Page 7 - CYAA2024 Winter Series entry notice

The Australasian 1883

AN EXTRAORDINARY VOYAGE.

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(MARYBOROUGH CHRONICLE.)
On Monday, the 29th January, about 2 p.m., when about 160 miles off Sandy
Capo, the crew of the Vittery sighted a small boat making across her bows with
the evident intention of hauling up alongside. The Vittery altered her course,
and before long the two were close enough to be connected by line, when it was

discovered that the only inmate of the strange craft was a man who, from the
first, showed every sign of weakness and emaciation from exposure. The man,
as soon as he came on board, staggered forward, and asked for something to

eat, and ere long Captain Boor was enabled to place before him a warm meal,
which was greedily devoured ; meanwhile an eager crowd gathered round him
anxious for some account of how and by what strange circumstances he was
brought to such a curious position. We extract from the man’s log, which be
kept regularly during his voyage, the points of greatest interest, premising

these facts by saying that his name is Bernard Gilfoy, of Buffalo, U.S., and that
his life from his earliest recollection has been spent on the sea. He started on
his voyage with the determination of making for Australia, single handed,
across the Pacific Ocean. His Customs certificate dated from San Francisco,

18th August 1882, in which it is remarked that Bernard Gilfoy starts on a
“
voyage of pleasure ” for Australia. The little boat, the Pacific, was built express-
ly for the trip, at a cost of something like 400 dollars, being of 2 tons register,

18ft. long, 6ft. beam, and with a depth of 2ft. 6in. She is covered in all over, but
has a couple of hatches, one amidships and one aft. The forepart was used
mostly for the water casks, and as the contents of each of these casks was
drunk, it was filled with salt water for ballasting purposes. In the after part of

the vessel was the cabin kitchen everything, which was intended as a
comfort or necessity. However, the Pacific, cutter, with its solitary occupant,
left the port of San Francisco on 19th August bound rather indefinitely, for
Australia getting, happened during- the first weekthough much discomfort had
to be put up with owing to the lowness of the boat in the water from the amount

of her supplies which were intended to last five months, together with 140
gallons of water. Then noless than 29 days of alternate calms and head winds
followed, during which the fish bonita and sea turtles came round the vessel in

great quantities. Gilfoy’s object was to make due south and catch the south-east
trades, and so when fair winds set in he crossed the line in long 136deg. on
Friday, 26th September. About this time Gilfoy found that he would have to
shorten his allowance, as the calms without progress had somewhat reduced
his provisions, but on the other hand be found that he could eat but very little,