Frank Charles Dye (23 April 1928 – 16 May 2010) was a sailor who, in two separate voyages, sailed a ''Wayfarer'' class

dinghy A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed by a larger vessel for use as a tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they differ from sailing dinghies, which ...

from the United Kingdom to

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. An account of this was written by Dye and his wife, Margaret, published as ''Ocean Crossing Wayfarer: To Iceland and Norway in a 16ft Open Dinghy''.

Biography

Dye was born in

Watton, Norfolk Watton is a market town in the district of Breckland in the English county of Norfolk, about west-southwest of Norwich and northeast of Thetford. The annual Wayland Agricultural Show in its west is one of the oldest one-day such shows in Eng ...

, on 23 April 1928 and was educated at Hamond's Grammar School,

Swaffham Swaffham () is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District and English county of Norfolk. It is situated east of King's Lynn and west of Norwich. The civil parish has an area of and in the 2001 census had a population of 6,9 ...

. After school he joined his father's

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

car dealership and began sailing in his early thirties. In 1958 he bought the first of several Wayfarer dinghies. He met his wife, Margaret, at the 1963

Earl's Court Earl's Court is a district of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London, bordering the rail tracks of the West London line and District line that separate it from the ancient borough of Fulham to the west, the ...

Boat Show and married her in 1964. For their honeymoon they sailed to the Hebridean island of St Kilda.

Scotland to Iceland, 1963

In 1963, Dye, along with Russell Brockbank, sailed their Wayfarer dinghy ''Wanderer'' from

Kinlochbervie Kinlochbervie ( gd, Ceann Loch Biorbhaidh, ) is a scattered harbour village in the north west of Sutherland, in the Highland region of Scotland. It is the most northerly port on the west coast of Scotland. Geography Sandwood Bay, a scenic beach ...

in Scotland to Iceland (landing on the island of

Heimaey Heimaey (), is an Icelandic island. At , it is the largest island in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago, and the largest and most populated island off the Icelandic coast. Heimaey is off the south coast of Iceland. It is the only populated isla ...

). The 650-mile journey took them 11 days. Aboard they carried only a compass and sextant for navigation. During the journey they encountered force 8 gales, freezing temperatures, seasickness and broken rigging.

Scotland to Faroe Islands and Norway, 1964

In July 1964, Dye, along with crew member, Bill Brockbank (no relation to Russell), sailed the 650 nautical miles between Scotland and the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

and across the

Norwegian Sea The Norwegian Sea ( no, Norskehavet; is, Noregshaf; fo, Norskahavið) is a marginal sea, grouped with either the Atlantic Ocean or the Arctic Ocean, northwest of Norway between the North Sea and the Greenland Sea, adjoining the Barents Sea to ...

to Norway. During the voyage they ran into a force 9 gale and were capsized four times. Their mast had been shattered but they managed to jury-rig another.

Wayfarer dinghy

Frank and Margaret's Wayfarer dinghy, ''Wanderer'', is in the collection of the

National Maritime Museum Cornwall The National Maritime Museum, Cornwall is located in a harbourside building at Falmouth in Cornwall, England. The building was designed by architect M. J. Long, following an architectural design competition managed by RIBA Competitions. The ...

at Falmouth, Cornwall. Frank Dye wayfarer W48 - Wanderer

Quotes

Published works

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References

External links

Frank Dye Page – United States Wayfarer Association
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dye, Frank 1928 births People from Watton, Norfolk English sailors 2010 deaths