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Mom and Dad , I announced in a firm voice that I hoped disguised a fear of certain rejection, Id like to have my own boat to cruise the South Pacific islands.
Wanderlust and sailing were Graham family traits. Robin, his older brother, and his parents spent 13 months in 1962 and 1963 sailing the South Seas aboard the 36-foot (11-meter) ketch Golden Hind. From his father Robin learned to navigate by the sun and stars, to anticipate the moods of the wind and sea, and to check and repair his boat and gear. He also gained a healthy respect for the sea.
Robin quietly slipped out of Los Angeles, bound for Hawaii, in July 1965. What he was about to undertake was beyond the comprehension of most peoplea solo voyage around the world in a 24-foot (7.3-meter) sloop. And Robin was to begin his adventure at the age of 16.
Looking about for crewmen my own age, I found many eager to join me, but none who could persuade their parents. I didnt want to go alone, so I took aboard a couple of kittens. With my guitar we sailed the 2,230 nautical miles to Honolulu in 22 1/2 days with ease. Once there, it seemed natural to continue my trip single-handed.
Robin left Hawaii in September 1965, eager to visit new lands and to travel to spots the average tourist would miss. His course would lead him first to Fanning Island (now known as Tabuaeran), then on to the South Pacific Islands.
Although I never fancied myself as a pilgrim, I enjoyed sailing sea lanes blazed by great voyagersFerdinand Magellan, James Cook, William Bligh. But most I thought of New Englander Joshua Slocum, who, in 1895-98, was first to sail around the world alone.
The early portion of Robins journey bore one similarity to those of the early explorershis boat, the Dove, had no ship-to-shore radio. For more than 4,500 nautical miles (8,338 kilometers) he traveled without means of alerting others to his position or his condition. Approximately 15 days out of Fanning Island, just hours away from his intended landfall, Tutuila in the South Pacific, Robins mast buckled, disabling the mainsail and genoa jib. Forced to erect the boom as a mast, he jury-rigged the mainsail and kept moving. This new arrangement limited his ability to steer the Dove, and he changed course from Tutuila, American Samoa, to Apia on the island of Upolu, both in Western Samoa. Robin spent Christmas 1965 in Samoa. One present he received from home was a World War II Gibson Girl emergency transmitter.
During the course of his expedition, Robin braved severe weather, a nighttime brush with a steamer in a busy shipping lane, the vagaries of ocean winds, and close contact with the bristly personality of Avanga, a cat he picked up in Fiji. Twice he was tossed overboard; twice his mast collapsed. But his most formidable obstacle was loneliness.
Its always toughest when you first leave. You can see how slowly youre going, and you can hardly stand to think of all the miles and all the lonely days that lie ahead. Its pretty discouraging.
Why do I go on with it? Well, partly because I dont want to disappoint the many people whove helped me. Besides, Ive come a long way; Id like to finish what Ive started if I can. But I really dont know if I can. Each departure is harder than the last. The mental strain gets worse.
Robin spent 1,739 days traveling. His trip covered a total of 30,600 nautical miles (56,700 kilometers), each one away from human contact. During the five years he was gone, he saw his mother just once, a short visit in Barbados. He spent a bit more time with his father. But it was the second half of his journey that proved especially difficultin Durban, South Africa, Robin had married Patti Ratterree, a young woman he had met by chance in Fiji in July 1966.
Although Patti paralleled his trip across the Atlantic to South America and the Caribbean Islands, meeting him at various ports along the way, he was forced to leave her behind each time he sailed from port. As a result, each departure grew harder.
I hated to set sail again in Dove. I was mad at myself, and her, and the whole world, except Patti. And when the bauxite boat that was taking Patti to Trinidad passed me on the Suriname River, and she waved goodbye to me from the rail, I got so frantic that I took one of the whisker poles and smashed it against the mast.
Robin steeled himself, purchased a new 33-foot (10-meter) sloop, and sold the original Dove. He sailed from the Caribbean through the Panama Canal to the Galápagos Islands then straight home to Los Angeles, arriving the morning of April 30, 1970. When asked what his future held, he replied:
Before too long well build a little place for ourselves a long way from any city. Not to hide from the civilized world but to enjoy the natural one. Weve been closer to nature than most young people, and we love it.
Robin and Patti soon moved to Montana, where they live on an 80-acre homestead with their two children, Quimby and Benjamin.
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