Robert Manry

Robert Manry (June 2, 1918 – February 21, 1971) was a copy editor of the Cleveland " Plain Dealer" who in 1965 sailed from Falmouth, Massachusetts to Falmouth, Cornwall, England in a tiny 13.5 foot (4 m) sailboat (an Old Town "Whitecap" built by the Old Town Canoe Co. of Old Town, Maine, which he had extensively modified for the voyage) named Tinkerbelle. Beginning on June 1, 1965 and ending on August 17, the voyage lasted 78 days.

At the time, the Tinkerbelle was the smallest boat to make a non-stop trip across the Atlantic Ocean. Manry later wrote about the voyage and its preparation in his book "Tinkerbelle", in which the sailor expressed shock and surprise at the huge crowds and armada of small boats that greeted his arrival in Cornwall.

Manry died February 21, 1971 from a heart attack in Union City, Pennsylvania.

A small park in Willowick Ohio, the town he lived in before his journey, is named after him. Tinkerbelle is on display at The Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland, Ohio.

Bibliography

* Tinkerbelle (1967; Harper & Row, New York City, N.Y.)
* Tinkerbelle (1967; Collins, London)

External links

* [http://www.robertmanryproject.com The Robert Manry Project]