Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, 80 years on, is being recognized for being the first man to sail around the world alone fifty years ago. I can't find the BBC Radio clip that got my attention this morning but this extraordinary man tells his story first-hand in an interview last year.
For anyone with time to spare, this link to a longer program repeats some the same content allowing more time to hear Sir Robin telling the story of his life in his own words.
What makes Sir Robin's story all the more remarkable is that he built his yacht, Suhaili, himself. It was the smallest craft in the Sunday Times sponsored Golden Globe race and he was seen as the underdog. He lost his self-steering equipment just a few months into the trip and, when his radio also broke, many feared he had been lost to the seas.
Sir Robin also reveals how he overcame appendicitis and describes fighting and killing a shark while repairing the damaged hull of his boat. Despite all these challenges, Sir Robin was the only one of nine sailors entered in the race to return to Britain successfully - ten months after he set sail.
Fifty years on, as he approaches his 80th birthday, Sir Robin re-creates his voyage by reading extracts from his diary, combined with archive from the real world he left behind - such as the Vietnam War, the Space Race and the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia.
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It's a shame Facebook doesn't allow Twitter links to embed.
This little gem is too cute to skip but posting it in Facebook
is just too much trouble.
is just too much trouble.
So, I wanted to relax on my cot by the beach, and this is what I found.😂 pic.twitter.com/GJyGdIJwct— Robert Mitchell (@Frenchring51) April 21, 2019
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I'm posting this important TED talk again, together with a follow-up tweet from Carole Cadwalladr with a follow-up that does not appear in the original.
Oh wow. This is what happened after my talk at #TED2019. This bit is not in the video. @TEDchris invited @facebook to respond. ‘We will make time for you,’ he said. Instead, they made an official complaint about what I said. And then: silence— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) April 22, 2019
pic.twitter.com/NpBwDbmTHy
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A central focus of the impeachment hearings that need to begin without delay must be whether Donald Trump has betrayed his duty to protect our country as Commander in Chief. I believe he has — but only televised hearings will nail him & convince America.https://t.co/eiLTXrm4ZB— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) April 22, 2019
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The death toll in Sri Lanka now pushes three hundred. The situation is more complicated than most Americans imagine, certainly more so than can be explained in a couple of sentences. In these early hours the picture remains unclear.
Authorities are reported to have blocked social media (whatever than means) but thanks to VPNs that is only a partial dampening of oxygen for this fire. Nevertheless I tossed this tweet into the discussion.
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xxx
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