Captain Bligh's Bounty Boat adventure ends today in Kupang

by Des Ryan on 15 Jun 2010 All going well on their last day, Talisker Bounty Boat crew members (leader)Don McIntyre, Dave Pryce, David Wilkinson and Chris Wilde will arrive in Kupang this afternoon (Tuesday), completing their recreation of Captain Bligh’s epic journey after his crew mutinied and set him adrift with some of his men.

They built a replica boat, they took little food, and not even toilet paper, to try to replicate as closely as possible the original journey. They had near misses with reefs and islands, and a few time they had to resort to a GPS to get them out of trouble. 'Once again,' was Captain McIntyre's frequent comment, as they encountered various difficulties, 'Captain Bligh was a better man.'

The landing marks the first recreation of the mutiny voyage, under the same conditions. Captain William Bligh, who had no choice in the matter, embarked on the 3,700 mile open boat journey through the Pacific Ocean 221 years ago.

The four man crew who have undertaken one of the greatest open boat voyages in history, embarked on the seven week expedition, which set sail on the 9th April 2010, aboard a 25ft long, 7ft wide, open wooden vessel, have followed the original journey across the Pacific from Tonga to Timor. The crew even faced the same deprivations which included no navigation charts, two weeks of water; hardly any food; and no luxuries like a torch and toilet paper!

When teenage solo sailor Mike Perham pulled out shortly before the start, a competition was held for a replacement. Winner was Britain's Chris Wilde. With less than a week’s notice, and no prior sailing experience. Dave Pryce is an adventurer of some note, and was a stalwart of the crew. It wasn't an easy journey. The final crew member, experienced English sailor, David Wilkinson, found the going tough, and at one stage during the journey thought of pulling out when they reached the next island. In the end he stayed, and the four crew made it to the end together.

Not content with just taking on this huge challenge, McIntyre and the crew were 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 Voyage in brief:

McIntyre and his crew have followed in the footsteps of Capt. William Bligh when cast adrift from HMS Bounty in the Pacific on April 28, 1789. They boarded their 25ft ‘Talisker Bounty Boat’ in the same position exactly 221 years to the day of the Bounty Mutiny. It first sailed to Tofua to find extra food and water, before heading westwards across the top of Fiji and the Vanuatu Island groups, bound for the Queensland Coast, Australia to land, like Bligh, on Restoration Island. They then sailed north inside the Great Barrier Reef to Thursday Island, and then through the Torres Strait to Kupang and Timor.

This has been the first time that anyone has sailed the same course in the same way that Bligh did. Previous attempts in 1983 and 1990 both used almanacs and charts for navigation, torches, modern timepieces, and also made unscheduled stopovers, did not follow the same route or were escorted part of the way. McIntyre’s crew will have no charts, no almanacs, modern timepieces or navigation equipment, torches, or toilet paper.

A GPS tracking system: locked away from the crew, has been tracking the vessel every 2 hours for the outside world to follow via the Talisker Bounty Boat website. The only other concession to the 21st Century was a life raft and other essential safety equipment, together with a satellite computer link for the 4-man crew to send daily blogs, photos and audio clips to tell their story.

McIntyre and his team are also using the voyage to monitor sea life and water temperatures in the Pacific and compare their findings with the detailed log that Bligh kept. Scientists have also been studying crew stress levels, sleep patterns and their medical well-being.