Circumnavigation
Aboard his 35-foot (11m) Ericson, MK I, Alberg hull design, full keel, fiberglass boat, entitled ''Love Song'', Teddy circumnavigated the earth, making only 12 stops. On February 24, 1986, after years of preparation, and with only a small pocket of money, Seymour began his sailing trip from his home port of St. Croix. He finished his trip exactly where he had started a year and a half later. On June 18, 1992, the '' Bay State Banner'' wrote the following:"Lacking corporate sponsors and media coverage, Seymour's 16-month journey was in every bit a solo effort. 'The easy part was sailing around the world,' said the 51-year-old Seymour in a telephone interview with the Banner. 'I've almost lost my life on many occasions.' 'I've been through Vietnam, I've lived in L.A. where the cops hassled me just because I was a black man running down the street in a sweatsuit.' Born in Yonkers, New York, Seymour attendedCentral State University Central State University (CSU) is a public, historically black land-grant university in Wilberforce, Ohio. It is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. Established by the state legislature in 1887 as a two-year program for te ...in Ohio on a track scholarship. In 1965, Seymour began a seven-year stint in the United States Marine Corps, serving in Vietnam as a captain. After relocating to the Virgin Islands where he took a job as a primary school teacher, Seymour began planning his journey. It took seven years of paying off $62,000 in bank loans for the purchase and preparation of his 35-foot sailboat before Seymour left Saint Croix, headed for the Panama Canal. "I worked as a school teacher, a night watchman, a waiter and I chartered my boat," he explained. Restricted by a $5,200 travel budget, $2,000 of which was on a credit card, Seymour limited his stops to 12 ports including several South Pacific Islands,Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...,South Yemen South Yemen ( ar, اليمن الجنوبي, al-Yaman al-Janubiyy), officially the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (, ), also referred to as Democratic Yemen (, ) or Yemen (Aden) (, ), was a communist state that existed from 1967 to 19 ..., Israel and Greece. Seymour routed his journey through the Mediterranean via theSuez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...after he was advised by a U.S. Counsel to stay out of Durban, South Africa, where he would have had to stop before passing under theCape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t .... Unfortunately, the Mediterranean was in the middle of its worst winter in 42 years. Dogged by gales and a damaged navigation system, Seymour made his longest layover in Pilos, Greece, where he waited over 30 days for the repairs and better weather. After a two-month 2,000-mile (3,200 km) journey, Seymour passed through theStrait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Medi ...with $38 worth of food and headed for home. Although he was certified by sailing authorities as being the 161st person to make the circumnavigation solo, he received little mention in the press outside of a few sailing magazines.
World Sailing Records & Awards
TheRunning Achievements
Teddy won an athletic scholarship to attend to college, and is a former All-American cross country road runner star at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio. For over 20 years (and counting), the Virgin Islands Pace Road Runners club hosts an 8.4 mile "Toast-To-The-Captain" road race in honor of Seymour.External links
Footnotes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seymour, Teddy Single-handed circumnavigating sailors Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Central State University alumni