European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 2, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse T i. Weikl. I Miny fun in i is hands lev Uhi a in Mil 11-Mai imy. Ill i Livelli i it i scr Flint Lii i ,11111 Lilune i i in on h. He kept ,11, Iri jul i pc out t air ship it inst in Llu night. Out Hili i a Neviln a twi life hts kept Rhino Tojo Iii i. Ami if in Purv in my until i in Rici i lilt out lib lit irks milk like i was i full mile i if Mill ill of Fin Flthe nil ii a lib Jyh. Andl ilm Yukht u so 1 i a. Sim monster and Chivu were its a i Wirig . Or Lylial civilly oni Lii Iii ship. Anti i Kepi a in i int it Ifni Watt Iling in until i 1-111 up .11 fruit in a clip i me. And it turned out to be was ,1 disabled Tanker being towed by n tugboat on a hell of a Long in he dead of night in the Dirk Atlantic the imagination invents mysterious explanations he says but there was nothing mysterious or imagined the night the storm hit. Leo and Phyllis who had been sleeping were hanging on below in the Cabin of the towing bowl and could t reach deck. So there in the cockpit at the Helm in his rubber Raincoat and Hood wrestling the angry sea alone stood the waterlogged i landlubber. I took Over at a Little Pas Midnight. You always shorten the sails Al night because the wind always comes up a Little. And by one the wind was coming up a Little. And the wind began to come up even More and then the sea began to come up higher and stronger and the wind Kepi gelling higher and stronger. And the sky Gal dark. Dark dark. And it started really mining and he boat was standing on one rail and Hen the from the lop of one swelling crashing wave to the Bottom of another Wilh the wind and water spinning the boat one Way then the other Spradling Hung onto the Helm. How High were those Waves five Hundred feel Al least. I mean they looked Sqq feel but i m sure they were a Little a treacherous one came slapping in across his Back knocking him Over the wheel and banging his head against i he Compass. But i had the harness an and was t going when he regained his own sense of direction he struggled to keep the boat aimed More or less Westward. Five hours liter after the be spattered Spradling had spun the wheel Back and Forth about five trillion limes Leo came up to the cockpit with a Little smile on his face and asked Why did t you Wake me at four was everything Calm eating lunch was the pleasant part of the adventure Leo is a Good chef and is French to his Loes. Me brought All manner of vegetables and fruits along especially bananas god did he bring bananas. We had the full two or three course French lunch everyday Complete with wine and and Coffee and Many times an aperitif before lunch. It was the big Deal of the Day and would Lake a couple of hours. We had no pressing appointments so there was nothing to do but enjoy. Leo made bananas Al Imbe for dessert fur lunch and dinner. Thai sounds ,1 Little elegant for a rolling boat in the Middle of hit of , bul m it win you have it Tuke a every . , i limit. t. Lii it by Iii nil of in in Iki i my Shim it h vhf Vorst of Llu Jun Rory Van i the Stirni . Or s i o Llu ,s a. T in Wiiri simply the Lav if a i of in inf in 1h,h 111 Mil Jilin Lelm Cpl Lupp Iroini hopi in in Fri in it irk no Shinnall Day list sum Els incl Sunris h Komi the thirds or flying Lish nut if tic slim inn my Ali l in few non Salii if nirl in. I i Nihl a very disc Al nil Hun cur irs Bifid us i m hum led Oklahoma hut the Dilys i in blur text l or Thi or was a k Csrnko terrible ii Tillim out Thuve. There Wen limes i Felt 1 had a big doing Hilt to specially the night of my 25th wedding . Wilh my wifi in i Liidi lbt re and me in the Middle of Hie Del in. 1 Gol the it Fliris that this tin was Nowr i a Jinx to Eilf. T i was Joti l ruins " w a for chef. I i rally Al the Halfway Tinl we broke out Lonie i Lump no my t lil Mai l. Thirty minutes later i could t help but think that we have As much to do again As we have already done. And then brother the next Jay we discovered that we were no Wen Halfway that we d Miscak us need by about 400 Miles. And the next two Days we had almost no wind. And the feeling was just about overwhelming. I thought my cod i m never going to gel off this boat so i guess ii was All a test of will in ,1 he remember that once he had climbed a Mountain gotten totally last in i he fog and ended up crawling to the top on his hands and Knees. If i d turned around and gone Back Down like i started to All my life i would have not made it i would have started up the Damn thing the rest of my Days and not made it. I guess that s what makes us All do these things. Of course Al sea it s a different test because there s no Choice. You either finish what you St it or you Lump overboard. There s plenty of room for you Down there was Beauty out there too he says and time to think. shafts of Light coming up through the Clouds Al Sunrise. Being on a straight beam wind at night and looking up Al layers of airs i did t even know existed shoot ing stars across the sky that made me fee How Small we Are in the scheme of things. And then a wave would smack me and bring me Back Down. One night a flying n so landed full in my Lap. I m not a big philosopher anyway. I iry to do the Best i can every Day and when it s gone it s gone. So i had no great revealing experience out there. No great philosophical insight. I did however learn one great at 10 30 . Onlrte31slof.inuary underweight eyes swollen skin All dried out looking Scalen up by the elements the adventurer and his mates touched land at Barbados. When in was Over and the Anchor hit Bottom and the sails were furled and the boat was finally level yes there was a certain feeling n certain Fine feeling ii was Over. It was really Over. 1 look Back on it fondly. We had a Good time. I look Back upon it did Spradling held Salt mean he just said goodbye that he was t going to the Little White boat backs no he said no i was t going to sail the Lille while boat Back. No in i no fortunately the la talc White was t Koin Ink but no matter. Brother Toht n Dave Spradling got off that boat Gol off that boat. I certainly Learned a lot from loin i Siml i i ii i never forge t in and i will in Mii ily Llu Kii i los in i it int a. I Hil my Iloilo i Hiil 1 lit first Day tin kind of ii it h i is inn in h irn i Lis i isl in lil i in , i wont up Indru who Hejde was them it term in tin Virili Restin he will find Anollia a main in to t limb Een .1 i Miff i it. Just is Irhie is in rain in t niitvl1." when Spradling Taw two while lights fur .jp.irt, ii had Viti Onsol ice non slots. Start ass photo k ii wit the ship s rolling that Gol to him rolling foiling and mow rolling. Would he do it again no of would not he did nicely would not. Trip photo Kin the Aruj Iheng Loots big in your living room bul not to big on if Atlantic. Jpn/2, 1987 stripes mag Zint
