Alfred Johnson e la traversata del " Centennial"

Alfred Johnson (1846–1927) era un pescatore danese nato a Gloucester, nel Massachusetts. Il grande Johnson fa parte di quella schiera di navigatori dei primi del novecento come Howard Blackburn, Bernard Gilboy e i marinai di Shackleton, che hanno reso grande la navigazione a vela.

Nel 1876, con un dory a vela di 20 piedi, ha attraversato per primo in solitario l'Oceano Atlantico sbarcando a Abercastle nel Galles occidentale, per celebrare il primo centenario degli Stati Uniti d'America. Johnson era scappato in mare, come un adolescente, e dopo aver lavorato sulle navi a vela finì come pescatore a Gloucester.

Un giorno nel 1874, lui e alcuni amici giocavano a carte discutendo della possibilità di una traversata atlantica in solitario, quando Johnson dichiarò che non solo un tale passaggio sarebbe stato possibile, ma che sarebbe potuto essere effettuato con un dory aperto,  e che lo avrebbe fatto. Quando i suoi amici si fecero beffe di lui, Johnson volle dimostrare che si sbagliavano. Il suo scopo era quello di navigare verso Liverpool, sperando di fare il viaggio di 3.000 miglia in meno di 90 giorni. Comprò un dory di 20 piedi (6,1 metri), che chiamò Centennial.

La barca era equipaggiata con una deriva e tre compartimenti stagni che l'avrebbero aiutata a galleggiare in caso di scuffia. Alfred Johnson partì il 15 giugno 1876. Si fermò brevemente in Nova Scotia per apportare alcune modifiche alla sua zavorra, per poi partire verso l'oceano aperto circa il 25 giugno. Fu avvistato da diverse navi lungo la rotta, la maggior parte delle quali ha tentato di salvarlo, rimanendo incredule quando lui ha rifiutato. In una sola occasione, ha ricevuto in regalo due bottiglie di rum da una nave di passaggio.

Johnson ha navigato con un ritmo medio di circa 70 miglia (110 km) al giorno, molto rispettabile, per una così piccola barca in mare aperto, ed è sopravvissuto a una grande tempesta che lo ha fatto scuffiare. Contro ogni previsione, finalmente è approdato a Abercastle, un piccolo porto in Galles, sabato 12 agosto. Dopo due giorni di riposo ha terminato il suo viaggio a vela a Liverpool il 21 agosto 1876, con un ricevimento entusiasta. Johnson ha ricevuto una certa attenzione per la sua impresa e la sua barca è stata esposta a Liverpool per diversi mesi, lui fu in seguito noto come Alfred "Centennial" Johnson.

Quando ormai vecchio gli è stato chiesto perché lo aveva fatto, disse: "Ho fatto quel viaggio, perché ero uno stupido maledetto, come dicevano loro". Il viaggio di Johnson fu il primo record di traversata atlantica in solitario e forse il primo viaggio che identificò la navigazione solitaria con lo spirito di avventura.[:en]

1876 was a big year for the United States. The anniversary of the country’s centennial, there was much hoopla and cause for celebration. To celebrate this milestone, a 29-year old fisherman from Gloucester, Alfred Johnson, sought to do what no man in recorded history had done before – a solo sail across the Atlantic ocean. Allegedly, Johnson and his friends were playing cards and began to discuss whether anyone could cross the ocean alone in a small, open boat. Spurred by this his friends’ disbelief that such a feat could be possible, Johnson declared that not only could it be done, but he would be the one to do it. He purchased a 16-foot dory, named it “Centennial” for the country’s milestone birthday, and set sail on June 15, 1876. After a stop in Nova Scotia, Alfred “Centennial” Johnson sailed into open water on June 25th.

Local fishermen, who heard of Johnson’s proposed trip, thought it a hoax. Passing ships were concerned to find the solo man sailing a small boat in open water and attempted to rescue Johnson who politely refused (much to the crews’ confusion). A German passenger ship even threw Johnson a few bottles of brandy (this he accepted).

On August 12, Johnson arrived in Abercastle, Wales where he rested for a few days. On August 21, he arrived (to much hullabaloo) in Liverpool. And so, Alfred Johnson completed the first solo sail across the Atlantic Ocean. When later asked about the trip, Johnson replied “I made that trip because I was a damned fool, just as they said I was.”

Johnson spent about $200 on a specially designed dory and provisions. He dubbed the boat "Centennial." The wooden vessel was 20 feet long on deck, 16 feet at the keel, 5 1/2 feet wide and 2 1/2 feet tall. It had a centerboard to keep from sliding sideways. It had three water-tight compartments. Johnson carried a canvas mainsail, two jibs, a square sail, chart, compass, quadrant, medicine, a sea anchor for holding the bow into the wind when not sailing, and a lantern he hoisted at night to keep vessels from running him down. He packed canned meats, condensed milk, fruit, hard bread, tea and coffee. He carried 60 gallons of water and rigged an awning to catch rainwater to replenish his supply. Johnson planned to follow the course to Liverpool plied by ocean steamers and make the nearly 3,000-mile crossing in less than 90 days. He would sail to England and back and then exhibit the vessel in the grand Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. He believed he was just the man to pull it off. Johnson (sometimes spelled Johnsen) was born in Denmark on Dec. 4, 1846, but ran away to the sea when he was a teen-ager, working aboard square-riggers.

He fished out of Gloucester for seven years before he attempted the Atlantic crossing. "He is not a man of an enthusiastic temperament as one would naturally suppose a person to be who had such a perilous trip in view," the Cape Ann Advertiser reported before Johnson left, "neither is he sanguine, but is quite reserved, and from his general appearance gives evidence that he is cautious, and in the habit of giving any subject in which he is interested due consideration before making up his mind." Many thought him foolhardy. Friends tried to talk him out of it. But about two years after Johnson first proposed the idea, a large crowd gathered along Gloucester's wharves to watch him sail from the Higgins & Gifford wharf, now Parker Street, at 4:15 p.m. on June 15, 1876. Several yachts and many small rowboats followed him to the Eastern Point breakwater. Then he sailed out of sight.[:]