Adventurer set to re-create Captain Bligh’s 4,000nm Bounty Boat voyage

by Emily Dwiar on 25 Feb 2010 This morning, one of Australia's great adventurers, Don McIntyre, formally announced his most recent expedition – to re-create one of the most extraordinary stories of survival and determination, Captain William Bligh’s 4,000 mile open boat ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’ voyage.

The reenactment, following the journey across the Pacific from Tonga to Timor, will launch on the same day (April 28th), at the same time and in the same place 221 years after the original mutiny journey. Not content with just taking on this huge challenge, McIntyre and his crew of 3 men are also attempting to raise over $250,000 for The Sheffield Institute Foundation for Motor Neurone Disease (SIF), which is building the world’s first research Institute into Motor Neurone Disease (MND), Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

The seven week expedition aboard the Talisker Bounty Boat – a 25ft long, 7ft wide, open wooden vessel – will see the crew -facing the same deprivations as the original crew that were cast adrift in the middle of the Pacific, including: no navigation charts; only two weeks of water; hardly any food; and, of course, no luxuries like a torch or toilet paper!

Alongside Don McIntyre, one of Australia’s most experienced sailors and adventurers, the international crew includes experienced English sailor David Wilkinson, US sailor and businessman Peter Stier and the youngest ever Solo circumnavigator, 17 year old Brit Mike Perham. The crew met together for the first time a little over two weeks ago and have spent the last fortnight together in Sydney, training and making last minute preparations for the journey, a journey that has been Don’s dream to complete for 20 years.

McIntyre does not underestimate the challenge ahead: 'We’re incredibly excited to get close to Captain Bligh and his crew; however everyone aboard the Talisker Bounty Boat will be pushed to the limit of endurance and survival, forever hungry and unsure of everything, except their own desire to fight through this.'

The voyage is sponsored by Talisker Single Malt Scotch Whisky, the only single malt whisky from the Isle of Skye which is also the origin of Don McIntyre’s ancestry as his grandparents emigrated to Australia from Skye shortly after their marriage in 1901.

The Crew
Don McIntyre:55 year old Don McIntyre is one of Australia's most experienced sailors, having competed in the 1990 BOC Challenge Single-handed Around the World Yacht Race, coming second in class, the highest placing for an Australian at the time. He has embarked on numerous Antarctic sailing expeditions and even lived in a box Antarctic for a year with his wife Margie.

Mike Perham: celebrating his 18th birthday in March 2010, Mike Perham joins the Talisker Bounty Boat crew holding the record for the world’s youngest solo circumnavigator at 17 years of age, and also the record for the youngest solo Trans-Atlantic sailor at 14 years of age.

David Wilkinson: An Englishman living in Asia his home for the last 17 years David bought his first yacht in 1996, attracting media attention as a result of the challenging twelve day 500 mile sail across the South China Sea between Luzon in the Philippines and Hong Kong.  

Peter Stier: a 53 year old businessman from Minnesota in the US joins the Talisker Bounty Boat after learning to sail in lakes and rivers. Peter has sailed all over the world and also enjoys diving.

Whats going with them on the voyage
Navigation equipment:
18th century octant and sextant, two 18th century pocket watches, nautical tables, boat compass, telescope, rope knot meter, lead line, ink pens and ink, note books, log book, magnifying glass. No charts allowed, no modern watches, no nautical almanac, and no compass light.

Clothing and personal kit - each crew:
Sun hat, warm hat, expedition shirt, expedition long pants, tough shorts, thermal top, thermal pants, waterproof shoes, Gore-tex weather jacket and pants, sheep skin, inflatable life-jacket/ safety harness with knife torch and strobe, 406-GPS POB.

No torches, no iPod no books:
Talisker Bounty Boat will set off with the same weight of food and water that Bligh had when he was cast adrift from the Bounty.

Talisker Bounty Boat details:
Construction: Traditional lap strake/clinker
Length overall: 25ft (7.62m)
Beam 6.3ft (1.92m)
Load displacement with 4 crew: 1.6 Tonnes

To follow the expedition and donate to this cause, visit www.taliskerbountyboat.com .