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Marvin explains his planned circumnavigation to reporters
Final preparations are made for the voyage
Shortly before departure the boat was covered with snow!
No navigation instruments allowed, not even a clock! A specially made hour
glass measured the watches for crew members
At least two of everything else was on board
Lee Houchins, of the Smithsonian Institute, explains a transmitter which will send a positioning signal (most
of the time, it actually did!)
After a hearty send-off in National Park, NJ on December 21, the crew is brought
to the Globe Star
The sleek new Globe Star tugs impatiently on her anchor rope!
What must have been going through their minds?
This would be the 67-year-old Creamer's home for the next 18 months
The Globe Star sailed down the Delaware to the Atlantic Ocean
Those who crewed with Creamer on different stages of the voyage:
George Baldwin, Jesse Edwards, Ed Gibson, Nick Gill, Jeff Herdelin, Rick Kuzyk, Dave Lansdale,
Bob Rout, and Bob Watson
The crew experienced fair winds, violent storms, doldrums, and near catastrophes.
Within 24 hours of Globe Star's departure from Hobart, the sloop’s mast had been turned 45 degrees under water, and Creamer's upper left arm was wrenched out of its socket. The crew experienced 75-knot winds across the Tasman in Wellington, New
Zealand. Nearly 3,500 miles from Whangaroa, at shortly before midnight, the "indestructible"
stainless steel tiller broke off in heavy seas.
Tiller after repairs in the Falkland Islands
Although doldrums may be useful for performing repair jobs and scrubbing the decks,
they are the sailor's worst enemy!
Blanche received occasional reports on Creamer's progress according to signals
from the transmitter and when he reached port of calls. Whatever reports
she received were shared with the press and students.
Blanche flew to Tasmania to spend three weeks with her husband
Globe Star's Homecoming, May 24, 1984
Professor Creamer sails the Globe Star back up the Delaware to Red Bank Battlefield Park, its point
of departure 18 months earlier.
Above: Passing under the Delaware Memorial Twin Bridges
Below: A Channel 6 news chopper greets the crew
Homecoming Day for Marvin Creamer, who accomplished what no other person
in history had dared to attempt.
Even this webmaster's father got a little recognition!
Creamer was the recipient of many honors and awards for his achievement (see biographical sketch).
Marvin still has a small sailboat (below right), but stays on land most of the time.
Click on the thumbprints below for larger photos of the Creamer Memorial in Red Bank Battlefield Park.
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