- Harry Pidgeon
Harry Pidgeon (1869 – 1954), American sailor, was the second solo person to circumnavigate the world, after
Joshua Slocum , and the first person to do so twice. On both trips, he sailed a 34-footyawl named the "Islander".Pidgeon was born on a farm in
Iowa . At the age of 18, he set out forCalifornia where he found work on a ranch. Before long, he traveled north toAlaska , where he took a raft down theYukon River and spent some time sailing among the small islands of the southeastern Alaskan coast. Later, he returned to California and travelled and worked in the Sierra Nevada mountains, taking up a career inphotography .In 1917, Pidgeon started constructing the "Islander" from plans he copied from a book in the local library. It cost $1,000 in materials and took a year and a half of hard work. Upon completion, he tested the yawl with trips to
Catalina Island and then toHawaii . Once in Hawaii, Pidgeon decided to continue on for the South Seas. This began his four-year circumnavigation (1921 – 1925).Starting in 1932, Pidgeon embarked on another solo circumnavigation, this one lasting five years. During
World War II , in his seventies, Pidgeon married for the first time to the daughter of a sea captain. The two then set out for yet another circumnavigation, but the trip was cut short when the "Islander" was damaged by rough weather and then driven up on some rocks in theNew Hebrides Islands.Pidgeon was somewhat unique in that his trips were not done as tests of his bravery, publicity stunts, or any other reason than merely seeing if he could succeed. Moreover, Pidgeon had no previous experience with ocean
navigation ,boat-building , or long-distance sailing.His experiences during the first voyage are recounted in his book "Around the World Single-Handed: the Cruise of the "Islander"."
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