Miles Clark (sailor)

The route of Miles Clark circumnavigation of Europe journey through Russian waterways.

Miles Clark (born in Derry, November 3, 1960; died in Salisbury, April 17, 1993) was an Irish sailor and writer. He was the son of Wallace Clark and the godson of Miles Smeeton, themselves both distinguished yachtsmen and authors. A few months before he died, Clark circumnavigated Europe through several of Russian waterways, which led him to winning the Cruise World Medal for Outstanding Seamanship^[1][2].

The Circumnavigation of Europe

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Clark saw the opportunity of travelling through Russian internal waters. He departed from Northern Ireland in 1992 with his family's 60-year-old wooden yacht named Wild Goose, circling Norway and entering the White Sea. Then he travelled to the Black Sea crossing the White Sea - Baltic Canal until the Onega Lake, then proceeding through the Volga-Baltic waterway to the Rybinsk Reservoir and the Volga River, then successively following the Volga-Don Canal and the Don River to the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea, returning to Northern Ireland^[3][4].

Miles Clark died while he was writing a book about the trip. The book was finished by his father.

Notes

1. ^ http://business.highbeam.com/137472/article-1G1-13199861/cruising-world-medal-outstanding-seamanship-awarded
2. ^ http://business.highbeam.com/137472/article-1G1-17775252/wild-goose-circles-europe
3. ^ Clark, Miles. Russian Voyage. National Geographic Magazine, June 1994. p. 114 a 138.
4. ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-miles-clark-1458295.html