ROUND THE WORLD

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17315, 29 November 1921, Page 10

ROUND THE WORLD

MOTOR YACHT TRIP If Mr Albert ,Y. Gowen, of Cleveland, Ohio, had the facile pen of Jack London he could probably gain as much fame from his voyage on the Speejacks as the writer did from his "Cruise Of the Snark." Mr Gowen, however, is not undertaking his world-voyage for publicity proceeds, but for health rea-. sons.' He arrived in Wellington by the Tahiti last week, and speaking to an interviewer he said that on a' doctor's advice to take a long rest and complete change of air 'and scene, he built a motor-yacht for a trip round the world, and, with his wife, set out to be the first to circumnavigate the globe in aUch a vessel. He called it the Speejacks. It cost between £40,0:0 and £50,100 to build. It is 93ft long by 17ft beam, lias a draught of 7ft, and is propelled bv two 250 horse-po.ver gasoline motora. The vessel is well appointed, and is, probably the most complete motor-yacht ever built, being equipped with a refrigerator, electric light, and every other convenience.

"Starting from Cleveland a month or two n&o," said Mr Gowen, "we drove the motor-bont through the Great Lakes, the Krie Canal and the Hudson river to New York. Thence we proceeded through tne Panama Canal tor Tahiti and tf=e South Sea Islands,. As we wanted to sen Xew Zea'and, we left the vacbt at Papeete, and came over on the Tahiti, sending the yacht on. to Suva."

It is the visitors' intention to sail from Auckland on the Tofna about DeceTnber 10th for Suva. Rejoining the yacht there, they will go to Sydney, afterwards visiting Brisbane and Thursday Isbnd. Java, and then the Philippine Islands, China, and Japan. They will next make through the Malay Straits to India, and via Suez Canal to the Mediterranean. They, intend to touch at fever.il ports in Southern Italy and Franco, also at Gibraltar; and, making the'ice to the Azores, they will oror* the Atlantic to New York, and eo to the\r starting point again. There is a crew of seven men on the motor-yacht, and Mr Gower expect 3 that the trin will take a year and a half to complete. In the couree of the trio he is collecting historical and <=ciontifh information for a number of institutes in America.