef to sinking in 1800 feet of water. It was ominous to say the least.

As the tide rises, 9 miles of the lagoon takes on a huge volume of sea water so when the tide changes all that great mass of water has no place to go but out those little openings. It is a sight to see and an experience to cope with.

The trade winds can build up from 25 to 35 miles per hour and when they push the surface as the tide goes out, the water flows viciously at up to 11 to 12 knots. What that scene is Eke at that narrow channel is to be remembered and is indelibly stamped on the boatman's memory.

On this cruise, I was coming up from Fiji on a 92' ketch by way of the New Hebrides Islands, Funafuti, Rotuma and the Phoenix Islands, Having made a fairly long passage, it was decided to investigate this little atoll so let's go back and describe our coming in,

My position, when approaching islands, cays and reefs, was to go aloft to help guide the helmsperson through the tight passages and by

September 1981

Page 5

sight keep water under her keel. After studying a detail chart of the approach, the seat of the pants approach from aloft usually is all the boatman has left. Some old charts often noted - "Coral in this area may have grown since the last soundings in 1867. Do not trust the depths." That is always encouraging as the last survey was in 1936 by the USS BUSHNELL. A lot of kids have grown up and moved away since then.

From aloft, I could see the narrow opening, the troopship, the channel with white cataracts racing out and the lagoon. I noticed that as we approached at 8 knots we were making 4 knots stern way. I called down to take her hard to port to get out of the tremendous flow, which was not unlike the Colorado River. "We will have to he off until the tide changes," I called to the helmsman.

It was then that I saw the most phenomenal sight. I had read of old square rigged vessels getting caught in whirlpools at sea and nearly going "down the drain." Here was a huge whirl pool about one and a half miles off the atoll being created by the awesome outflow of that huge lagoon. The offshore current setting westward coming laterally at 1½ knots was joining the mighty channel flow and was creat-ing this ominous sucking whirlpool about 300 yards wide. It was absolutely unreal to listen to and watch.

I called down to the helmsman, "Steer one point to starboard at 5 knots". It was scary but I was curious. We went straight into the vortex of this whirling, circular, sucking mass whose center was lower than the outside of the huge circle. It was an experience never to be forgotten. We swung violently to port as the flow hit the bow. I called down to go hard to starboard which swung us hard into the Center

where we got out big surprise and thrill. I called down to put her in neutral, stopping over the center of the sucking swirl. Around and around we went in disbelief until we were dizzy. From aloft, I witnessed an unbelievable sight watching the atoll go flying around. Convinced, by our buoyance and her size that she wouldn't go "down the drain", I called down to take her out and then under full throttle she raced in a huge arc out into a less violent scene in spite of the position of the rudder.

I watched the opening to the atoll for some time until the flow had stopped. We then held to the right hand side of the opening after entering and made a sharp turn to the south-ward to miss large coral heads. Surveying the small area for depth and swinging area we anchored with good scope. It was a different adventure on a remote dot on our fantastic world.

"After on linish that auud the dishes and put the kid, to bed. YOU walil to go bun ling?**


A RECORDING OF HISTORY THE WEEKLY CLUB MEETINGS (Our Thursday Night Safaris)

(Editor's Note: On May 14th, Lt. Col. DON TAYLOR reported on his solo flight across the Pacific to Australia. Space would not permit publishing this Interesting story In the previous Issue so we carry It here in full.)

"Crossing the Pacific in a Home-built Airplane"

by Lt. Col. DON TAYLOR

Lt. Col. Don Taylor is retired from the Air Force, was in W.W. II as a fighter pilot in the China-Burma-India theatre flying 75 missions. He has the Air Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and as a civilian pilot he holds 25 world records for going faster, farther or with lighter aircraft, The Division of Transportation of the U.S. government has given him the Distinguish-ed Service Medal. He established seven world records in his most recent flight across the

Pacific. In 1976 I made a trip around the world but

I left some unfinished business. I had to come by way of Adak in the North Pacific and skip the South Pacific due to the limited range of

the aircraft. I wondered if it would be possible to go from California to the Hawaiian Islands.

It took a couple of years to arrange my finances and get up the courage to try it, as it had never been done before in a light home-built airplane. So I took my problem of an increased fuel capacity to KEN BROCK and he rebuilt my 15 gallon seat tank. This gave me the necessary fuel storage. I figured it was roughly 2,350 statute miles from California to Hawaii. Now I would have enough fuel to cover that long flight.

In my younger years I had spent much time in Australia and I knew many pilots who had home-builts. They were always after me to come on down. If I could reach Hawaii, I could certainly go on to Australia but it would require some testing first. So I made a flight from Hemet to the Bahamas to prove that the airplane could go 2,400 miles. Helped by a tailwind, this trip took 14 hours. I felt it would be much better to have more fuel, just in case, so I went back to Ken Brock who rebuilt the tank the second time increasing the capacity an additional 15 gallons.

There was another reason for urgency in making this trip and setting some records as a whole new generation of pilots was coming along with improved instrumentation and light-er

aircraft. Nobody had flown this route in

a home-made airplane before. My ship was in the Class "B" category (up to 2,200 lbs. max. gross weight). This includes everything. When they weigh you on the scales they ask if your coffee jug is full? are you wearing the clothes you are going to wear? and is your life raft aboard? N

1h

My nephew, Bill Kelsey, installed the HF radio which is an absolute must, because I have to report in every two and a half degrees. If you do not report you are grounded. The president of the Experimental Aircraft Associa-tion urged me to start my flight at Oshkosh and set a record from Oshkosh to Melbourne. This was an additional 3,400 miles for the trip, which I agreed to do. My flight was to be in the same 180hp Thorpe T-18 which I had flown around the world in 1976. It is only

September 1981

Rigc 7

18 feet tong with about a 22 foot wingspan. 1 did not even carry a shaving kit or change of clothes as the small amount of weight these items would have added might have been crucial. I buy stuff when I land. If I don't get there I won't need it anyway.

This trip was a real pleasure. The people everywhere were so nice to me. To fly my home-built outside the U.S. our government requires that you must get permission from all of the other countries. Christmas Island, south of Hawaii, is glad to have you land but they have no fuel for you to use to fly out. I try to island hop the shortest legs I can find. In the Cooks I landed at Penrhyn Island where they had to remove the coconuts from the runway. The airstrip had been closed for some time. Not only that, the Australian government had fuel shipped in there. I got a wire from them. in reply to my original request, not only wishing me luck, but lots of luck.

The U.S. Government gave me more prob-lems than anyone else. That changed my original flight plans. My airplane is a simple type, and as trouble-free as possible. If I need a mechanic one is located in Hawaii but the cost is a hundred dollars an hour so I try not to get stuck anywhere. The ship burns 10 gallons of gas an hour but on this trip it worked out to only eight and a half.

My plane is still classed as an experimental aircraft. In a way this is a blessing as it does not have to conform to many of the FAA restrictions and requirements. The good part is that you can do anything you want to with it. If you overload it, they do not know.

At American Samoa the airstrip is near the blowhole and when you land you get salt spray blown all over you. The government gives each of the inhabitants $4,000 a year. You can get

your plane serviced but without as much enthusiasm as you get on many of the lesser known islands.

Fiji was very primitive for many 'years. Now 747s land here regularly. They still control much of the surrounding territory and the French manager of the airport, Gerald Lemon, entertained me with some of the best food on the island.

Ai Brisbane they were awaiting my arrival and asked me to keep my plane in the air while their helicopter circled me and took pictures for TV. Then on to Sydney and Melbourne. It was winter when I arrived there and it rained and snowed the whole time. I did get to see the "Southern Cross" which was the first plane to cross from the U.S. to Australia. I saw many friends in Australia but was soon off to New Zealand which I made in a little over eight hours. The Australian government cleared me for the flight but would not allow an Australian home-built to make the flight.

In Hawaii I found more friends. They took care of my airplane and me leaving nothing to be desired. The Experimental Aircraft group here entertained me and introduced me around. Coming back from Maui the winds were a problem but there were relatively few commer-


cia! aircraft. It should take 17 hours flying time to Oakland. I had 18 hours of gas in the tanks.

On an overnight flight you live for the sun to come up in the morning. So at 1,000 miles out I gave my position to the controller saying that I was running short on gas. The controller wanted to know if I had a life raft, and my home telephone number. Luckily, friends went to tell my wife first and the Coast Guard went out and followed me in.

I decided to land at Half Moon Bay south of San Francisco. But you have to land within 60 kin of your destination to set a valid record. The distance from Half Moon Bay to Oakland was within the required distance, so I found a hole in the clouds and set down at Half Moon Bay. Total distance for this trip was 20,380 statute miles. The total time was 120 hours at an average speed of 150 miles per hour.

But Don scarcely took time to rest. He is already thinking of setting new world records with a smaller aircraft, Class "A" which weighs 1,100 pounds or less. With lighter materials, new designs, and improvements in small engines you can expect to find a new small plane doing new things never thought of before. And the pilot will be DON TAYLOR, off on a new adventure.

(Reported by Bill Buchanan)

"Leave the beaten track occasionally... You will be certain to find something you have never seen before".

Alexander Graham Bell

May 21, 1981

ON SAFARI AROUND 706

with BILL BUCHANAN

"LADIES NIGHT"

There was a full house for this Ladies Night. PETER PARFWI, via a good slide show, took us along to the open house at the Rockwell installation in Palmdale to see the Space Shuttle project. There are two shuttles currently under construction. The Enterprise is surprisingly large when you are near it; gigantic is the word. There are 32,000 protective heat tiles on each ship, each lettered and numbered and made for a specific location on the ship. Cost is from $800 to $1,600 each tile, depending on its complexity. White gloves must be worn while installing them in order not to contaminate them with moisture or grease. Once you have seen this operation you can better understand the great cost.

ROY ROBERTS reports that the trouble with mainland China is that they serve tourists too much food. He and CHET WILCZEK plan to give us a program on their extensive travels soon. From the smile on Roy's face he must have seen something very interesting.

ROSS REED let us in on a secret he found out about at the North Pole. "It's cold up there!" It was good to know that almost everyone he saw up there asked about Peter Parfitt who had visited the area previously. Ross went south to the Yukon to warm up and spend a week dog sledding. Then he chartered a boat and be and David Reed went glacier hunting. It sounds like a wild adventure.

John Olguin, of the Cabrillo Marine Museum, invited all members to come on down on June 6 to help build the Sand Whale at Cabrillo

September 1981

Page 9

Beach, and to the Cabrillo Pageant on October 4. The whale building is an annual event, and when completed it is 100 feet long. It is made large to emphasize the great importance of keeping the whale from extinction. John, who used to, row to Catalina with his wife in six hours, says he now takes nine hours to cover the same distance. He advises anyone wishing to row that course to start several hours before sunup to avoid choppy waves.

Dr. LOUIS HIGGER, chief witch doctor, and Dr. JERRY NILSSON made a final report on JOHN DAViDSON's African Lion Safari. Lou has calmed the spirits of the natives and Jerry has made all the arrangements with the officials. All that is left now to do is for John to collect that fabulous rare black-maned lion on his birthday.

PROGRAM

"The Fastnet Yacht Race - First Hand" by Lt. Cmdr. Charles U. Barber, III

Lt. Cmdr. Barber was the naviagtor on the U.S. Naval Academy sloop "Alliance" in a race which is unique in the history of sailing. It was one of the most disastrous yacht races of all times, with 15 persons lost 31 boats abandoned, and 12 sunk. The 1979 storm came out of Halifax, passed with full force through the racing course, and went on into Norway leaving great destruction in its wake. With all the difficult tides, currents and storm to contend with, the military-owned and crewed vessel "Alliance" won the trophy. This was the first U.S. boat ever to win this prized trophy. Lt. Cmdr. Barber is an enthusiastic yachtsman who has sailed and raced over 30,000 miles in the Past four years. His vivid memories of this race

were illustrated by slides which he took under hazardous conditions. But being an instructor Of navigation at the U.S. Naval Academy for several yeras he withstood the rigors of this race and presented it with remarkable compo-sure.

The Alliance was built in 1974 and donated to the Navy in 1977. It was 54 feet long and weighed about 50,000 pounds. We had entered it in the Trans-Atlantic Race from Marblehead to Cobb Bay in Ireland. We went 100 miles north of the Great Circle and had four days of favorable weather, avoiding the bad weather to the south. Our average speed was 8 knots for thirteen and a half days. Thus we won the race beating 35 other boats. With that behind us we had high hopes for the Fastnet race.

We crossed the Irish Sea and went on to Portsmouth where we started preparing for the Fastnet race. We had trouble with the rudder as the wrong size packing had been installed resulting in continual leaking. We went on past the Isle of Wight to Cowes, which results in panic every two years with so many boats entering the race for the Admiral's cup. There were twenty-five nations represented in 1979. The course is from Cowes, around Land's End to the Fastnet Rock off the coast of Ireland, and ends in Plymouth, a distance of 605 miles. Of the 305 boats entered the smallest started first. This caused a problem as later on the large boats would have to pass them. The fog made for poor visibility and the 5-knot current did not help. That was on Saturday.

At home we were accustomed to frequent weather checks but England has only a medium-frequency weather broadcast three times a day. If you miss a broadcast you just have to wait until the next. By evening the wind was coming up and we had to take down our spinnaker.


We missed the broadcast telling us of a force 9 wind within 6 hours. The wind was now 47 knots and the sea rough. The rules did not allow us to carry any sophisticated instrumen-tation or printouts of weather charts. By Tuesday morning the wind had shifted 90° and was a killer, coming out of the North West. The storm was raging, killing three people on land and fifteen at sea.

We had to take the sail down as the wind was rising to 50 knots and then to 60 knots. We continued toward the rock at almost 9 knots. During this time I was starting to get worried as I was the navigator and had to tell them where to go. The sea increased to 25 feet and visibility was getting worse. My best fix was plus or minus ten miles which was not good enough as the rock was only four miles off shore.

We did go by Fastnet Rock, within one and a half miles of it without ever seeing it. At any one time we had three to four feet of water over the deck. By now several people had been washed overboard on some of the other boats. Most of them had no sails up and we went by them very fast. Some had distress flares up. We had no maneuverability, but we did take their position and report it to other boats so they could eventually get help.

At one time the Alliance was on its side at a 900 angle. The safety harness saved three of us who would have otherwise been washed over-board. One of our crew was violently hurled against the steering wheel with such force that the wheel was bent so far out of position that we could no longer use it. We went through the rest of the summer with an oval steering wheel.

We were now nearing our goal so we put up our spinnacker in a 35 foot sea. About 20

miles out of Plymouth we were overflown by the Royal Navy helicopter. This was their first verefication that we were safe. We finished in Plymouth under beautiful conditions. There were very few sightseers to watch us come in and those who did come out did not wave or smile. But we had made it with all hands safe, and we had won our class!

More than anything else our preparation and previous training had helped us. One-third of the boats in the fleet had been tipped past horizontal. Twenty percent of the boats had men washed overboard. Twenty-six boats had men whose safety harness broke. Six of the deaths were due to broken safety harnesses. During the storm twenty-four boats were aban-doned but nineteen were later recovered and are still sailing. Seven crew members were killed in life rafts proving that it is safer to stay with the boat. Of the 305 boats that entered the race, only 85 finished it!

After the Award Ceremony about two thou-sand people walked to the Plymouth Cathedral for a service in memory of the fifteen who were lost at sea. This beautiful service will always be in my memory. I will also remember round-ing the rock with three of us on deck and the phosphorescence sticking to our foul weather gear. Two days after the race the midshipmen on the way out were loaded into the back of a Royal Marine five-ton truck. It warmed my heart as they passed by to hear them sing the Navy Hymn.


Prejudices are the opinions

of those who are too stubborn

to agree with us.

September 1981

Page 11

May 28, 1981


with BILL BUCHANAN

GEORGE GRIFFITH is driving with Than through the backroads of Austria. Then he will fly his own plane to Latin America where he has a heavy schedule before returning home. He is taking advantage of his time in seeing all the delightful off the beaten path places on his extensive trip.

SANFORI) SMITH is again on Barbados, enjoying such delicacies as Bol.jol, flying fish, and local pumpkin. He has covered everything on the island on this trip from the highest peak to the shores.

SMOKEY STORMS and JACK CAMERON and his wife have returned from a trip to the Galapagos islands and Ecuador. The only thing remotely resembling a girl friend was a seal. What Smokey really was looking for was the kind of girl pictured on the post cards from Jessonia.

CARROL CRAIG barely missed a meeting of the Adventurers' Club of Denmark but did have a nice visit with their President at his home.

WILLIAM FRAUENBERGER, now living in Oceanside, would like to come to our Thursday night meetings but needs a ride. If you can bring him, phone him at (714) 757-0925. William, No. 296, has been a member since 1932 and is now 86 years old. In WW I he flew a Navy Curtis H16 Flying Boat Bomber for two years out of Londonderry, Ireland patrolling the sea for submarines and meeting convoys coming from the States to England.

PHIL CALHOUN had a birthday on this date and BOB MUELLER led the club in sing-ing "Happy Birthday" to him. He is well

known as a magician, a photographer, and a sub rosa insurance investigator. But a new facet of his personality was discovered. Did you know that he was a former card carrying member in a Toreador association whose mem-bers made a yearly trek to Mexico to fight the bulls each season?

BOB BENNER. has just returned from a trip to Newfoundland, Yugoslavia and Spain.

JOHN BODEN's granddaughter has just been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Comman-der in the U.S. Navy.

PROGRAM "OLD TIMERS NIGHT with

PERCY, LEO, GIL and VIC"

HAROLD WARD, acting as program chair-man for the evening, introduced our four old timers for the evening. In order to qualify for this program members had to be: 1) Inside the Continental USA on May 28th, 2) over 80 years old and still interested in girls, and 3) willing to speak. There was no pre-announced subject and each speaker could talk on any subject of his choice.

(PERCY CHASE No. 132 joined the club in 1924 and was President in 1957. He has spent his life as a mining engineer, authored a stand-ard book on mercury mining around the world, and will soon leave to inspect mines in Italy, Spain, Portugal and the covering of the Ring of Fire to gather material to revise his book.)


Percy is famous for a rumor put out by LOU LOOBER to the effect that Percy had been kidnapped in Los Angeles Chinatown. It happened in 1931 when the club was pretty well organized and Dr. W. C. Sherman was president. WARREN LEWIS suggested that they have a few drinks and skip dinner, so they strolled down to First Street through a type of Chinatown which was not set up for tourists as it is today. They went in a walled yard through a gate and spent a nice quiet evening with a nice Chinese family and just did not go back to the club that night. Percy doubts that he will ever live that rumor down.

In an attempt to get new members Dr. SHERMAN had invited two hundred people to a meeting. However he had not counted on the distracting influence of ARTHUR BEAU-MONT, the artist, who rented a space above the club where he painted his attractive models. With so many members leaving the club room to watch the models being painted it is fortu-nate that the club survived.

CHESTER KYLE, DICK KYLE's father, went on a trip to the desert with Percy and they stayed at the club house of a chemical company. While they were playing poker with the other guests they heard an aeroplane fly over the club house. The pilot, thinking a man-made lake was the ocean as it was night, landed near the club house with the help of the automobile lights turned on to guide him in. it turned out that it was a mail plane with one sack of mail and a screaming 300-pound lady passenger. He had come down from San Francisco and thought he had reached Los Angeles. She was the Princess Golitzine and said she had a broken leg. Percy took pictures of her and delivered them to the Los Angeles Times which wrote an exclusive article on her.

Chester flew her on to Los Angeles, leaving

her heavy baggage behind. She promptly bought a new Cadillac which she ordered to be delivered by an outside hoist to her 13th floor hotel room. She wanted to step out her window and into the car and be gently lowered to the street!

(LEO MARKS, No. 312, a retired College Administrator, an authority on Indians, canni-bals, and jails throughout the world, had an acquaintance with Will Rogers, wild animal hunters and famous boxers. He is ready to talk anytime, remembering the most minute details of his experiences.)

Rene Belebenoit spent his last years on the desert where he quietly died. But his younger years were not so uneventful. He had, as a young man, been a bookkeeper in a famous bordello in France. The madam had entrusted him with the entire week's receipts, which were considerable, and it was his duty to put them in the bank. But Rene had other plans. He and one of the girls went to the Riviera where they lived well until all the money was gone. After a long case he was sentenced to life imprison-ment on Devil's Island according to Napoleonic law. He wrote and kept hidden a detailed diary. As the paper was very thin he was able to roll it up and hide it within his body cavity and thereby escape detection. He managed to escape from this escape proof island and collected and sold rare butterflies to collectors for money. Finally arriving in the United States

September 1981

Page 13

he was successful in evading extradition to France. His story was made into a book, and Warner Brothers based three films, including "Passage to Marseilles" and "The Sand Pebbles" on his high adventure exploits.

LEO MARKS had Jack Johnson, the former black heavyweight champion, on a program many years ago. Jack was 6' 4" in height and weighed 200 pounds. He had a quick jab and fought Jim Jeffreys and John L. Sullivan in a 42-round fight. Jack was fond of blond women and this caused some trouble forcing him to leave the country to avoid the problems this presented. But he wanted to come back to the U.S. and eventually a deal was arranged but at a great price. He had to take a dive when he fought Jess Willard.

(GIL MORGAN, No. 316, joined the club in 1933 and was President in 1944, Chairman of the Board in 1945. Widely travelled, he likes hunting and deep sea fishing.)

Steve Frank was a steel worker who could bend hot steel into almost any desired shape. When he saved enough money he would take off for an extended hunting trip. He took off for six months to hunt in Burma and signed on a freighter to get there. The crankshaft on the boat broke and for two days they had no power. Steve told the Captain he could fix it for a price, a promotion to First Mate. He performed the miracle and went on to a successful jungle

trip. Many of the animals on the club walls were collected by him, some in exchange for a block of salt which he had wisely brought along to trade with the natives..

William Henry Jackson was a pioneer photo-grapher and member of the Adventurers' Club of New York. At the age of 97 he gave a program for our club. In his younger years he was hired to round up approximately 1,500 wild horses in the El Monte Country. He drove the horses up to Victorville, Salt Lake, and on to Kansas City where he sold the lot. Later he took his heavy camera equipment on muleback into the Yellowstone country where he spent three months taking photographs on large glass wet plates. His large prints of this unusual country so impressed Congress that Yellowstone was purchased and made our first National Park. Jackson was an Honorary Member of this Club.

(VIC CASTLE, No. 446, is a Navy man throughout. He enlisted in WW I and was with the Asiatic Fleet 1911-1914. He was a Director 1943-45, 1949, 1952, 1953.)

Vic was determined from an early age that the sea was the life for him so he enlisted in the Navy. He found the service quite rough and was permitted to carry a dirk for self protection. He had some wild experiences in China. But being an adventurer at heart he signed up again in 1917 as a baker. During


June 4, 1981


with BILL BUCHANAN

GERRY PRICE and KELLY CARR are in Washington, D.C. Now that Kelly is assinged there, he and Gerry are trying to straighten out

a number of things.

HENRY VON SEYFRIED has just returned from a week in San Luis, Mexico and Yuma.

PERCY CHASE is in the hospital with a severe problem of bleeding ulcers. He almost never misses a meeting and we miss him when he is not at our meetings. Here's hoping you will be back on your feet and feeling fine very soon, Percy. (Editor's Note: On June 11th, Percy left on The Great Adventure.)

Adm, BILL ROBERTS has returned from a trip by car through Spain and Portugal with his wife. Bill found many beautiful photo-graphic subjects but wished there had been just a little more time for photographing them.

CHET WILCZEK has found out how the Chinese can prepare chicken so quickly. They simply take a cleaver and chop-chop, bones and all. You can take out the bone splinters while eating. The food was ample but he lost weight. Adventurous Chet hiked on past the restored part of the Great Wall, which was nicely kept up for the tourists, to the real old wall far beyond, which was in a very bad state of preservation. This part is rarely seen and never pictured in the brochures. The Chinese and

(VIC CASTLE ... from page 13)

World War II he was torpedoed off the Azores

and of the 78 on board Vic was one of the 35

survivors. (Reported by Bill Buchanan)

tourists can walk the streets late at night without fear as crime is not tolerated. The natives aie highly motivated and work long hard hours. As natives are not allowed to travel outside their city it is necessary to marry a spouse from the same city or else see her only once a year on vacation, with a permit.

President GEORGE MANCHESTER intro-duced someone who looked vaguely familiar. It was DICK KYLE, Program Chairman who had shaved off his beard and looked like a different

person. As a prelude to our regular program Chet

Wilczek showed a special film of a Wright Brothers flight taken about 1909. The plane was removed from the hangar and placed on a monorail for take off. While Orville sat in the plane as pilot, Wilbur started the engine. Then they made an officially timed flight in the twin pusher model biplane. There were many good shots of the plane in the air considering that this was made on an early hand crank motion picture camera.

PROGRAM

"The Genius of the Wright Brothers; Reliving the beginnings of Powered Flight"

by Guest Jack Lambie

(Jack Laznbie has a wide interest in flight and speed and has done much work with automobiles and trucks in an effort to increase their efficiency by streamlining. He was the Principal of a high school and interested in motor-powered hang gliders. He found that selling plans for his glider was so profitable that he quit his job and started working full time on recreating pioneer planes and building ultra-light aircraft. He is soon going to Japan to

September 1981

Page 15

arrange for putting Yamaha motors in light weight aircraft. He designed a record-breaking streamlined bicycle in the U.S., made a round the world bicycle trip, flew a motorized glider through South America to Paraguay, and wasted no time before he was working on some new projects. With the able assistance of his brother, who is also a pilot, and a crew of dedicated men, he is constantly building and flying new aircraft and exact reproductions of historical models.)

In the future the ultra lights will be as important as commercial planes, probably equal-ling them in number or exceeding them. This is partly due to the unique setup in the U.S. which does not require taxes, licenses, physicals, or flight plans for pilots of ultra light planes. No other country in the world allows so much freedom.

From the time the Wright brothers had a hunch that an aeroplane could be built, it was only four years before they had one flying. They made four flights between 1901 and 1903 with powered planes which were the natural outgrowth of their earlier gliders. They were the leaders in the field through 1909 but by 1911 were totally surpassed. When Wilbur died it ended the Wright interest in aviation.

Their first flight was for 12 seconds over a 120 foot course. They did their own wind tunnel testing and the plane did not vary much from the plans of Liienthal's glider. The aeroplane had a 40 foot wingspan, could go from 25 to 35 miles per hour and was quite sluggish. Lilienthal had made two thousand glides and was killed in a glider accident in 1896.

The 1911 Wright Flyer had a gas pedal and two hand levers for controls. Unfortunately it shook badly and had a tendency to slide side-

ways. Trying to protect their patents, the Wright brothers spent many years in the courts and the drain on their bank accounts and ambition killed their desire for further experi-mentation.

We built a copy of the Curtiss model in 1978 and streamlined it for an increased rate of climb. We flew it from Chino to San Luis Obispo in five hours for the movie "The Winds of Kitty Hawk" but due to a sharp turn just before landing, it crashed. Luckily my brother who was piloting it came out alive. An aileron had jammed causing Mark to break both legs, an arm, and cut his face, and, with several operations to hold him together with nuts and bolts could mend, it was a long stay in the hospital before he could walk again.

Mark was luckier than Lt. Selfridge who was the first powered aircraft casualty in 1909. He had made a circuit of the field and, coming back for a second circuit very slowly, heard a tapping and stalled. He went into a dive and crashed, being thrown clear of the plane. On inspection later there was found to be no structural failure.

In the early 1970's Jack Lambie built and flew a full-scale reproduction of the 1903 Wright Flyer for the NBC-Tv film "Orville and Wilbur". The original Wright Flyer is described in all the books as having 12 horsepower, but after working on it in Dayton, Lambie found it actually had 22 horsepower. Then he went on to build a like model with 50 horsepower.

Jack Lambie probably knows more about the Wright brothers and their planes than anyone living. He has read all their letters, studied their plans and constructed planes from their plans and then flown them. Their propellors were made of mahogany and covered with Mexican silver and this was a puzzle. One

Patc 16


night while he had his Wright Flyer parked on El Mirage Dry Lake he looked up at the moon and realized that at that very moment our astronauts were walking around on the moon. He had a remarkable feeling that even as we had now landed on the moon, he had been with the Wright brothers to experience the first actual manned flight. He feels quite honored to have relived the experience.

(This program had numerous slides to illus-trate the building, flights, and disasters of the pioneer aircraft. It gave you a real "being there"feeling. We are eager to see some of the ultra light aircraft which will be an important part of aviation before you realize it.)


June 11, 981


with "SMOKEY" STORMS

SMOKEY STORMS rang eight bells and President GEORGE MANCHESTER called for a moment of silence for those fellow adventur-ers who had gone on before on The Great Adventure.

COMPLAINTS: Pres. Manchester reluctantly voiced some

complaints and answered a few: 1. When introducing a visitor, many of us are guilty of this in that we address the podium and all those behind us can not hear the introduc-tion. 2. There has been a complaint or two that "unnecessary speakers before the main speaker were neither necessary nor pertinent to the entertainment (speaker) of the evening." Presi-dent George recalled to our attention that the 1st one-half hour is traditionally set aside for the

members. The main speaker has the next 1½ hours. 3. Evening agenda: 1900 to 2000 hours (7:00-8:00 PM for non-sailors) is for dinner. 2000 (8:00 PM) to 2200 (10:00 PM) the program. It is requested that all members be in their seats by 2000 (8;00 PM) sharp so as not to disrupt the program by continued visiting and seeking your seats after the bell has rung. 4. Conversation among the members is not the best form of gentlemanly conduct when a speaker is trying to present a program - not only doing a discourtesy to him but making it impossible for the other members to hear.

TRAVELERS: SANFORD SMITH had returned from the

Grenadenes and Granada to bear his two postcards read. Sanford visited an old whaling station and told of his flight between the islands with a pilot who had trouble and had to read the instruction manual to find out how to turn the engine on. Let us hope the airplane was in better shape than the pilot, Sanford! By the way, Sanford says that the pilot was a Cuban and those of you who like Cuba will love Granada. More Cubans there than any other nationality.

HOWARD GEE sends us word that he was literally surprised to find a picture of the ENCHANTRESS on the front of the ADVEN-TURERS' CLUB NEWS. Howard sailed on her in 1932 and has lost all pictures of her in his moves and would enjoy receiving a copy of the original. Editor BOB WILLIAMS will attempt to fulfill the request. Howard reports that the Gees are thoroughly enjoying their little island in the Sound in Washington. Past President Howard reports that they do no sailing on their own boat anymore but are enjoying sails on friends boats. They will spend some rime this

September 1981 Page 17

summer on a friend's boat in Alaska, then more time in British Columbia (and I presume in those beautiful San Juan Islands -huh, Howard?)

enjoys the Club News. Past President JIM CLEMENTS sends word

that he is sorry to have missed so many meetings but has been completely tied up with research since his retirement, going through over 3,000 photographs of flightless birds and is now off to Africa for a try at one of, the most rare flightless birds in the world, found in the same areas as the mountain gorilla.

BILL BUCHANNAN (new member but who does a lot of work for the club as Club Archivist as well as reporter for the Club News) gave a report on the condition of member PERCY CHASE.

CHET WILCZEK told a story: "It seems that ....." Oh, I'm not going to repeat that, Chet - Boy, if it isn't COB HARMS it is Chet Wilczek!!' .....

BOB MUELLER led the club in singing a Happy Birthday to Past Pres. STU BRUCE. Stu lived on the island of Cyprus and in Syria as a youth. Explored New Guinea. Bob lived next door to Stu for several years and maintains that he has seen Stu's travel pictures over, over and over again. It seems that Stu used Bob as a guinea pig in the editing of his film. Stu explored the east coast of Greenland, spent time exploring the rivers of Ethiopia, and explored the mountains in Algeria. Lately Stu has become a renowned expert on the John Frum cult on the island of Tanna in the South Seas.

Chet Wilczek and Sect. ROY ROBERTS just returned from a China trip and we look forward to a program. They have promised many interesting pictures.

EARL COLGAN reports that he is leaving

on a salmon fishing trip to Alaska. 1st VP and Program Chairman DICK KYLE

approached the podium and GENE BABBITT asked if Dick had lost quite a bit of weight? It was just that Dick has shaved off that full beard. Now we know just what Dick has been hiding for these long months. Dick keeps in shape by tiding his bike from Seal Beach to Laguna Beach in 1 hr. 2 mm. to 1 hr. 5 mm. two or three times a week - hence the slim/ trim build. Dick did not explain if the faster time was clean shaven or not. He did report on the fun of having a tire on his bike blow out at 45mph around Emerald Bay. In introducing our speaker for the evening Dick found a common interest. It seems that Dick's father sailed on a lumber schooner out of Portland, Oregon in the old sailing days, was shipwrecked in the Pacific and after retirement, he built models of the old sailing ships.

PROGRAM "Yugoslavia and Bulgaria"

by Tom Thomas

Tom Thomas built a model of the HMS VICTORY after spending 12 years researching the project - hence a model that was correct and absolute down to the most infinite detail. Mr. Thomas is now building a replica of an old Mississippi riverboat. He is a printing broker (e.g. . Coca Cola advertising, etc.) and has for years, built the ship models for the movie studios. Mr. Thomas is a world traveler (rival-ing our own Sanford Smith as to number of countries visited) and tonight gave us a picture of Bulgaria and Yugoslavia.

He proved to be a very accomplished photog-rapher - beautiful pictures of the countryside,


the people, the children, the architecture of the homes and the churches. We commonly think of churches as being of the gothic motif spires, etc., yet we should realize that simply because it is European, it is therefore gothic. The classic church of the Baltic and Adriatic area tended to rectangular with rounded ends - resembling the old copper boilers of our grand-mother's era and having rather flat roofs. The most spectacular bit was of the old paintings and icons covering the exterior of the churches. The rich hues still held in spite of their age.

Mr. Thomas showed us a slide of one church that the locals, thinking that they would "modernize" the building, painted over all of the beautiful paintings on the exterior with a solid coat of enamel. Such an act should be regarded as criminal. Sort of like painting a mustache on the Mona Lisa. He approached some of the Communist borders with trepida-tion. He did not have the proper visas for all the countries but was pleasantly surprsied with no problems.

He toured the inland lake area of Yugoslavia and showed us pictures of a series of seven lakes, all fed by a waterfall from the previous lake. Beautiful area and gorgeous lakes and falls. Along the road, small villages appeared every few miles and for those who wished, each sported a hotel or two with all the creature comforts. Many of these villages still had a wall around the town dating back to the middle ages. The small villages practiced hanging out a red flag out of a house or farm to advertise the slaughter of a beef, lamb, etc. If you wished a piece of fresh meat, you stopped and the owner chopped off the next piece for you. (A practice carried over to many of our Central and South American countries.)

Mr. Thomas reports that the Yugoslav wines were excellent, especially the whites, and that

they travelled well. The small stores in the villages hung signs

that had the picture of what was sold, unlike our stores here where you might go to a so-called "drug store" and find everything in a small department store and maybe drugs. There, if the desire was fish for dinner, you looked for a sign with the picture of a fish painted on it rather than "Smith's" or "Jones's". In Albania, rather than spend days to drive around a "fjord", they crossed these by ferry to the other side and continued the journey.

The Thomas' found that most of the eleva-tors in the buildings didn't work and the excuse was, "Oh, they all came from Poland and Hungary and therefore don't work!"

They passed through fields and fields of sunflowers. It seems that most of the sun-

(CONTINUED ON PAGE 19)

THE INNER MAN by A] A. Adams

The measure of a man is his soul. Therein we can look deep and hard and find his real successes.

At a recent meeting I was very impressed and touched by a member who allowed those of us present to look deeper into that inner man as he stood on our stage. He stood there free of pride and arrogance and expressed himself in humble courtesy. His eyes were closed - and in submission he paid utmost respect to fellow adventurer Percy Chase, now on The Great Advenure,

In a world of frustrations and anxieties there was beauty and compassion in his de-meanor as he gave the Lord's Prayer. It was Stan Cooley paying last respects to a brother adventurer. In that moment all of us felt a closer bond. Thank you Stan.

September 1981

Page 19

flower seeds shipped around the world come

from this area. A highlight of the Thomas trip was to the Valley of the Roses. Miles and miles of roses (the largest crop for export in Bulgaria)-not the rose itself but the oil from the petals. They supply 800 to 1,000 pounds of rose oil a year. Not much, you say? It takes 4,000 pounds of leaves to produce 1 pound of oil . . . . and that is using the highest oil producing rose in existence.

An excellent travel show, beautiful slides and a very humorous dialog. Thanks, Tom Thomas, and thank you Dick Kyle. Another good one!

(Reported by Smo key Storms)

HERE IS A GOOD IDEA - - There is an organization headquartered in

New York City that can provide you with an up to date directory of doctors and hospitals in just about every major city in practically every coun-try in the world.

The organization is known as the Internation-al Association for Medical Assistance to Travel-lers - - IAMAT, for short.

The Directory provides names and telephone numbers where qualified medical specialists may he reached on a 24-hour basis. Fee for an office call costs about $15.00 (1978) prices). All phy-sicians speak English.

There is no charge for membership in IAMAT but tax-deductible donations are most welcome. For a copy of the current Directory, plus a pack-et of other most helpful information, write to IAMAT, 350 Fifth Avenue, Suite 5620, New York 10001. And don't forget to include your check.

We have two ears and one mouth that we may listen the more and talk the less.

Greek Proverb

June 18, 1981


with BILL BUCHANAN

President GEORGE MANCHESTER reported on our members around the globe from whom he had received post cards this week. Dr. TOM SECHRIST is in Cuzco and visiting Machu Pichu and Lake Titicaca which are breathtaking both figuratively speaking and actually.

SANFORD SMITH writes from Charlestown, Island of Nevis, of a very stormy sea, but arrived at the birthplace of Alexander Hamilton with-out mishap.

BILL CARR is in Mexico again visiting some of the small towns south of Juarez.

Dr. LOUIS HIGGER reports from Zimbabwe (Rhodesia) that only the weight of the "medi-cine" in their bags kept them from being blown off the airfield when they landed. And on this 'requila" Safari JOHN DAVIDSON is prancing around like a young buck in anticipa-tion of the hunt. Later news from JERRY NILSSON via JERRY PRICE reports that the safari ran into a snag, and there were only females of the species around, and you know how John is around women. So he did not shoot.

On a later date they located a pip of a male but it seems that he was afraid of John and did not cooperate at all. Since this is not the way to play the game John is only more determined to stay on the job until he wears the lion out. The safari will return by way of Australia where John plans to stop off for a bit. Knowing him, that may be quite a bit.

PHIL CALHOUN announced that he is leaving for Manila, Hong Kong and Singapore.

ROSS REED and DAVID REED introduced


guests Buddy Reed and Joe Stanislowski, all of whom had just returned from the North Pole. Ross announced that they had brought back the real North Pole and were presenting it to the club where it now stands, signed by all members of the 1981 expedition.

They took off from Hazel Lake with two planes, one for the adventurers and the other for gas. The front ski on one of the planes was crashed on takeoff. The fuel plane turned back after a lengthy flight and loaded its fuel Onto the expedition plane. The land looked the same for a thousand miles and as the

adventurers and their luggage flew northward the pilot could not forget the mysterious yellow bag which Ross had placed aboard the plane. He was sure it contained sophisticated

recording devices for verifying their position. So he flew over the magnetic pole and landed at the geographic North Pole. Only later did the pilot confess that he might have cut the trip short by 250 miles except for the yellow bag. Much to his surprise, it had contained no instruments.

Perhaps a new record was set on this trip. Ross Reed wearing boxer shorts and barefooted ran around the pole in a circular course, thus being the first man to sprint around the world barefooted through all time zones in a single day. On his return to Los Angeles Ross attended the 50th anniversary of his Junior College graduation at Wrigly Park.

PROGRAM

"The People of the North West Territories"

—Guest Barclay Gilpin

Barclay Gilpin, PhD., P.E. is Professor of Mechanical Engineering at California State Uni-

versity, Long Beach. He is an explorer of a type which is becoming very rare. He prefers to travel in a single canoe rather than in groups

Of motor boats as the present inhabitants of his chosen territory travel. He is an anthropologist who does not carry a notebook to make continual obnoxious recordings. Rather he lives among the tribes and absorbs the culture first hand. He is very sympathetic with the tribes he Visits and understands their problems and has earned their friendship and trust. He has recently spent six months in the N.W. Territories and plans soon to return, taking his son along on another unique adventure.

As a young boy Barclay Gilpin spent much time among the Cree Indians travelling by canoe and snowshoes. Later at the University of Wisconsin he earned his way by playing hockey. Later he lived with the Chippewa, Yellow Knife, Dog Rib, Slave, Mountain and Kutchin tribes and two different Eskimo peo-ples. These lived over a very large area in well defined groups. As time moved on there was a great change in their society. The economy changed as did their education, due in part to government intervention.

Today the smaller Indian tribes are being absorbed into larger groups. Up to 1850 they lived entirely off the land, but with the coming of the white trader and the demand for furs they began to depend more and more on what they could buy for their money. By about 1940 they had become a village society living

in groups under modern conditions and though some of their buildings may seem primitive to

us, they do have all the necessities of life. But with this new way of living they have become subject to diseases new to them also.

There is about as much game taken today as there was many years ago but fishing has decreased very much. Formerly the main item

September 1981

Page 21

of their dogs' diet was dried fish but as dog teams are quite rare nowadays there is not much need for fish.

Natives under forty-five years old speak English but the older members of the tribe speak only their native tongue. The natives are quite suspicious of outsiders in motorboats but are friendly with small groups who travel in a single canoe. The aluminum canoe is the best and three persons is just the right number. Oddly the natives have long ago given up the use of the canoe and many of the young boys have never seen one. The greatest obstacle to travel in them seems to be log jams and muddy shoes. However, you can camp almost any-place there is a clearing on shore, and you are always welcomed in their temporary villages which they return to occupy from time to time.

The barrens produce many berries in season. It is here that you hear the honking of the geese and the quacking of the ducks most of the time. The grizzly bear and the polar bear's movements or intentions can not be predicted. The musk ox is making a comeback but for a staple diet the ptarmigan is the most popular. It changes feathers from grey in summer to white in winter. A ten pound pike can be caught almost any time, but you lose weight on a fish diet. It was only after an Eskimo pointed out the need of a little fat in the diet that a proper balance was restored. That is why the Eskimo will always carry with him a little fat from the back of a moose and eat a small piece of it each day.

There are many lakes which freeze over to make travelling more difficult but to complicate matters the tundra also freezes making perma-frost. This freezing sometimes develops some very complex hills which are called pingos. They mushroom one layer on top of another

and make walking difficult. An Indian chief is entirely different from

any person in our society. He is not interested in imparting his way on the tribe, family or the children. A parent never disciplines his children though he is not averse to having the Canadian inounties put a member of his family straight.

They belive in a life before this life and a life after this life and they are always preparing for the life hearafter. Their games are in harmony with this idea and with nature. They do not rpend time on useless games such as hockey or other white man's games. The men do the hunting and fishing and if they outlive their usefulness as hunters, they stay in the village and do women's work such as preparing dried fish and meat.

An Eskimo child may be a sharpshooter with a rifle but he is looked down on if he is not proficient with the spear. He will need the spear in the next life but will not need the gun. In order to keep the old ways from being lost, these has recently been organized the Eskimo Olympics and it has been a great impetus in preserving the traditional games.

Intermarriage between tribes is causing tribal purity to be diluted. Whereas formerly villages were built to the edge of a river or lake, now they are built on the edge or near an air strip. They are very wonderful people and they can adapt to modern life with ease. But the cost of the more comfortable life is the loss of their old traditional ways. Soon their life style and ours will be very similar. The rugged and valiant life of these aborigines will soon live only in the memory of their old timers and our adventurers.


The Adventurers' Club, Los Angeles

706 West Pico Boulevard

Los Angeles, California 90015

Entered as Second Class Postage

at the Post Office at

Los Angeles, California

POSTMASTER:

Address Correction Requested

Return Postage Guaranteed

Mr. G eorge Mehtr 12948 Woodbridge Street Studio City CALif. 91604

IN THIS ISSUE...

• DOWN THE DRAIN by Al A. Adams

• CROSSING THE PACIFIC IN A HOME-BUILT AIRPLANE by Don Taylor

• THE FASTNET YACHT RACE FIRSTHAND by Lt. Cmdr. Charles H. Barber III

• OLD TIMERS NIGHT with Percy, Leo, Gil and Vic

• THE GENIUS OF THE WRIGHT BROTHERS by Jack Lambie

• YUGOSLAVIA AND BULGARIA by Tom Thomas

• THE INNER MAN

• THE PEOPLE OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES by Barclay Gilpin

9/81

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