Eight Men and a Duck (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: Nick Thorpe
- First Published: 2002
- Type of Work: Travel
- Time of Work: February to April, 2000
- Setting: Bolivia, Chile, the South Pacific, and Easter Island
- Principal Characters: Nick Thorpe, Phil Buck, Marco, Jorge, Greg Dobbs, Erik Cotari, Carlos Martínez, Stephane
- Genres: Nonfiction, Travel writing
- Subjects: Twentieth century, Nature, Superstition, Fear, Islands, Ships, Sailing or sailors, South America or South Americans, South Pacific, Pacific Ocean, Boats or boating, Chile or Chileans, Wildlife, Weather, Ocean, Luck or misfortune, 2000’s
- Locales: South Pacific, Bolivia, Easter Island
Does this not sound like a script for disaster? An international crew of eight men, most strangers to one another, sails a 64-foot ship made of reeds 2,500 miles from Chile to Easter Island. None has experience navigating on the open ocean or in handling a two-masted vessel. Few, in fact, are sailors. Their communications equipment is unreliable. Their ship, the Viracocha, is based upon a traditional Bolivian freshwater boat design and untested at sea. Experts denounce the attempt.
Nevertheless, the experimental voyage succeeded. As Nick Thorpe, one of the crew members,...
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