Feeling nostalgic for the adventures that “progress” has eliminated? So are we.
The legendary Alan Villiers narrates a 1935 clip he shot during his own voyages rounding Cape Horn. The footage is beautiful, but it’s the crusty voice of Villiers — an author, adventurer and master mariner who sailed the world’s oceans aboard traditionally rigged vessels — that really appeals. (The narration starts around 30 seconds into the video.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hUZ83Xszy4
In 1935 there were few sailing vessels still making commercial voyages. Faster motor vessels were making them obsolete. Villiers mourned the loss.
Of ships such as his own full-rigged Joseph Conrad, he said, “She uses nothing. She’s polluting nothing. And the wind is still there after she’s passed for the next men to use, too. And I must say, I’ve always thought, all the days of my life, that it was a silly thing to give all this up.”
