Marvin Creamer.

I never heard of him, but he quietly accomplished a small boat voyage that should be humbling to any sailor who prides himself on navigation. He sailed around the world in a 36' sailboat and no navigation tools at all!. No electronics. No compass. No timepieces. (Well, he did have an hourglass they used for standing watches but that was all.). No sextant.

Navigation was by sun, moon and stars, wind, waves, water color, birds,insects. Being completely n touch with their surroundings. The circumnavigation took them 513 days, 300 something of sailing, with stops in Cape Town, Hobart, Sidney, New Zealand, the Faulklands and back to the starting point in New Jersey.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/17/sports/sailing/marvin-creamer-a-mariner-who-sailed-like-the-ancients-dies-at-104.html?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20200818&instance_id=21370&nl=the-morning®i_id=119138258§ion_index=2§ion_name=five_more_big_stories&segment_id=36386&te=1&user_id=a1d9a383c87e899abb6914a995b92637

He did that in 1982. Soon after came the years of single-handed non-stop, single-handed with stops and fully crewed circumnavigation races, some on very expensive fully equipped, state of the art racing machines. He did it with the tools mariners had 2000 years ago. Yes, he had a decked over sailboat, modern cooking gear, an engine (even modern navigation tools locked n a box that was never opened), but the basics; where do we go? What direction should we steer? Where are we? all done the old way. They passed Cape Horn, the most treacherous place on the planet,in zero visibility and knew they passed it by the two big changes water color.

He also used his knowledge (and fascination with) geography which he studied all his life, through a master's degree, then teaching it.

Edit: His passing was not a tragedy. He was 102. Lead a very full life.

Ben