Charles Wilkins tackles the Atlantic

A momentous trip.  Thunder Bay's Charles Wilkins rows across the Atlantic as one of the crew of the Big Blue, a boat built for the trip.  And he lives to tell a tale that is harrowing, cringe inducing and of course, being Wilkins, funny as hell.  Read on....

The Big Blue

By Charles Wilkins
From Explore Magazine, Spring, 2011

It was to be an expedition like no other—a run across the Atlantic from Morocco to Barbados, aboard an experimental rowboat the likes of which no one had ever seen. Powered by a crew of 16, backed by the westbound trade winds, the radically designed catamaran, dubbed Big Blue, would be capable, it was hoped, of making the 5,000-kilometre crossing in record time: max 33 days. The boat’s crew, the largest assembled on the Atlantic since the days of the Norse longboats, included several veterans of U.S. college rowing, a number of triathletes and a woman who had rowed both the Atlantic and Indian oceans. There would be no support vessel, no stored water, no sails or motor.

Because the boat was the first of its kind, there would be no safety certificate or assurances.

The venture, to be sure, was no laughing matter.

Well, unless you consider that one of the crew members was a scrawny and bespectacled sexagenarian, the pinnacle of whose sporting career had been a season of hockey with the Forward Pharisees of the old Toronto Church League. This notable human blight on an otherwise durable roster had, until recently, never swung an oar in earnest or even sat on a proper rowing seat—indeed, did not know the names of even the commonest parts on a competitive rowing vessel. It is worthy of Mrs. Malaprop that, on training manoeuvres, when a reference was made to “the riggers” (the mechanisms that hold the oars in place), the tyro in question assumed it was the rigours of the anticipated crossing that were under discussion.

I am speaking of course of myself, C.E. Wilkins, galactic expeditionist, and must reluctantly report that when I stepped on deck during the earliest hours of the voyage I was told by one of our toughest rowers, Ryan Worth of the University of Tennessee, that I looked as if I were on my way to the library.

The Wildest Ride

Thunder Bay writer Charles Wilkins is starting out to row across the Atlantic.  Here is his latest letter as he prepares for this wild adventure.

December 28, 2010
Hello Joan and to all of you who, in your variety of ways, have so faithfully supported my Atlantic adventure!

And goodbye, too -- or let us say, farewell -- as I count down the hours to my departure for Casablanca tomorrow morning, then on to Agadir the following day. As I write, our twin-hulled rowboat, Big Blue (aka "Blue Cat" or "Cat Balou" as at least one crew member has called it) is rocking across the Atlantic, dismantled, in a pair of shipping containers, aboard a 720-foot freighter, on its way from New York to Agadir, where it is scheduled to arrive on January 2.

We expect to have the boat reassembled, rigged, packed and ready for the crossing by January 8 or 9, although our actual departure will be somewhat influenced by the weather. The first few days will take us about 400 miles south along the coast from Agadir to the little fishing port of Tarfaya, from where we will head out to sea. Officially, the crossing will begin as we pass the Canary Islands, 30 or 40 kilometres offshore. Must say, I find it rather exotic and remote -- and thereby perhaps appropriate -- that we should be starting this undeniably foreign adventure on the coast of Africa, which to me has always seemed the "remotest" of populated continents.

When you last heard from me I was heading off to Long Island for three days of  sea training aboard Big Blue, which we launched with a swig of champagne on the afternoon of November 7. That evening, we set out on our first overnight row -- two hours on, two off, on the cold Atlantic off Shelter Island, near

Montauk, which some of you will remember as the location of the famous cautionary art film, Jaws (". all we know is that whatever's down there is big. We don't know how big.").

On that eventful first row, I had intended to position myself with the second watch of rowers, so that I could simply observe for the first two hours, after which I intended to row out of the back seating position so that nobody would actually see me wielding my oar. But as we pulled away from the dock I rather unwisely positioned myself on the small rear deck standing beside our captain, Angela Madsen, who when she realized there was an empty second seat on the starboard hull, told me I was welcome to take it. go ahead!

What was I to say -- no thanks!

Local Book Bonanza

I dropped into the Finnish Book Store and picked up Charlie Wilkin's latest -  The Wild Ride: A History of the North West Mounted Police 1873 - 1904.  Full of original photos maps and drawings as well as Wilkin's wonderful prose, this book sits on the top of my reading pile.

Elle Andra-Warner

I also bought David Thompson: A Life of Adventure and Discovery, by Elle Andrea- Warner.  The book is part of  the Amazing Stories series and outlines the life of one of our greatest explorers.  It opens with the song Map of Dream's by Rodney Brown.  This is a fit-in-your-purse book, great for travel.

I have a couple of good friends, 6 and 4 years old.  For Christmas, the four-year-old, Sam, gets Duncan Weller's Boy from the Sun, a book every child should have.  I am introducing Emily to Tove Jansson, or rather the world of the Moomins created by the great Finnish children's writer, Tove Jansson.I picked the book Finn Family Moomintroll to start.  From now on I'll have no trouble selecting birthday or Christmas presents. All kids love the Moomin books. 

Charlie Strikes Again

A new book by Thunder Bay's Charles Wilkins will soon be launched following on the heels of the popular Land of Long Fingernails: A Grave Digger in the Age of Aquarius which came out last year.

High on the Big Stone Heart, published by Dundern Press, is a collection of essays, magazine pieces and various writings. The Toronto launch, a wine and cheese, will take place at 3 Church St., April 28 from 5:30 - 7.

Watch here for the Thunder Bay date which will be at the Finnish Book Store.

BOOKS fromCHARLES WILKINS

Look out summer of '08. Charles' new book carries the gob smacking title In the Land of Long Fingernails: A Grave Digger in the Age of Aquarius.
Look for an excerpt in this space in January.
Charles' social history of Confederation College will be released soon as a web publication. Stay tuned here for info on the first installment.

LAUNCH of Schoolmarm, Penny Petrone’s memoir of her 49-year teaching career. Sunday, Dec. 9, 2-3 p.m. at the Thunder Bay Museum. a reading by Deborah deBakker, remarks by Charles Wilkins, and greetings from the City of Thunder Bay by Aldo Ruberto. Penny completed this manuscript shortly before her death in August, 2005