1 00:00:15,410 --> 00:00:15,890 Speaker 1: Pushkin. 2 00:00:23,010 --> 00:00:26,770 Speaker 2: On a warm summer's day, somewhere near the Cape Verde 3 00:00:26,810 --> 00:00:31,130 Speaker 2: Islands off the coast of Africa, Robin Knocks Johnston puts 4 00:00:31,130 --> 00:00:34,570 Speaker 2: on a mask and a snorkel and jumps from the 5 00:00:34,690 --> 00:00:39,970 Speaker 2: side of his yacht into a calm sea. It sounds idyllic, 6 00:00:40,850 --> 00:00:45,930 Speaker 2: but Knocks Johnston isn't diving for fun. He's investigating why 7 00:00:46,090 --> 00:00:49,930 Speaker 2: his boat has been leaking. You expect some water in 8 00:00:49,970 --> 00:00:53,250 Speaker 2: the bilge, but not this much. He's been having to 9 00:00:53,330 --> 00:00:58,250 Speaker 2: run the pumps twice a day. Five feet below the waterline. 10 00:00:58,730 --> 00:01:04,210 Speaker 2: He sees the problem. Two wooden planks are coming slightly apart. 11 00:01:04,970 --> 00:01:10,090 Speaker 2: A long, thin gap has opened up between them. As 12 00:01:10,130 --> 00:01:15,010 Speaker 2: the boat bobs gently in the ocean, the gap opens 13 00:01:15,450 --> 00:01:22,890 Speaker 2: and closes, opens and closes. It's no big deal. Every 14 00:01:22,930 --> 00:01:26,130 Speaker 2: boat needs patching up from time to time. In an 15 00:01:26,130 --> 00:01:29,650 Speaker 2: ideal world, Knox Johnston would simply have the boat lifted 16 00:01:29,690 --> 00:01:32,250 Speaker 2: out of water when he's next at port and fill 17 00:01:32,330 --> 00:01:36,290 Speaker 2: the gap with corking cotton picture a thick piece of string. 18 00:01:37,290 --> 00:01:40,930 Speaker 2: But he can't head for a port because Robin Knox 19 00:01:41,050 --> 00:01:46,690 Speaker 2: Johnston is competing for the Sunday Times Golden Globe. The 20 00:01:46,770 --> 00:01:51,250 Speaker 2: year is nineteen sixty eight the challenge sail around the 21 00:01:51,290 --> 00:01:57,610 Speaker 2: world single handed without stopping. It's never been done before. 22 00:01:58,770 --> 00:02:02,490 Speaker 2: Knox Johnston will have to repair the gap right here 23 00:02:02,930 --> 00:02:07,010 Speaker 2: in the middle of the sea, under water, on his own. 24 00:02:08,370 --> 00:02:13,410 Speaker 2: But how he ties a hammer to a rope and 25 00:02:13,570 --> 00:02:18,770 Speaker 2: dangles it overboard. He twists a length of cotton, dives 26 00:02:18,850 --> 00:02:22,330 Speaker 2: under the water, hammers it into the gap, and comes 27 00:02:22,410 --> 00:02:26,810 Speaker 2: up for air. But by the time he dives back down, 28 00:02:27,410 --> 00:02:29,410 Speaker 2: the cotton has worked its way loose. 29 00:02:30,970 --> 00:02:34,250 Speaker 3: After half an hour fruitless effort, I climb back on 30 00:02:34,290 --> 00:02:37,210 Speaker 3: board and tried to think of some other way of 31 00:02:37,250 --> 00:02:37,930 Speaker 3: doing the job. 32 00:02:40,050 --> 00:02:43,810 Speaker 2: Knox Johnston expects his round the World voyage to take 33 00:02:43,810 --> 00:02:48,650 Speaker 2: about ten months. He's barely a month in so far. 34 00:02:49,210 --> 00:02:53,370 Speaker 2: He sailed south from Britain past half of Africa. He 35 00:02:53,410 --> 00:02:56,450 Speaker 2: still has to pass the rest of Africa and turn 36 00:02:56,650 --> 00:03:00,850 Speaker 2: left into the Southern Ocean under Australia and New Zealand 37 00:03:01,330 --> 00:03:05,530 Speaker 2: and round the bottom of South America, the dreaded Cape Horn, 38 00:03:05,730 --> 00:03:11,890 Speaker 2: where waves can tower like skyscrapers. He can't do that 39 00:03:12,050 --> 00:03:15,610 Speaker 2: with a gap between his planks. He drinks a coffee, 40 00:03:16,170 --> 00:03:22,130 Speaker 2: smokes a cigarette and thinks what if he sows the 41 00:03:22,130 --> 00:03:25,210 Speaker 2: cotton to a long strip of canvas. 42 00:03:26,730 --> 00:03:28,930 Speaker 3: I gave it a coating of Stockholm tar and then 43 00:03:29,170 --> 00:03:32,770 Speaker 3: forced copper tacks through the canvas about six inches apart. 44 00:03:34,450 --> 00:03:37,530 Speaker 2: He'll hammer in the tacks so the canvas holds the 45 00:03:37,530 --> 00:03:41,210 Speaker 2: cotton in place, then cover the canvas with a sheet 46 00:03:41,250 --> 00:03:45,890 Speaker 2: of copper to stop it ripping loose. But just as 47 00:03:45,930 --> 00:03:49,410 Speaker 2: he's about to dive in again, he sees a dark 48 00:03:49,770 --> 00:03:54,650 Speaker 2: gray shape under the surface near to the boat. A shark. 49 00:03:55,490 --> 00:03:56,610 Speaker 2: Good job, he noticed. 50 00:03:57,970 --> 00:04:01,650 Speaker 3: I got out my rifle, aimed at the shape and 51 00:04:01,690 --> 00:04:02,650 Speaker 3: squeezed the trigger. 52 00:04:06,730 --> 00:04:35,010 Speaker 2: I'm Tim Harford and you're listening to cautionary tales. Sailing 53 00:04:35,050 --> 00:04:38,810 Speaker 2: around the world single handed was nothing new. It had 54 00:04:38,850 --> 00:04:42,490 Speaker 2: first been done in the nineteenth century, though with lots 55 00:04:42,490 --> 00:04:46,010 Speaker 2: of stops along the way to fix up problems, get 56 00:04:46,090 --> 00:04:51,250 Speaker 2: supplies and enjoy some human company. In nineteen sixty seven, 57 00:04:51,610 --> 00:04:55,530 Speaker 2: a British sailor completed a solo round the world trip 58 00:04:55,690 --> 00:05:00,330 Speaker 2: with just one stop in Australia that had never been 59 00:05:00,370 --> 00:05:05,810 Speaker 2: done before, and it caught the imagination of the British newspapers. 60 00:05:07,690 --> 00:05:12,370 Speaker 2: Over breakfast in the not Johnston household, Robin's dad wondered 61 00:05:12,410 --> 00:05:15,930 Speaker 2: when someone would try to sail round the world without 62 00:05:16,010 --> 00:05:19,370 Speaker 2: stopping at all. That's about all there's left to do now, 63 00:05:19,410 --> 00:05:22,250 Speaker 2: isn't it, he casually remarked to Robin. 64 00:05:23,890 --> 00:05:26,610 Speaker 3: He got up and left for the office, leaving me 65 00:05:26,690 --> 00:05:30,690 Speaker 3: stirring a cup of coffee and thinking that's about all 66 00:05:30,730 --> 00:05:34,090 Speaker 3: there's left to do now kept turning in my mind. 67 00:05:37,330 --> 00:05:41,010 Speaker 2: Robin Knocks Johnston was a young man, just twenty eight 68 00:05:41,090 --> 00:05:44,450 Speaker 2: years old, but he was no flower powered child of 69 00:05:44,490 --> 00:05:49,010 Speaker 2: the sixties. He was conventional, an officer with the British 70 00:05:49,090 --> 00:05:54,210 Speaker 2: India Steam Navigation Company, a church goer and a patriot. 71 00:05:55,090 --> 00:05:58,250 Speaker 3: The thought of generations of Britons and their achievements always 72 00:05:58,370 --> 00:06:02,410 Speaker 3: encourages me. Most nations have a book full of heroes, 73 00:06:02,450 --> 00:06:06,010 Speaker 3: but I always feel that Britain has a greater share 74 00:06:06,050 --> 00:06:06,530 Speaker 3: than most. 75 00:06:08,650 --> 00:06:12,530 Speaker 2: As he stirs his coffee and contemplates the place in 76 00:06:12,570 --> 00:06:15,690 Speaker 2: the history books that awaits the first person to sail 77 00:06:15,970 --> 00:06:20,810 Speaker 2: non stop around the world, a horrible thought praise on 78 00:06:20,930 --> 00:06:27,730 Speaker 2: his mind. What if it's a Frenchman that would be galling? 79 00:06:28,850 --> 00:06:34,610 Speaker 2: By rights, a Britain should do it first, and well 80 00:06:35,370 --> 00:06:40,330 Speaker 2: why not him? Knox Johnston was an experienced sailor. He 81 00:06:40,370 --> 00:06:43,170 Speaker 2: already had a boat, He had it built in India. 82 00:06:43,290 --> 00:06:46,450 Speaker 2: When based there with his work, he'd seen a design 83 00:06:46,490 --> 00:06:48,930 Speaker 2: he liked and sent off to a British company for 84 00:06:48,970 --> 00:06:51,810 Speaker 2: the plans, But there'd been a mix up and they'd 85 00:06:51,810 --> 00:06:55,770 Speaker 2: sent him plans for a different boat, more old fashioned 86 00:06:55,810 --> 00:07:01,090 Speaker 2: and slow. Still, this design looked solid and reliable, so 87 00:07:01,290 --> 00:07:05,010 Speaker 2: Knox Johnston shrugged and gave the plans to his Indian 88 00:07:05,090 --> 00:07:12,530 Speaker 2: boat builders. Solid, reliable, a bit old fashioned. Quite by accident, 89 00:07:13,010 --> 00:07:16,290 Speaker 2: Robin Knox Johnston had ended up with a boat that 90 00:07:16,410 --> 00:07:19,290 Speaker 2: was very much like him. He had sailed it from 91 00:07:19,330 --> 00:07:23,450 Speaker 2: India back to England. Now he began to wonder if 92 00:07:23,450 --> 00:07:27,010 Speaker 2: he could sail it around the world on his own 93 00:07:27,770 --> 00:07:38,090 Speaker 2: non stop. Other sailors were also asking themselves could I 94 00:07:39,530 --> 00:07:43,370 Speaker 2: Editors at the British newspaper The Sunday Times had a 95 00:07:43,370 --> 00:07:47,770 Speaker 2: bright idea. They announced that the first person to sail 96 00:07:48,010 --> 00:07:51,890 Speaker 2: non stop around the world would win a trophy, the 97 00:07:52,050 --> 00:07:56,530 Speaker 2: Sunday Times Golden Globe. If sailors were going to be 98 00:07:56,530 --> 00:08:00,290 Speaker 2: competing anyway, why not attach the newspaper's name to it 99 00:08:00,530 --> 00:08:03,890 Speaker 2: and get some free publicity. It was a stroke of 100 00:08:04,090 --> 00:08:08,970 Speaker 2: marketing genius, But that wasn't all as well as a 101 00:08:08,970 --> 00:08:12,490 Speaker 2: trophy for the first person around the world. They announced 102 00:08:12,530 --> 00:08:17,210 Speaker 2: a large cash prize for the fastest. That was clever, 103 00:08:17,650 --> 00:08:20,810 Speaker 2: it would keep up public interest even after the trophy 104 00:08:20,850 --> 00:08:25,490 Speaker 2: had been won. The rules were simple. Set off from 105 00:08:25,530 --> 00:08:29,330 Speaker 2: a British port between June and October of nineteen sixty eight. 106 00:08:30,170 --> 00:08:32,610 Speaker 2: Whoever got back to their port of departure in the 107 00:08:32,690 --> 00:08:37,650 Speaker 2: least amount of time would get five thousand pounds maybe 108 00:08:37,850 --> 00:08:41,650 Speaker 2: a quarter million dollars in today's money. Not to be 109 00:08:41,730 --> 00:08:47,210 Speaker 2: sniffed at. Robin Knox. Johnston knew he hadn't a hope 110 00:08:47,290 --> 00:08:51,050 Speaker 2: of winning the cash prize for being fastest. His boat 111 00:08:51,130 --> 00:08:54,850 Speaker 2: was slow, but maybe he had a chance of being 112 00:08:55,290 --> 00:08:59,890 Speaker 2: first if he set off at the earliest possible moment, 113 00:09:00,330 --> 00:09:02,210 Speaker 2: right at the start of June. 114 00:09:03,210 --> 00:09:03,970 Speaker 1: That was a risk. 115 00:09:04,930 --> 00:09:07,930 Speaker 2: Ideally, you wanted to time your journey so you'd be 116 00:09:07,970 --> 00:09:12,090 Speaker 2: in the fearsome Southern Ocean during the southern summer, when 117 00:09:12,090 --> 00:09:15,610 Speaker 2: the weather should be a little less wild. Other sailors 118 00:09:15,730 --> 00:09:19,770 Speaker 2: with faster boats were rumored to be planning a later departure. 119 00:09:20,850 --> 00:09:26,610 Speaker 2: Among them was Bernard Motessier, a Frenchman, and not just 120 00:09:27,090 --> 00:09:32,490 Speaker 2: any Frenchman. Mosier was already famous for his long, distant 121 00:09:32,650 --> 00:09:36,610 Speaker 2: sailing exploits and the best selling books he wrote about them, 122 00:09:37,050 --> 00:09:43,370 Speaker 2: books of philosophy distinctly French philosophy, the kind of lines 123 00:09:43,410 --> 00:09:46,810 Speaker 2: that make you imagine smoking a gloise at a Parisian 124 00:09:46,930 --> 00:09:48,010 Speaker 2: street cafe. 125 00:09:48,970 --> 00:09:51,530 Speaker 4: You do not ask a tame sea girl why it 126 00:09:51,570 --> 00:09:56,050 Speaker 4: needs to disappear from time to time toward the open sea. 127 00:09:56,730 --> 00:09:58,410 Speaker 3: It goes, that's all. 128 00:09:59,010 --> 00:10:03,090 Speaker 4: And it is as simple as a ray of sunshine, 129 00:10:03,330 --> 00:10:06,530 Speaker 4: as normal as the blue of the sky. 130 00:10:08,170 --> 00:10:12,370 Speaker 2: It wasn't clear if the tame seagull Mortessier had heard 131 00:10:12,370 --> 00:10:16,090 Speaker 2: about the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, because rumor had 132 00:10:16,130 --> 00:10:18,370 Speaker 2: it that he was planning to set off from a 133 00:10:18,490 --> 00:10:22,690 Speaker 2: port in France. The Sunday Time sent a reporter to 134 00:10:22,770 --> 00:10:26,210 Speaker 2: explain to him about the trophy and the cash prize, 135 00:10:26,650 --> 00:10:28,850 Speaker 2: but how the rules said you had to start from 136 00:10:28,850 --> 00:10:35,410 Speaker 2: a British port. Motessier listened, growing more and more incensed. 137 00:10:36,250 --> 00:10:40,090 Speaker 2: The very idea, he said made him want to vomit. 138 00:10:41,650 --> 00:10:46,050 Speaker 4: I disapprove of a risk. It makes you lose sight 139 00:10:46,210 --> 00:10:50,970 Speaker 4: of the essential. A voyage to your own utter limits, 140 00:10:51,330 --> 00:10:55,490 Speaker 4: this search for a profound truth with as sole witnesses 141 00:10:55,810 --> 00:11:01,690 Speaker 4: the sea, the wind, the boat, the infinitely big, the 142 00:11:01,730 --> 00:11:02,850 Speaker 4: infinitely small. 143 00:11:06,850 --> 00:11:10,610 Speaker 2: This was a problem for the Sunday Times. If Whatessier 144 00:11:10,850 --> 00:11:13,090 Speaker 2: was first around the world, it would look a bit 145 00:11:13,130 --> 00:11:16,730 Speaker 2: silly to give their trophy to someone else. They decided 146 00:11:16,730 --> 00:11:20,490 Speaker 2: to change their rules to allow competitors to set off 147 00:11:20,490 --> 00:11:24,610 Speaker 2: from French ports too. But before they could change the rules, 148 00:11:24,930 --> 00:11:30,450 Speaker 2: Whatessier changed his mind. Even philosophers need to eat, and 149 00:11:30,530 --> 00:11:32,810 Speaker 2: the cash prize was tempting. 150 00:11:34,050 --> 00:11:38,930 Speaker 4: Money malus, Yes, money, more or less money is necessary. 151 00:11:40,410 --> 00:11:41,690 Speaker 1: He now had a new plan. 152 00:11:42,410 --> 00:11:46,370 Speaker 2: He'd sail from France to a British port, then sail 153 00:11:46,490 --> 00:11:50,210 Speaker 2: fastest around the world and pocket the cash prize, but 154 00:11:50,410 --> 00:11:53,690 Speaker 2: show his contempt for The Sunday Times by refusing to 155 00:11:53,770 --> 00:11:56,210 Speaker 2: pose for photos or give an interview. 156 00:11:57,210 --> 00:11:59,730 Speaker 4: The rules did not specify that we had to say 157 00:12:00,330 --> 00:12:00,770 Speaker 4: thank you. 158 00:12:02,330 --> 00:12:05,730 Speaker 2: Maybe he'd even catch Robin Knox Johnston in his much 159 00:12:05,770 --> 00:12:08,970 Speaker 2: slower boat. Then he could pick up the trophy without 160 00:12:08,970 --> 00:12:16,010 Speaker 2: saying thank you too. Cautionary tales will be back after 161 00:12:16,050 --> 00:12:28,410 Speaker 2: the break. What was the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race about? 162 00:12:28,810 --> 00:12:29,170 Speaker 1: Really? 163 00:12:30,490 --> 00:12:39,010 Speaker 2: Was it seamanship, endurance, mental fortitude? The writer Stuart Brand 164 00:12:39,330 --> 00:12:44,570 Speaker 2: has a more prosaic ancer. The race was about maintenance. 165 00:12:46,050 --> 00:12:49,610 Speaker 2: Robin Knox Johnston knew he had no hope of winning 166 00:12:49,610 --> 00:12:52,970 Speaker 2: the cash prize for being fastest around the world. To 167 00:12:53,010 --> 00:12:55,770 Speaker 2: stand a chance of winning the trophy for being first, 168 00:12:56,370 --> 00:12:59,610 Speaker 2: he had to set off at the earliest possible moment, 169 00:13:00,170 --> 00:13:03,090 Speaker 2: even though his boat was leaking and it wasn't obvious 170 00:13:03,090 --> 00:13:05,810 Speaker 2: from where he'd just had to figure it all out. 171 00:13:05,850 --> 00:13:10,170 Speaker 2: As he sailed along in the harbor and Falmouth, he 172 00:13:10,330 --> 00:13:14,730 Speaker 2: piled on board everything he could imagine needing for maintenance 173 00:13:14,770 --> 00:13:15,170 Speaker 2: on the go. 174 00:13:16,770 --> 00:13:22,010 Speaker 5: One ball, corking cotton, one set corking chisels, twelve yards canvas, 175 00:13:22,490 --> 00:13:26,090 Speaker 5: seven pounds Stockholm tar, seven pounds marine glue, eighteen tins 176 00:13:26,130 --> 00:13:27,170 Speaker 5: flexible seam stopper. 177 00:13:27,970 --> 00:13:32,010 Speaker 2: On went every kind of tool and spare part he 178 00:13:32,050 --> 00:13:35,530 Speaker 2: could conceive of. By the time he had finished, the 179 00:13:35,570 --> 00:13:39,930 Speaker 2: boat was sitting two inches lower in the water, but 180 00:13:39,970 --> 00:13:43,810 Speaker 2: it meant that when the leak got really serious somewhere 181 00:13:43,850 --> 00:13:48,490 Speaker 2: near Cape Verde, Knox Johnston had a floating hardware store 182 00:13:48,530 --> 00:13:52,610 Speaker 2: to draw on as he drank his coffee, smoked his cigarette, 183 00:13:53,170 --> 00:14:01,450 Speaker 2: and contemplated what to do. In his book Maintenance of Everything, 184 00:14:02,130 --> 00:14:06,730 Speaker 2: Stewart Brand commends Knox Johnston for taking his time. Skilled 185 00:14:06,770 --> 00:14:11,570 Speaker 2: maintainers advise never trying to a new or complex problem 186 00:14:11,970 --> 00:14:18,090 Speaker 2: without a thorough mulling first. Of course, skilled maintainers don't 187 00:14:18,170 --> 00:14:21,530 Speaker 2: usually have to shoot a shark before they can affect 188 00:14:21,570 --> 00:14:22,250 Speaker 2: their solution. 189 00:14:23,810 --> 00:14:26,890 Speaker 3: I squeezed the trigger. There was an explosion in the 190 00:14:26,890 --> 00:14:30,250 Speaker 3: water as the shark's body thrust around, but within half 191 00:14:30,290 --> 00:14:33,770 Speaker 3: a minute the threshing ceased and the lifeless body began 192 00:14:33,890 --> 00:14:39,890 Speaker 3: slowly to plane down until it disappeared into the blue. 193 00:14:40,690 --> 00:14:44,210 Speaker 2: Knox Johnston waited for a while to check no other 194 00:14:44,330 --> 00:14:49,570 Speaker 2: sharks were lurking, then jumped into the sea, dived under 195 00:14:49,570 --> 00:14:53,410 Speaker 2: water and hammered in the canvas and the copper sheet. 196 00:14:54,930 --> 00:14:57,490 Speaker 3: The leaking into the boat almost stopped completely. 197 00:14:59,130 --> 00:15:08,450 Speaker 2: Maintenance Knox Johnston sailed on. Bernard Mortessier sailed from France 198 00:15:08,490 --> 00:15:13,090 Speaker 2: to a British port and made his final preparations. His 199 00:15:13,170 --> 00:15:17,930 Speaker 2: approach was the opposite of Robin Knox Johnston's. Instead of 200 00:15:18,090 --> 00:15:21,650 Speaker 2: piling on board anything he might need, he wanted to 201 00:15:21,650 --> 00:15:24,010 Speaker 2: get rid of everything he could do without. 202 00:15:25,250 --> 00:15:31,090 Speaker 4: I unloaded engine and go winch dingy all unnecessary charts, 203 00:15:31,330 --> 00:15:36,290 Speaker 4: a suitcase full of books, four anchors, spare zinc anodes, 204 00:15:36,690 --> 00:15:39,770 Speaker 4: nine hundred pounds of chain, and all of the tins 205 00:15:39,810 --> 00:15:44,530 Speaker 4: of paint. Incredible the amount of spare equipment a sailboard 206 00:15:44,570 --> 00:15:48,610 Speaker 4: can carry masses of improbable bits of gear. 207 00:15:50,370 --> 00:15:52,810 Speaker 2: The Sunday Times tried to persuade him to take a 208 00:15:52,850 --> 00:15:55,850 Speaker 2: bulky radio on board like the other sailors, so he 209 00:15:55,890 --> 00:16:00,610 Speaker 2: could keep them updated on his progress. What Tessiers said not. 210 00:16:01,530 --> 00:16:04,010 Speaker 2: He was trying to get rid of stuff, not add 211 00:16:04,050 --> 00:16:07,050 Speaker 2: to it. If he wanted to communicate with the world, 212 00:16:07,130 --> 00:16:10,010 Speaker 2: he'd do it how he always had when sailing alone. 213 00:16:10,690 --> 00:16:14,770 Speaker 2: Wait till he encountered a ship, scribble a message, put 214 00:16:14,810 --> 00:16:18,490 Speaker 2: it in a small container, and catapult it in their direction. 215 00:16:19,770 --> 00:16:23,490 Speaker 4: A good sling shot is worth all the transmitters in 216 00:16:23,530 --> 00:16:24,170 Speaker 4: the world. 217 00:16:26,610 --> 00:16:32,010 Speaker 2: Whatsier set sail in August sixty nine, days after Robin 218 00:16:32,090 --> 00:16:36,570 Speaker 2: Knox Johnston. But on his bigger and now much lighter boat, 219 00:16:36,890 --> 00:16:42,610 Speaker 2: he'd surely go faster. The tame seagull was in his element. 220 00:16:43,650 --> 00:16:49,610 Speaker 2: No radio, no baggage, alone. 221 00:16:49,130 --> 00:16:55,370 Speaker 4: Wind sea, boot and sails, a compact, diffuse hole without 222 00:16:55,450 --> 00:16:58,890 Speaker 4: beginning or end a part and all of the universe, 223 00:16:59,730 --> 00:17:06,690 Speaker 4: my own universe, truly mine. 224 00:17:06,930 --> 00:17:10,970 Speaker 2: How do they spend their days? That's not knowing how 225 00:17:11,050 --> 00:17:16,210 Speaker 2: quickly the one is catching the other Knocks Johnston Potters. 226 00:17:16,810 --> 00:17:20,290 Speaker 2: Doing maintenance, I cleaned out the engine built. 227 00:17:20,650 --> 00:17:22,610 Speaker 3: I took some of the corking compound and rammed it 228 00:17:22,610 --> 00:17:23,930 Speaker 3: into the holes in the forward hatch. 229 00:17:24,530 --> 00:17:25,970 Speaker 1: And what I see. 230 00:17:26,650 --> 00:17:30,650 Speaker 4: I watched the sunset and inhale the breath of the 231 00:17:30,690 --> 00:17:34,770 Speaker 4: open sea. I feel my being blossoming, and my joy 232 00:17:34,970 --> 00:17:38,730 Speaker 4: soars so high that nothing can disturb it. 233 00:17:39,770 --> 00:17:42,250 Speaker 3: I refilled the charger and continued boosting the batteries. 234 00:17:43,050 --> 00:17:46,170 Speaker 4: A flying fish shoot straight up in a twenty foot 235 00:17:46,250 --> 00:17:47,290 Speaker 4: leap into the air. 236 00:17:47,890 --> 00:17:49,730 Speaker 3: I went over the rigging with a mixture of white 237 00:17:49,770 --> 00:17:50,410 Speaker 3: leaden tallow. 238 00:17:51,210 --> 00:17:55,130 Speaker 4: A huge barracuda takes off after it and snatches the 239 00:17:55,170 --> 00:17:56,810 Speaker 4: flying fish at the top. 240 00:17:56,650 --> 00:17:59,330 Speaker 3: Of the arc. I gave the cabin a good scrubb up. 241 00:18:00,170 --> 00:18:02,450 Speaker 4: I felt sorry for the little one, but was so 242 00:18:02,650 --> 00:18:05,330 Speaker 4: struck by the terrible beauty that I let out the 243 00:18:05,450 --> 00:18:13,010 Speaker 4: big ah. 244 00:18:13,210 --> 00:18:18,290 Speaker 2: Knox Johnstone is clobbered by a massive way. Then water 245 00:18:18,490 --> 00:18:21,370 Speaker 2: starts to seep alarmingly into the cabin. 246 00:18:22,810 --> 00:18:25,490 Speaker 3: I discovered that there were ominous cracks all around the 247 00:18:25,610 --> 00:18:28,170 Speaker 3: edge of the cabin. I got out my box of 248 00:18:28,210 --> 00:18:31,770 Speaker 3: bodnuts and screws and selected the longest box and heaviest 249 00:18:31,810 --> 00:18:35,530 Speaker 3: screws in order to try to reinforce the cabin top fastenings. 250 00:18:36,250 --> 00:18:37,970 Speaker 3: The job kept me busy all day. 251 00:18:39,610 --> 00:18:42,810 Speaker 2: Marti meanwhile, is communing with the sea birds. 252 00:18:43,770 --> 00:18:49,410 Speaker 4: I offer them my cheese and friendship. With time and patience, 253 00:18:50,050 --> 00:18:54,210 Speaker 4: one comes to eat out of my hand. They raised 254 00:18:54,250 --> 00:18:57,610 Speaker 4: their heads toward me, cocking them to one side, giving 255 00:18:57,650 --> 00:19:01,530 Speaker 4: a barely audible little cry, as if they were trying 256 00:19:01,570 --> 00:19:04,770 Speaker 4: to say that they liked me too. 257 00:19:06,450 --> 00:19:12,450 Speaker 2: And the porpoises. On a foggy day, two dozen porpoises 258 00:19:12,850 --> 00:19:19,570 Speaker 2: swim alongside Whatesier's boat in a straight line. Then they 259 00:19:19,610 --> 00:19:23,690 Speaker 2: all suddenly turn ninety degrees to the right. Then they 260 00:19:23,850 --> 00:19:28,210 Speaker 2: line up again alongside the boat and again make a 261 00:19:28,250 --> 00:19:32,570 Speaker 2: sharp turn to the right. Whatesier watches puzzle. 262 00:19:33,490 --> 00:19:38,290 Speaker 3: They seem nervous. I do not understand what. 263 00:19:38,450 --> 00:19:42,970 Speaker 2: Tessier checks his compass. The wind has shifted and he 264 00:19:43,050 --> 00:19:47,330 Speaker 2: hasn't realized he'd set his course to pass a rocky island, 265 00:19:47,370 --> 00:19:51,850 Speaker 2: but now he's heading straight towards it. To miss the rocks, 266 00:19:52,290 --> 00:19:55,330 Speaker 2: he has to turn to the right, just as the 267 00:19:55,370 --> 00:19:59,610 Speaker 2: porpoises have been doing. As he turns his boat. 268 00:20:00,330 --> 00:20:05,490 Speaker 4: Something wonderful happens. A big black and white porpoise jumps 269 00:20:05,530 --> 00:20:09,090 Speaker 4: ten or twelve feet in the air in a fantastic summer, 270 00:20:10,130 --> 00:20:14,250 Speaker 4: bursting with a tremendous joy, as if you were shouting. 271 00:20:14,770 --> 00:20:18,170 Speaker 4: The man understood, you understood. 272 00:20:27,410 --> 00:20:28,090 Speaker 1: Robin knocks. 273 00:20:28,210 --> 00:20:32,450 Speaker 2: Johnston thought he'd put on board everything he could possibly 274 00:20:32,530 --> 00:20:34,570 Speaker 2: need to make repairs as he went along. 275 00:20:35,410 --> 00:20:36,010 Speaker 1: He was wrong. 276 00:20:36,850 --> 00:20:41,210 Speaker 2: No one can think of everything, but a master maintainer 277 00:20:41,490 --> 00:20:46,050 Speaker 2: is ingenious at finding solutions with whatever he has to hand. 278 00:20:46,890 --> 00:20:51,450 Speaker 2: When his radio transmitter breaks, for example, Knocks Johnston takes 279 00:20:51,450 --> 00:20:55,050 Speaker 2: it apart and sees that a wire is corroded. 280 00:20:56,410 --> 00:20:59,370 Speaker 3: My problem was how to reconnect it effectively, as I 281 00:20:59,410 --> 00:21:02,450 Speaker 3: had no solder. In the end, I broke three of 282 00:21:02,490 --> 00:21:05,330 Speaker 3: my navigation light bulbs and melted down the scraps of 283 00:21:05,370 --> 00:21:06,530 Speaker 3: solder from the terminals. 284 00:21:07,930 --> 00:21:11,810 Speaker 2: When his battery stops working, he strips it down and 285 00:21:11,850 --> 00:21:17,250 Speaker 2: rebuilds it. Then realizes he's forgotten to bring a feeler gauge, 286 00:21:18,090 --> 00:21:21,330 Speaker 2: a tool that lets you set a very precise gap 287 00:21:21,610 --> 00:21:25,170 Speaker 2: between two points in a spark plug. He needs to 288 00:21:25,290 --> 00:21:30,570 Speaker 2: set the gap at fifteen thousandths of an inch. How 289 00:21:30,730 --> 00:21:35,050 Speaker 2: on earth can he measure such a tiny distance. He 290 00:21:35,090 --> 00:21:39,050 Speaker 2: looks around the boat for anything that might help the 291 00:21:39,170 --> 00:21:42,130 Speaker 2: log book. He counts the pages. 292 00:21:43,370 --> 00:21:46,570 Speaker 3: There are two hundred to the inch. Therefore one page 293 00:21:46,570 --> 00:21:51,090 Speaker 3: equals five thousandths, thus three thicknesses of paper. 294 00:21:53,170 --> 00:21:55,450 Speaker 1: It works. The charger's fixed. 295 00:21:57,090 --> 00:22:01,970 Speaker 2: But for all his ingenuity and maintenance, Knox Johnston can't 296 00:22:01,970 --> 00:22:03,130 Speaker 2: control the winds. 297 00:22:04,570 --> 00:22:08,210 Speaker 3: Come on, God, give me a bloody break. It's been 298 00:22:08,250 --> 00:22:11,490 Speaker 3: nothing but calm or gales for weeks. How about some 299 00:22:11,690 --> 00:22:14,370 Speaker 3: steady winds for a change. 300 00:22:14,490 --> 00:22:18,570 Speaker 2: He's painfully aware that his boat is smaller and slower 301 00:22:18,610 --> 00:22:23,850 Speaker 2: than Bernard Martessiers. And because Mortier refused to take a radio, 302 00:22:24,410 --> 00:22:28,810 Speaker 2: nobody has a clue where he is not knowing. He 303 00:22:28,890 --> 00:22:30,850 Speaker 2: eats away at Knox Johnston. 304 00:22:31,970 --> 00:22:36,170 Speaker 3: I'll bet the Frenchman is having beautiful westerlies. What the 305 00:22:36,210 --> 00:22:37,170 Speaker 3: hell is wrong with the. 306 00:22:37,210 --> 00:22:39,250 Speaker 1: Bloody weather anyway? 307 00:22:40,610 --> 00:22:44,970 Speaker 2: And Motier the Frenchman is thinking that he hadn't been 308 00:22:45,050 --> 00:22:49,650 Speaker 2: ruthless enough in port when he cleared out unwanted baggage. 309 00:22:50,330 --> 00:22:54,730 Speaker 2: He's brought too much food and fuel. He starts lobbing 310 00:22:54,770 --> 00:22:55,730 Speaker 2: stuff overboard. 311 00:22:58,130 --> 00:23:01,890 Speaker 4: The box of army biscuits, a case of condensed milk, 312 00:23:02,450 --> 00:23:06,130 Speaker 4: about thirty bounds of a jam. I don't like a 313 00:23:07,290 --> 00:23:11,930 Speaker 4: coil of nylon line. Kerosine gets the same treatment. I 314 00:23:11,970 --> 00:23:17,170 Speaker 4: took more than I needed heavo for Jerry Cans hit 315 00:23:17,210 --> 00:23:17,730 Speaker 4: the drink. 316 00:23:18,730 --> 00:23:24,690 Speaker 2: Ah What, by the way, was an avid environmentalist in 317 00:23:24,810 --> 00:23:29,090 Speaker 2: nineteen sixty eight, nobody had yet realized that ocean pollution 318 00:23:29,530 --> 00:23:33,130 Speaker 2: was a thing to worry about. As for the race, 319 00:23:33,690 --> 00:23:35,810 Speaker 2: whatier is philosophical? 320 00:23:37,370 --> 00:23:41,490 Speaker 4: If we are indeed racing, I do not feel that 321 00:23:41,610 --> 00:23:44,850 Speaker 4: it is against other sailors and other boats. 322 00:23:45,690 --> 00:23:50,530 Speaker 2: As he rounds the Cape of Good Hope, what passes 323 00:23:50,570 --> 00:23:55,050 Speaker 2: a ship and sling shots some message at them? Knox 324 00:23:55,130 --> 00:23:58,970 Speaker 2: Johnston is passing New Zealand when he hears the news 325 00:23:58,970 --> 00:24:03,130 Speaker 2: of when and Whatia was, And when he's still ahead, 326 00:24:04,290 --> 00:24:08,530 Speaker 2: what is closing? At the rates they've sailed so far, 327 00:24:09,170 --> 00:24:12,890 Speaker 2: the race to be first is neck and neck. The 328 00:24:12,970 --> 00:24:16,650 Speaker 2: two are on course to arrive back in Britain at 329 00:24:16,930 --> 00:24:22,050 Speaker 2: just the same time. Er will surely get the cash. 330 00:24:22,610 --> 00:24:27,690 Speaker 2: Knox Johnston could still win the trophy and secure the 331 00:24:27,770 --> 00:24:31,810 Speaker 2: place in the history books for the British, not the French. 332 00:24:32,970 --> 00:24:35,290 Speaker 3: That was just the sort of news I needed to 333 00:24:35,450 --> 00:24:36,010 Speaker 3: spy me. 334 00:24:36,130 --> 00:24:47,970 Speaker 2: On cautionary tales will be back in a moment. In 335 00:24:48,050 --> 00:24:53,650 Speaker 2: his book Maintenance of Everything, Stuart Brand wants to convince 336 00:24:53,730 --> 00:24:59,410 Speaker 2: us to pay more attention to this unsexy subject. Maintenance, 337 00:24:59,690 --> 00:25:04,570 Speaker 2: he points out, is what keeps everything going. But it's 338 00:25:04,610 --> 00:25:09,610 Speaker 2: also a tiresome chare brush the damn teeth, change the 339 00:25:09,690 --> 00:25:14,970 Speaker 2: dam oil, And so says Brand, we shirk it, defer it, 340 00:25:15,850 --> 00:25:20,010 Speaker 2: fail to budget time or money for it, and we 341 00:25:20,090 --> 00:25:23,490 Speaker 2: pay the price when one day the thing we should 342 00:25:23,490 --> 00:25:30,570 Speaker 2: have been maintaining suddenly fails. Robin Knox Johnston was brilliant 343 00:25:30,850 --> 00:25:35,930 Speaker 2: at maintenance, but so was Bernard Martier in his way. 344 00:25:36,930 --> 00:25:39,610 Speaker 2: He writes about it in his book Tucked Away in 345 00:25:39,650 --> 00:25:44,650 Speaker 2: an appendix of practical advice so different from the philosophizing 346 00:25:44,810 --> 00:25:46,850 Speaker 2: that you'd hardly guess it's the same author. 347 00:25:47,890 --> 00:25:50,930 Speaker 4: A complete dock's annode treatment is often as good as 348 00:25:50,970 --> 00:25:54,690 Speaker 4: hot dip galvanizing, but the steel must always be sun 349 00:25:54,770 --> 00:25:58,330 Speaker 4: blasted first or thoroughly cleaned with a product of the 350 00:25:58,810 --> 00:26:02,490 Speaker 4: rust killer type if the doc's alloyed is to hold well. 351 00:26:03,650 --> 00:26:09,570 Speaker 2: Martesier's philosophy of maintenance is simple, minimize the knee for it. 352 00:26:10,610 --> 00:26:12,970 Speaker 2: His boat is made from steel, not wood. 353 00:26:13,650 --> 00:26:16,770 Speaker 3: That makes it absolutely water tight. 354 00:26:18,810 --> 00:26:23,050 Speaker 2: You won't find what Essier diving overboard and dodging sharks 355 00:26:23,090 --> 00:26:28,250 Speaker 2: to fix gaps in planks. Of course, steel will rust 356 00:26:28,610 --> 00:26:33,450 Speaker 2: given time, but that's what Whatier's practical advice is about, 357 00:26:34,370 --> 00:26:39,170 Speaker 2: exactly which treatments to apply, which paints, how many coats 358 00:26:39,170 --> 00:26:42,210 Speaker 2: in which order, so you can do things like sail 359 00:26:42,290 --> 00:26:45,730 Speaker 2: around the world without feeling the need to take your 360 00:26:45,770 --> 00:26:50,810 Speaker 2: tins of paint with you. Whatier refused the offer of 361 00:26:50,890 --> 00:26:55,330 Speaker 2: a radio, one less thing to go wrong. Indeed, he 362 00:26:55,370 --> 00:26:58,530 Speaker 2: saw no need for any electronics on board at all. 363 00:26:59,290 --> 00:27:04,090 Speaker 2: That meant no need for charging batteries. All those problems 364 00:27:04,130 --> 00:27:07,650 Speaker 2: that Robin Knox Johnston had to grapple with were problems 365 00:27:07,650 --> 00:27:10,890 Speaker 2: that simply couldn't occur on Whatessier's boat. 366 00:27:12,290 --> 00:27:16,450 Speaker 4: Given a choice between something simple and something complicated, choose 367 00:27:16,490 --> 00:27:20,370 Speaker 4: what is simple without hesitation. Sooner or later what is 368 00:27:20,410 --> 00:27:25,210 Speaker 4: complicated will almost always lead to problems. 369 00:27:27,570 --> 00:27:31,610 Speaker 2: Robin Knox Johnston sailed on from New Zealand, where he'd 370 00:27:31,650 --> 00:27:34,690 Speaker 2: heard the news that the race with Martessier was neck 371 00:27:34,730 --> 00:27:35,170 Speaker 2: and neck. 372 00:27:36,650 --> 00:27:39,330 Speaker 3: I did not dare risk wasting a single hour if 373 00:27:39,370 --> 00:27:40,490 Speaker 3: I wanted to beat him home. 374 00:27:42,490 --> 00:27:48,090 Speaker 2: The Southern Ocean stretched ahead again, thousands of lonely miles 375 00:27:48,170 --> 00:27:51,850 Speaker 2: to Cape Horn, the tip of South America. It might 376 00:27:51,890 --> 00:27:55,770 Speaker 2: be summer in the southern hemisphere, but still the waves 377 00:27:55,810 --> 00:28:01,370 Speaker 2: were fierce. One crashed over the boat while the hatch 378 00:28:01,450 --> 00:28:05,010 Speaker 2: to the cabin was still open, drenching every day. 379 00:28:06,610 --> 00:28:08,810 Speaker 3: I had to sleep wet for three days as I 380 00:28:08,850 --> 00:28:11,490 Speaker 3: could not put things out to dry, and my efforts 381 00:28:11,530 --> 00:28:14,570 Speaker 3: to drive the sleeping bag over the heater failed. 382 00:28:18,330 --> 00:28:22,930 Speaker 2: On Christmas Eve, Knocks Johnston knocked back whiskey and belted 383 00:28:22,970 --> 00:28:27,570 Speaker 2: out carols at the top of his voice, even if 384 00:28:27,570 --> 00:28:28,290 Speaker 2: he couldn't. 385 00:28:28,050 --> 00:28:32,290 Speaker 1: Remember all the words. Friend made. 386 00:28:37,290 --> 00:28:40,690 Speaker 2: Christmas Day brought news on the radio of the Apollo 387 00:28:40,970 --> 00:28:45,490 Speaker 2: eight mission, the first human spaceflight to orbit the Moon. 388 00:28:46,970 --> 00:28:50,250 Speaker 2: They were similar in a way, men in a small 389 00:28:50,370 --> 00:28:54,530 Speaker 2: vessel far from home, doing something that no one had 390 00:28:54,570 --> 00:28:59,050 Speaker 2: done before. In other ways not similar at all. 391 00:29:00,130 --> 00:29:04,170 Speaker 3: The contrasts between their magnificent effort and my own trip 392 00:29:04,250 --> 00:29:09,730 Speaker 3: were appalling. I was doing absolutely nothing to advance scientific acknowledge. 393 00:29:10,490 --> 00:29:13,730 Speaker 3: I was sailing around the world simply because I bloody 394 00:29:13,770 --> 00:29:14,450 Speaker 3: well wanted to. 395 00:29:15,450 --> 00:29:21,370 Speaker 2: Knox Johnston paused, feeling maudlin, and only for a moment, 396 00:29:22,650 --> 00:29:23,530 Speaker 2: and I. 397 00:29:23,650 --> 00:29:27,410 Speaker 3: Realized I was thoroughly enjoying myself. 398 00:29:29,570 --> 00:29:35,210 Speaker 2: At last, Knox Johnston rounded Cape Horn, The fearsome Southern. 399 00:29:34,850 --> 00:29:36,530 Speaker 1: Ocean was behind him. 400 00:29:36,690 --> 00:29:39,610 Speaker 2: The last leg of the journey back north up the 401 00:29:39,650 --> 00:29:45,450 Speaker 2: Atlantic should now be much more straightforward that Knox Johnston 402 00:29:45,810 --> 00:29:46,930 Speaker 2: surprised himself. 403 00:29:48,530 --> 00:29:51,090 Speaker 3: My first impulse on rounding the Horn was to keep 404 00:29:51,170 --> 00:29:54,090 Speaker 3: on going east. The feeling of having got past the 405 00:29:54,130 --> 00:29:56,970 Speaker 3: worst was terrific. And I suppose this impulse was a 406 00:29:57,010 --> 00:29:59,930 Speaker 3: way of cocking a snook at the Southern Ocean itself, 407 00:30:00,290 --> 00:30:03,450 Speaker 3: almost as if to say, I've beaten you, and now 408 00:30:03,530 --> 00:30:05,210 Speaker 3: I'll go round again to prove it. 409 00:30:07,330 --> 00:30:10,730 Speaker 2: But this temptation to keep on going round the Southern 410 00:30:10,850 --> 00:30:12,930 Speaker 2: Ocean again soon passed. 411 00:30:14,930 --> 00:30:19,410 Speaker 3: I thought of hot baths, pints of beer, the other sex, 412 00:30:19,930 --> 00:30:23,450 Speaker 3: and steaks, and turned up into the Atlantic. 413 00:30:22,970 --> 00:30:23,450 Speaker 4: For home. 414 00:30:27,450 --> 00:30:38,250 Speaker 2: January February March April. Nearly home. But where was more Tessier? 415 00:30:39,290 --> 00:30:42,010 Speaker 2: Was he still lying? Had he pulled in front already? 416 00:30:42,930 --> 00:30:44,050 Speaker 2: Who was going to win? 417 00:30:46,250 --> 00:30:47,090 Speaker 1: Just a week and. 418 00:30:47,050 --> 00:30:50,610 Speaker 2: A half from Falmouth, the port he had left nine 419 00:30:50,650 --> 00:30:58,810 Speaker 2: months before. Knox Johnston finally gets Newsessier is out of 420 00:30:58,890 --> 00:31:06,930 Speaker 2: the race. Bernard Whitessier sales past Cape Horn in a 421 00:31:06,970 --> 00:31:08,090 Speaker 2: philosophical mood. 422 00:31:09,650 --> 00:31:15,050 Speaker 4: A great cape can't be expressed in longitude and latitude alone. 423 00:31:15,330 --> 00:31:20,250 Speaker 4: A great cape has his soul, a soul as smooth 424 00:31:20,530 --> 00:31:24,850 Speaker 4: as a child's, as hard as a criminals. 425 00:31:26,970 --> 00:31:32,010 Speaker 2: What Tessier comes to a realization he doesn't want to 426 00:31:32,010 --> 00:31:36,290 Speaker 2: go back to Europe. He wants to keep going round 427 00:31:36,370 --> 00:31:43,810 Speaker 2: the Southern Ocean once again, and then somewhere Tahiti, somewhere simple, 428 00:31:44,890 --> 00:31:49,130 Speaker 2: far from the snake pit of so called Western civilization. 429 00:31:49,570 --> 00:31:52,730 Speaker 2: The monster that is the modern world. 430 00:31:53,610 --> 00:31:59,410 Speaker 4: It is destroying our earth and trampling the soul of men. 431 00:32:01,610 --> 00:32:05,170 Speaker 2: There is the slight complication that Motier has a wife 432 00:32:05,170 --> 00:32:07,210 Speaker 2: in France and stepchildren. 433 00:32:08,450 --> 00:32:12,130 Speaker 4: I do not know how to explain to them. How 434 00:32:12,210 --> 00:32:16,170 Speaker 4: could they understand? It can't be explained in words. It 435 00:32:16,210 --> 00:32:18,490 Speaker 4: would be completely useless to try. 436 00:32:20,250 --> 00:32:24,970 Speaker 2: What Tessier had chucked overboard everything he decided he didn't 437 00:32:25,050 --> 00:32:28,810 Speaker 2: need a coil of nylon line, the jam he didn't 438 00:32:28,890 --> 00:32:34,970 Speaker 2: like for jerry cans of kerosene. Now his marriage gets 439 00:32:35,010 --> 00:32:44,450 Speaker 2: the same treatment. Heave hope Whatessier sails on towards the 440 00:32:44,490 --> 00:32:49,170 Speaker 2: southern tip of Africa for the second time. On his journey, 441 00:32:49,450 --> 00:32:52,650 Speaker 2: he encounters a ship off the Cape of Good Hope 442 00:32:53,290 --> 00:32:56,130 Speaker 2: and slingshots them a message to pass on to the 443 00:32:56,250 --> 00:32:57,210 Speaker 2: Sunday Times. 444 00:32:58,970 --> 00:33:03,010 Speaker 4: I am continuing NonStop towards the Pacific Islands because I 445 00:33:03,050 --> 00:33:07,890 Speaker 4: am happy at sea, and perhaps also to save my soul. 446 00:33:11,690 --> 00:33:17,490 Speaker 2: Robin knocks Johnston sails back into Falmouth Harbor, the first 447 00:33:17,690 --> 00:33:23,370 Speaker 2: man ever to sail non stop around the world. Helicopters, 448 00:33:23,450 --> 00:33:30,250 Speaker 2: hover camera, cruz film, crowds wave and cheer. A Canon 449 00:33:30,370 --> 00:33:35,050 Speaker 2: finds there's the formality of a question from the Falmouth 450 00:33:35,090 --> 00:33:38,970 Speaker 2: Harbor customs officer, though he can hardly keep a straight 451 00:33:39,050 --> 00:33:40,250 Speaker 2: face as he asks it. 452 00:33:40,970 --> 00:33:46,770 Speaker 1: Whoe're from? Knocks Johnston grins Falmouth. 453 00:33:48,210 --> 00:33:52,690 Speaker 2: Robin Knocks Johnston has added his name to Britain's Book 454 00:33:52,770 --> 00:33:58,810 Speaker 2: Full of Heroes. But when someone suggests that the Frenchman 455 00:33:58,890 --> 00:34:02,050 Speaker 2: must have been mad to give up his chance of glory, 456 00:34:02,850 --> 00:34:05,130 Speaker 2: Knocks Johnston shakes his head. 457 00:34:06,450 --> 00:34:09,210 Speaker 3: I said I knew and understood what he did, and 458 00:34:09,250 --> 00:34:13,010 Speaker 3: that he didn't need to explain it. I said to people, no, 459 00:34:13,810 --> 00:34:17,850 Speaker 3: Whattessier is not mad. I had quite similar urges. 460 00:34:21,450 --> 00:34:27,370 Speaker 2: Later, Knox Johnston gets an envelope to the mail postmarked Tahiti. 461 00:34:28,050 --> 00:34:32,490 Speaker 2: Bernard Mortier has read about what Knox Johnston said and 462 00:34:32,570 --> 00:34:34,890 Speaker 2: written to thank him. 463 00:34:34,930 --> 00:34:36,730 Speaker 3: I got a lovely, charming letter. 464 00:34:43,210 --> 00:34:48,130 Speaker 2: As for Moesier, he leaps to Knox Johnston's defense. Whenever 465 00:34:48,170 --> 00:34:51,530 Speaker 2: anyone suggests that the Britain only won because the Frenchman 466 00:34:51,650 --> 00:34:58,290 Speaker 2: pulled out. You can't know that, says Martsier. And anyway, if. 467 00:34:58,090 --> 00:35:02,010 Speaker 4: I'd won, it would have been a grave injustice. As 468 00:35:02,090 --> 00:35:07,570 Speaker 4: Knox Johnston's boat was much smaller and much less sound. 469 00:35:08,410 --> 00:35:12,250 Speaker 2: These two, two very different men, alone in their boats, 470 00:35:12,690 --> 00:35:17,570 Speaker 2: had formed a bond across the ocean. We met once. 471 00:35:19,050 --> 00:35:29,290 Speaker 2: There was a nice friendly chap. There are two ways 472 00:35:29,330 --> 00:35:32,810 Speaker 2: to win at the game of maintenance. One is to 473 00:35:32,810 --> 00:35:38,450 Speaker 2: be a skilled, ingenious and hard working maintainer. The other 474 00:35:39,010 --> 00:35:43,170 Speaker 2: is to simplify, to opt out as far as possible 475 00:35:43,290 --> 00:35:47,530 Speaker 2: from having anything that can go wrong. Of course, you 476 00:35:47,770 --> 00:35:53,690 Speaker 2: can't opt out completely. Even simple things need maintaining. The 477 00:35:53,730 --> 00:35:58,810 Speaker 2: author Stuart Brand once met Bernard Woittessier, who told him 478 00:35:58,850 --> 00:36:03,330 Speaker 2: how every day he'd do whatever little jobs needed doing, 479 00:36:04,170 --> 00:36:04,730 Speaker 2: and then. 480 00:36:05,330 --> 00:36:11,570 Speaker 4: I spend my time reading, sleeping, eating, the good quiet 481 00:36:11,610 --> 00:36:13,530 Speaker 4: life with nothing to do. 482 00:36:17,170 --> 00:36:20,010 Speaker 2: In much the same way, there are two ways to 483 00:36:20,050 --> 00:36:23,410 Speaker 2: win at the game of life. One is to play 484 00:36:23,450 --> 00:36:27,450 Speaker 2: by the rules better than anyone else. The other is 485 00:36:27,490 --> 00:36:31,050 Speaker 2: to make up your own rules again up to a 486 00:36:31,090 --> 00:36:37,610 Speaker 2: point alas, yes, more or less money is necessary. What 487 00:36:37,890 --> 00:36:41,570 Speaker 2: Essier solved that problem by writing another best selling book, 488 00:36:45,970 --> 00:36:53,770 Speaker 2: Robin Knocks Johnston One. But Bernard Mortessier certainly didn't lose 489 00:36:55,890 --> 00:36:59,530 Speaker 2: so much for the trophy for being the first man back. 490 00:37:00,530 --> 00:37:06,170 Speaker 2: But remember it wasn't just about the trophy. The Sunday 491 00:37:06,210 --> 00:37:10,570 Speaker 2: Times had cleverly added another strand to their Golden Globe 492 00:37:10,570 --> 00:37:14,370 Speaker 2: contest to keep up public interest. When the trophy was won, 493 00:37:15,410 --> 00:37:21,690 Speaker 2: the cash prize for being the fastest, Mortessier had turned 494 00:37:21,690 --> 00:37:25,410 Speaker 2: his back on the money. But there were still two 495 00:37:25,570 --> 00:37:29,610 Speaker 2: other sailors out there who both left later and were 496 00:37:29,650 --> 00:37:34,370 Speaker 2: both on course to post faster times than Robin Knox Johnston. 497 00:37:35,450 --> 00:37:40,370 Speaker 2: At least that's how it seemed, But the glitter of 498 00:37:40,410 --> 00:37:46,090 Speaker 2: the Golden Globe was about to turn dark. We'll continue 499 00:37:46,170 --> 00:37:58,570 Speaker 2: the story next time on Cautionary Tales. A key source 500 00:37:58,650 --> 00:38:03,570 Speaker 2: for this episode was Stuart Brands, the Maintenance of Everything. 501 00:38:04,570 --> 00:38:10,370 Speaker 2: For a full list of sources, see Timharford dot com. 502 00:38:10,410 --> 00:38:14,090 Speaker 2: Cautionary Tales is written by me Tim Harford with Andrew Wright, 503 00:38:14,410 --> 00:38:18,850 Speaker 2: Alice Fines, and Ryan Dilly. It's produced by Georgia Mills 504 00:38:18,890 --> 00:38:22,970 Speaker 2: and Marilyn Rust The sound design and original music are 505 00:38:22,970 --> 00:38:27,210 Speaker 2: the work of Pascal Wise bend A. Daph Haffrey edited 506 00:38:27,210 --> 00:38:31,050 Speaker 2: the scripts. It features the voice talents of Melanie Guttridge, 507 00:38:31,210 --> 00:38:37,410 Speaker 2: Genevieve Gaunt, Stella Harford Messea Munroe, Jamal Westman, and rufus Wright. 508 00:38:38,490 --> 00:38:41,290 Speaker 2: The show also wouldn't have been possible without the work 509 00:38:41,370 --> 00:38:47,450 Speaker 2: of Jacob Weisberg, Greta Cohne, Eric Sandler, Carrie Brody, Christina Sullivan, 510 00:38:48,130 --> 00:38:52,930 Speaker 2: Kira Posey, and Owen Miller. Cautionary Tales is a production 511 00:38:53,050 --> 00:38:57,170 Speaker 2: of Pushkin Industries. 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