Capt Bligh
1746
Knowledge of the Sea
 

About Captain Bligh's famous voyage
After the mutiny aboard the HMS Bounty, Captain Bligh and 18 other loyal men were cast adrift in a 23 foot open boat with enough food and water for five days.

They eventually made the longest voyage in maritime history in an open boat (3,618 miles) in 48 days, landing in Timor in June 1789.  This historic voyage was wholly due to Captain Bligh's seamanship.  With only starvation rations, a sextant and compass, but no charts, the barest amount of water and no protection from the elements he didn't lose a man at sea. The only death out of the 19 original castaways was John Norton who was killed by natives on a small Pacific island where the sailors had landed to get water and any supplies they could. Norton was the last man into the boat and therefore was supposed to bring the anchor off the beach. Because of the imminent attack Bligh ordered him to leave the all important anchor, but the loyal Norton brought the anchor to the boat as he was being clubbed and stabbed to death by the angry natives.

An account of this remarkable voyage can be found in Men Against the Sea

Below is the text of Capt Bligh-Knowledge of the Sea 1746
The names available to be personalized are in red.

"Knowledge of the sea never
comes amiss to a seaman."

(1. Captain Name) Captain William Bligh
Late of (2. Ship Name) HMS Bounty
Spoken to his 18 fellow castaways in a twenty three foot Open boat
on a (3. Description of your voyage [optional]) 3,618 mile voyage of survival across
The South Pacific Ocean  (4. Year [optional]) -1746