fact that fishing is best March until fall. But
they’re not complaining. “It’s enough for
a nice family holiday,” says Billy Hawkins,
one of the singers. “The best thing to come
out of this is our children actually think
we’re quite cool now!”
Fisherman’s Friends perfect the role of mean and
moody rock stars.
The Around The Americas
crew get ready to round
Cape Horn. (Schrader,
with camera)
PHOTOS TOP TO BOTTOM: FISHERMAN’S FRIENDS, DAVID THORESON
All Around The Americas
After one year, 31 ports, a challenging
journey through the Northwest Passage,
and a rounding of Cape Horn, the crew of
Ocean Watch returned safely to Seattle in
June. Their circumnavigation was tracked
by schoolchildren across the country as the
crew performed a series of scientific tests
for the Pacific Science Center in Seattle,
Washington, which is monitoring ocean
health.
They’ve shared a tight space and high
adventure for almost 25,000 miles, so if
the normally solo-sailing skipper Mark
Schrader (who’s accomplished two single-handed circumnavigations); watch captain
and writer Herb McCormick; photographer
and watch captain David Thoreson; and
first mate David Logan didn’t want to see
each other for a while, they’d be forgiven
— but that’s not the case, according to
Schrader.
“What surprised and pleased me most
was how well we got along,” he says. “The
personal chemistry worked and we truly
enjoyed each others company, on and off
the boat. Time aboard was actually easier
for us than time ashore where everyone
had multiple responsibilities such as finish-
ing writing a story, sending images, making
travel arrangements, and all while hosting
hundreds of students, teachers, children,
and interested people. We enjoyed every
sailing day, because port days were always
the high-stress ones!”
Not that the sailing was all a breeze.
“Physically and mentally the slog from
Puerto Rico to Rio de Janeiro was prob-
ably the toughest,” says Schrader. “That
included a very long 2,500-mile stretch
that became 3,500 miles sailed with an
adverse current of 2-3 knots, constant
15- to 25-knot southeasterly winds on the
nose, and temperatures inside of nothing
lower than 94 degrees, for 45 days! We
made three unplanned stops for fuel on
this leg before finally reaching Rio. It was
miserable!”
Though the “core crew” thrived
together, Schrader found the health of the
oceans they sailed through less than flour-
ishing. “We’ve screwed it up pretty badly,”
he says. “But there were lots of positives
when it comes to people interested in
learning about the problems and actively
engaged in trying to mitigate the damage.
I’m hoping that amongst the 3,500 young
students we engaged, or hosted aboard,
are the next brilliant scientists who will
help stop the destruction and start the
healing.”
The journey of Around The Americas
is far from over. Schrader says the team
will continue their science and education
mission: “David Thoreson has captured
over 60,000 images and 60 hours of video,
which we hope will form the basis of a
documentary. Herb McCormick has docu-
mented the voyage with his daily stories,
which will be the foundation of a book
about this incredible experience. I’ll help
with both. Together we’ll make presenta-
tions to schools and interested groups
about what we’ve seen and experienced.”
But for now the life of a landlubber
calls. “I’m looking forward to returning to
our little farm, taking a walk in the woods,
spending some time on my tractor, playing
with my dog, and seeing if I can still ride
a horse.”
To contact Mark Schrader or the Around The
Americas team, visit: www.aroundtheam-
ericas.org. To see some of David Thoreson’s
photographs from the voyage, see “How I Got
That Shot” on pages 36-37.
