Sailor, 77, finishes global solo

Associated Press

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Two years after setting sail, 77-year-old David Clark returned home Friday from his solo trip around the globe.

Clark, who claims to be the oldest sailor to achieve such a feat, was greeted by his wife, five children, and friends after a trip that took him to Tahiti, Madagascar, American Samoa and Bali, Indonesia.

He braved 40-foot waves, the sinking of his sloop and the loss of his beloved first mate, Mickey, a white West Highland terrier.

“Your dreams are achievable,” Clark said. “Anybody can do anything they make up their mind to do.”

Clark, from Lafayette, Calif., didn’t have a boat when he decided to sail around the world, so he restored a rusty steel hull.

He departed Dec. 5, 1999, with Mickey and his clarinet and raised money playing music at clubs along the route.

“When he left two years ago, I wasn’t sure if we were going to see him again,” said his son, Jeff Clark, 45.

As Clark rounded the Cape of Good Hope near Cape Town, South Africa, 30-foot waves pounded his sloop, claiming Clark’s boat, clothing and musical instruments. A Russian ship attempted to save him and Mickey, but the dog wriggled out of a rescue sling and drowned.

Clark returned to Cape Town, raised money through donations and sponsors and bought a 34-foot fiberglass boat to carry him the last 7,000 miles.

On Friday, Clark docked outside a hotel, where he was toasted at a reception and greeted by a high school band.

“It was very emotional,” Clark said. “The band made me a little blubbery.”

After a diet of spaghetti, rice and canned food, he said he was looking forward to a steak and some time with his family.

Clark said he had port authority officials verify he arrived alone and left alone in the places he docked to help prove his claim to the record.

The Guinness Book of Records does not have a category for oldest solo sailor to circumnavigate the world, according to one of the company’s museums in Las Vegas, Nev.

Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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