The Bounty and the Jewel

In trying to keep you up-to-date in the continuing voyage of the Jewel of Muscat: She reached the second port in her trip after a nine-day voyage. On April 19 she docked at Galle, Sri Lanka – and planned on a five-day stay to re-provision and replace a mast that was damaged in storms encountered on the voyage from India. If all goes well, she will set sail on her longest stretch of the open-water voyage this weekend. Be sure to check the daily voyage log entries for updates.

Her next port of call will be at Georgetown, on Pinang Island, Malaysia – a trip of over 1500 miles.

BBC news put up some pictures from the trip. More can be found on the Jewel’s website, where they also have an educator’s link, allowing you or your class to ask a question… and much more.

The BBC also announced an upcoming attempt by some adventurers to replicate the epic journey of Captain Bligh and his loyal crewmembers, who were put adrift after the famed Mutiny on the Bounty in 1789. A crew of four will be sailing in an open boat from Tonga to West Timor without using modern navigational aids, hoping to make the trip in seven weeks. A replica of the Bounty is based in Florida.

Often castigated for creating the conditions that caused the infamous mutiny, Bligh’s navigational skills and capabilities are often overlooked. He, and eighteen loyal crewmen, were put adrift in the South Pacific in a 45-foot open longboat – and through his skill as a navigator guided the open boat to a British outpost in then Timor (now West Timor) on a 47-day, 4400-mile voyage. They survived by catching fish from the sea and rainwater from the sky.

The voyage recreating Bligh’s incredible journey will have far less members than the original – 4 to Bligh’s 18. The boat (the Talisker Bounty) they are using is also smaller – at 25 feet it is almost half the size of Bligh’s vessel. However, to add to the authenticity of the voyage, the crew is planning on taking approximately the same amount of provisions that Bligh had.

Their supplies include 150 pounds of ship biscuits, 16 pounds of pork, six quarts of rum, six bottles of wine and 28 gallons of water.

The crew – originator of the idea Don McIntyre, David Bryce, David Wilkinson, and Chris Wilde - hope to start the voyage from near the site of the mutiny around April 28th – commemorating the 221st anniversary of the mutiny.

While the journey has been done twice before by other adventurers, the avowed purpose of this trip is, according to the Times Online, to “recreate the hardships suffered by Bligh and his crew of 18 to the letter.”

Hopefully they wont encounter the hostile natives that killed one of Bligh’s crew, or prevented their landing on other islands for provisions.

Both of these adventures are ones that our Social Studies teachers, no matter which discipline they teach – might want to follow during class. It should certainly open up the opportunity for some discussion and thoughts among the students, no matter what their ages - as well as provide opportunities to study geography, human nature, history... and much more.

PHOTO SOURCES:

Jewel in Sri Lanka
The Multinational Crew of the Jewel
The Taliskar Bounty
Captain Bligh
1790 illustration of Bligh and loyal crewmembers being set adrift
Map of Bligh’s voyage

-