All right, so all of us have seen the the recent films like Master & Commander along with some classic documentaries like War at Sea. But I have been watching some documentaries beyond the popular television series "Deadliest Catch" and I just came across this particular one on Netflix tonight and want to share:
DEEP WATER (2006): (
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460766/) this documentary covers the first round-the-world solo sailing yacht race of 1968, and when I started watching I explained to my wife that during one of these races a participant just sort of drifted around the Atlantic while claiming to circumnavigate the world. She almost immediately lost interest and went to bed, but I was very pleased to realize, upon continued viewing, that this was effectively a documentary about Donald Crowhurst, the sailor who indeed drifted around the Atlantic for months on end while attempting to fake a circumnavigation. Of course, I learned so much more of the story. And, although there is limited footage of the race (most of the footage involves interviews with friends and family), it's a moving account of a grueling endeavor and, in particular, one man's grave decision between turning back from a voyage he's not prepared to endure or risk a lonely death in the open sea.
Of course, I developed a renewed interest in around-the-world sailing when all the news about teenage girls attempting circumnavigation hit the headlines last year. Sure, it might not sound so difficult if teenage girls are doing it these days, some might think, but even with the advanced technology of GPS and composite boat hulls, sailing around the world still requires the better part of a year, and anyone attempting that solo deserves a great deal of credit, even in the 21st century. This film captured a bit of the endeavor for all the participants, especially considering that only ONE of the original NINE entrants actually completed the race.
In my younger days (early twenties), I attempted to spend a long weekend locked in my bathroom with a pound of beef jerky, some homemade "ship's biscuit" and three gallons of water to see if I could endure a full 72 hours of solitary confinement--it was intended as a crude experiment to discover if I had the fortitude to be a single-handed sailor on any sort of long sea voyage. Unfortunately, I didn't last more than 17 hours before letting myself out to get at the decent food I had in the kitchen proper, frying myself an egg and drinking an ice cold beer before walking around the city block (after my visit to the living history museum at Jamestown, I still can't wrap my head around how the crew of those 17th century ships managed to maintain their sanity while crossing the Atlantic for months and drinking only WARM beer). I can't even begin to imagine spending something like SEVEN months at sea, alone--and there is no way a 90-minute film can begin to capture any of that experience, but I still recommend DEEP WATER to anyone with an interest in sailing and the limits of human endurance.
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