European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 19, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Fri it a r / so a a a a i in n up. I if Quot a a us a amp ?s�., it irs to amp a a m this 1971 photograph shows Jim Marshall atop the Hull of a Craft that is slowly taking shape. Old Salt Llyl Llillie a my a Ummi a Jim Marshall now 66> and his 46-foot Ketch la Joya at the Marina ii in i after 20 years aboard la Joya Jim Marshall a ready for Shore by j. King Cruger Mediterranean Bureau Nineteen years ago Jim Marshall spent his nights holidays and weekends building the boat of his dreams in a shed at naval station Rota Spain. He told a visitor then that he intended to Circle the world in the Sailboat that he was constructing out of 15,000 Square feet of Chicken wire 14,000 feet of High tensile wire four and a half tons of Sand five tons of scrap Metal and a couple of tons of Cement. At the time Marshall aided by a Lone Spanish Workman had devoted More than a year to the task. Aside from a completed rudder and an upside Down Chicken wire Hull though he did t have much to show for his efforts. The Boston native then a Navy lieutenant and the skipper of the floating dry Dock Oak Ridge figured he still had six months of hard work to go before the boat touched water. The visitor knew that most people who set about building Ocean going yachts Are backyard builder dreamers for whom the act of building is More important than voyaging. He wished Marshall Well thinking privately that the new englander might spend a year or two puttering around the Mediterranean a if he Ever did finish building his 46-foot Ketch with a ferr Concrete Hull. Later the visitor heard that Marshall had indeed finished his boat a although the task took More time and a lot More Cash than he originally estimated a and that in 1972 he had retired after 30 years in the Navy and had sailed off for who knows where. Sixteen years later Marshall poked his head into the visitor s office in Naples and said a remember me i m Jim Marshall and i completed my circumnavigation two Days now the 66-year-old Sailor is tied up in a Marina in Gaeta Italy readying his handsome rugged two master for one More adventure a a voyage across the Atlantic and on into the South Pacific. Marshall who spent nearly 25 of his Navy years at sea has lived off his retirement pay since 1972, and cruises on a careful budget. He usually has a Crew of two aboard for the summer season for the yacht is too big for him to sail it by himself. Crew members adventurous Young men and women who want to see a bit of the world leave the yacht during his Winter layovers. He and his White hulled boat la Joya have shouldered aside 58,000 Miles of Ocean. Most of it has been fair sailing but there have been exceptions. A the worst storm i be encountered was off the West coast of Southern Italy in either 1978 or 1979. It blew Force 12 Hurricane winds All night Long. We had no sails up and we were still doing about seven knots Quot he says. A the storm blew us away from land. If the wind had been coming from the opposite direction we would t have had a la Joya can do nine knots but when the wind pipes up and pushes his 23-tonner along at More than five knots the old Salt starts taking sail in to make sure his boat won t be caught Over canvases when the wind howls. A i m Happy making five knots. I admit i m a fair weather Sailor Quot he says. A la Joya is a slow boat. It was t built for Speed but for comfortable originally la Joya was designed to accommodate nine voyagers. Marshall trimmed that to six to make the boat roomier. Because he lives aboard a cruising in the summer and wintering in various marinas a he wanted All the room he could get. La Joya panelled throughout in warm mahogany is cozy and welcoming. Six friends can easily sit around the table in the main Cabin As they did on a recent Rainy Day As Marshall told tales of where the wind had taken him during the last 18 years. He spent the first 10 years in the Mediterranean wintering in Gibraltar Athens Tel Aviv Cyprus and on the italian islands of Sardinia and ischia. A finally Quot he says a i knew it was time to get going to sail around the world. I d spent All those years sailing around the med and i still had not seen it Marshall who was exposed to seafaring As a boy when he sailed aboard his Grandfather s Newfoundland Schooner headed out into the Atlantic. A Winter was passed cruising the coast of West Africa and the Canary islands and then he let the Trade winds lift him to the Caribbean. Marshall stayed Only a year in the Caribbean. A i got sick of it too Many boats unfriendly natives and the threat of he says. A so i headed for Panama and spent the Winter there before heading across the the first hop on his Pacific Odyssey took him 500 mile nov but i i was i Rucj lash 12 stripes Magazine april 19, 1990 a sin a Italy. I \ a pm m Marshall poses in 1971 at his boat s rudder which was destined to break during part of his Pacific Odyssey. I he coast of Ecuador to the Galapagos islands where there Are dragon like reptiles Birds and 600-Pound tortoises Darwin sailed to the islands As a Young Man Hof the observation that went into his Book in of tie 5pec/es, was carried out in the a Marshall also was fascinated by the a reptiles and plants found there and else in the world. He was reluctant to leave its stays Are strictly limited. W passage 3,000 Miles to the Marquesas speedy one. With 500 Miles to go his Loke. Fortunately he managed to save it and to the boat so it could be remounted with Mculty by divers in the Marquesas. The loss older hobbled la Joya to a maximum of 50 Niles a Day. The voyage stretched to 40 Days l sailed on to magical polynesian pcs Tahiti Bora Bora Samoa. He spent a pm Winter in american Samoa before cruising through the myriad islands of Tonga Fiji and Peonia. The following Winter he sought Queensland Australia the so Many yachts Are lost to storms reefs Heads in the Pacific the prohibitive Cost of t yacht there forces most owners like i to cruise uninsured. Quot having no insurance intakes you More careful Quot he says having Australia on a voyage to Singapore lame close to losing la Joya. A Young crewman had steered 30 degrees off a a moonless night and had put la Joya Miles nits intended position. The boat came be of crashing into the great Barrier reef 1 was caught by the other member of a Elmen a swedish student. Ithm0 3 teacher n Stockholm stays in i a ? Ard spent her Spring vacation a aboard Lajoya in Caela. O cruising Quot she says. A it s such a free life Hak a a one on wheel at night with l sea and the stars. You get the right f Eon Carr get ill in Singapore and flew to the Spital in Subic Bay in the Philippines for l was operated on there for a hiatus f gallstones. He returned to la Joya and set off across the Indian Ocean. He was sick for nearly the entire 19-Day voyage to sri Lanka. Nevertheless he pressed on another 23 Days to Yemen. And then although he was feeling miserable Marshall continued the voyage and headed up the red sea for the Suez canal. In the constricted heavily trafficked Waters Between port Sudan and Suez la Joya was walloped by a seven Day storm. Marshall was incapacitated by his illness and his Crew a Young woman from Canada and a new zealand lad had to stand All watches. It was a grueling trip dodging enormous Oil tankers while tacking Back and Forth every four hours. The trip through the Suez canal itself and on to Cyprus was uneventful and on june 28, 1988, Marshall and la Joya completed their trip around the world. Marshall immediately flew to the naval Hospital at Naples Italy for corrective surgery. He regained his strength the next Winter in Cyprus and sailed the summer of 1989 in turkish and greek Waters. A i d sailed along the Southern coast of Turkey in 1974, and All that summer i saw Only four other yachts Quot he says. A now it s been discovered last summer there were a thousand yachts there and it was impossible to find a Little Cove All to he arrived in Gaeta last fall and is involved in final preparations for the summer season. In late Spring Marshall will move to Spanish Waters and cruise before sailing to Madeira. He plans to sit out the Hurricane season on the Atlantic Island and then let the trades waft him Westward again to the Caribbean. Hell then return to the Pacific. But upon reaching american Samoa the Well seasoned Sailor intends to sail no More. Marshall whose four grown children live in the United states says hell sell the boat buy a farm and raise chickens and pigs. A i m going ashore Quot he says. Quot i need some a i. F __4 n. A _ am s u in a a 4 t f a. Jim Marshall says it s time for him to leave his dream boat and go ashore. A amps Gary Miller 2 april 19, 1990 stripes Magazine 13 c \ j
