VOYAGES
a gaff cutter rig with a centreboard added
to aid windward performance. Pig iron
secured in the bilge was added to ballast
the little boat as it crossed an ocean. The
sum of Alfred’s navigation equipment to
undertake the voyage was a compass,
chart, lead line and quadrant (used to
measure angles of heavenly bodies prior
to being superseded by the sextant).
Ships and savage seas
Alfred was sighted by various ships on his
voyage who wanted to come to his aid
and take him and the boat on board. But
he thanked them and refused their help.
The ships, however, were able to confi rm
his position and relay it back home.
Johnson used the sun and stars to help
him navigate, so these encounters with
ships also allowed him to adjust his
course and compensate for the vagaries
of his onboard compass.
It was off the coast of Ireland when he
encountered his worst storm, which was
to nearly prove his undoing. In tumultuous
seas a massive wave hit him beam-on and
capsized Centennial, throwing Johnson
overboard. Only the rope he’d tied himself
to the boat with prevented him from sinking
and drowning in waterlogged oilskins. He
managed to haul himself back onto the
upturned hull and, after a tremendous effort,
right his craft. In the maelstrom of panic that
surrounded him and his fl oating stores a
marauding shark appeared, which Alfred
scared away with a knife lashed to an oar.
It is probably this moment above all
which shows what a consummate seaman
Johnson was. Had he not prepared his
modest craft so well, had he not made
landfall early on to redistribute and
re-secure the ballast iron and stores, the
boat could have foundered.
Eventually the savage storm abated, but
it had taken his stove, a sail and ruined
many stores. Incessant rain, followed by a
period of being becalmed, provided
further frustrations. Another ship offered
help, which Johnson refused, but the
bread and beer he gratefully accepted.
Progressing slowly as the days passed,
he sailed eastward and fi nally his leadline
told him he was getting close to the Irish
coast. At night he spotted the lighthouses
of the Welsh coast, and dawn broke to
reveal Pembrokeshire on the horizon.
Instinct would have told him this was as
critical a phase as any on his voyage. The
rocky shores and cliffs of south west
Wales have many surprises for the unwary
sailor, with rampant tidal fl ows, reefs and
rocks known as The Bitches to bid you
welcome. Johnson’s original plan had
been to make landfall in Liverpool but the
strong winds and tides had pushed him
further south than planned. Before him
now were the approaches to Milford
Haven but the tides turned again forcing
him northwards as he sailed parallel to the
coast. Next he saw the white clifftop
beacon markers above Porthgain, but
again the safety of this small harbour was
denied him by a cross-tide. Finally it was
the small grey beach at Abercastle which
offered him refuge, and where his noble
dory at last settled on the shore.
It must have been surreal for theCentennial was painted in red, white and
blue and in this colour scheme lay the
reason why this intrepid fi sherman was
setting off in the fi rst place. The Danish
immigrant was sailing the Atlantic alone
under the Stars and Stripes in honour of his
adopted homeland; an extraordinary and
individualistic way to contribute to the
celebrations of 100 years of American
Independence. When he not only survived
but succeeded he was feted for his
endeavour at the time, but among great
sailing feats his story has faded over the
years like the sun bleached oak and pine of
his boat. Remarkably his boat still survives
and is on display at the Cape Ann
Museum, Gloucester, Massachusetts,
where his memory is celebrated.Welsh-speaking locals of this close coastal
community to help a fi sherman from
across the globe who’d sailed a dory no
bigger than their own working boats. He
wasn’t to stay long though, as after only a
brief couple of days’ rest he sailed on to
Holyhead where he also stayed for a
couple of days before fi nally arriving in
Liverpool on 21 August, 1876.
Word of his epic feat spread quickly up
the British coast and as his anchor
dropped in a Mersey dock a crowd was
there to cheer his arrival after his 66 days
sailing well in excess of 3,000 miles. A
newspaper reporter from the Illustrated
Sporting and Dramatic News hitched a lift
on a rowing boat to scoop the story fi rst
and for Alfred a well-deserved hotel bedCape Ann MuseumCape Ann MuseumBUILT TO CELEBRATE HIS NEW HOMELAND
After the crossing
Alfred put the boat
on display to pay
for his passage
home. On his
return to the USA
he toured with her
for a whileAmerica’s that way! The beach where Alfred
landed after sailing over 3,000 miles in a doryThe plaque at
Abercastle beach