''Tinkerbelle'' is a

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminology ...

in which 47-year-old newspaperman

Robert Manry Robert Manry (June 2, 1918 – February 21, 1971) was a copy editor of the Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland ''The Plain Dealer, Plain Dealer'' who in 1965 sailed from Falmouth, Massachusetts, to Falmouth, Cornwall, England, in a tiny sailboat (an Ol ...

, a

copy editor Copy editing (also known as copyediting and manuscript editing) is the process of revising written material (copy) to improve readability and fitness, as well as ensuring that text is free of grammatical and factual errors. ''The Chicago Manual of ...

at the

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday. As of M ...

'', single-handedly crossed the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

in 1965. At the time, it was the shortest but not the smallest boat to cross the Atlantic nonstop (till today the smallest is Lindemann's folding kayak). He left

Falmouth, Massachusetts Falmouth ( ) is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 32,517 at the 2020 census, making Falmouth the second-largest municipality on Cape Cod after Barnstable. The terminal for the Steamship Authority ferri ...

on June 1 and arrived in

Falmouth, Cornwall Falmouth ( ; kw, Aberfala) is a town, civil parish and port on the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It has a total resident population of 21,797 (2011 census). Etymology The name Falmouth is of English or ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

78 days later, greeted by an armada of small boats and a huge crowd. Mayor Samuel A. Hooper of Falmouth officially welcomed him at the town's Custom House Quay. Robert Manry's wife Virginia and his children, Robin and Douglas, were also there, having been flown in from

Willowick, Ohio Willowick is a city in Lake County, Ohio, United States. The population was 14,171 at the 2010 census. A suburb of Cleveland, Willowick is served by a branch of the Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library. The city's name is a portmanteau of two ad ...

. During the voyage Manry was knocked overboard by big waves, suffered from

hallucination A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the qualities of a real perception. Hallucinations are vivid, substantial, and are perceived to be located in external objective space. Hallucination is a combinatio ...

s, repaired a broken

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally aircraft, air or watercraft, water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to ...

in mid-ocean, and was woken up one morning by a surfacing

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

, USS ''Tench'' (SS-417). Manry later wrote about the voyage and its preparation in his book ''Tinkerbelle''. ''Tinkerbelle'', a little wooden Old Town "Whitecap" sailboat, was originally built by the Old Town Canoe Co. of

Old Town, Maine Old Town is a city in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 7,431 at the 2020 census. The city's developed area is chiefly located on the relatively large Marsh Island, though its boundaries extend beyond that. The island i ...

. Manry extensively modified her himself for the voyage by adding a cabin and more seaworthy

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a Pilot in command, pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the ...

. Tinkerbelle's official registration number painted on her bow was OH 7013 AR. At the Museum

''Tinkerbelle'' is on display indoors at the

Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum The Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum is a transportation museum in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is part of the Western Reserve Historical Society's Cleveland History Center in University Circle, and its collection includes about 170 cars. It ...

in Cleveland, Ohio. Nearby the real ''Tinkerbelle'' is provided a replica into which children can crawl.

References

Bibliography

*
Tinkerbelle
' (Harper and Row, New York 1966; Collins, London 1967) {{OCLC, 1497771

External links

The Robert Manry Project
1965 ships Individual sailing vessels Single-handed sailing