This website covers the attempt by Graham Walters of Leicester, England to cross the Atlantic Ocean single-handed in a 40-year-old rowing boat. 

This is not any old rowing boat however, but the famous Puffin in which David Johnstone and John Hoare made the first attempt of the twentieth century to row the Atlantic, their route running from west to east.

Puffin, only fifteen feet long, was specially designed and built for David Johnstone and John Hoare.  Although they survived over 106 days at sea, which included 14 gales of various strengths and one hurricane, their brave attempt was finally ended on 3rd September 1966 when they lost their lives during a second hurricane, Hurricane Faith.   On that very same day, after three months at sea, John Ridgway and Chay Blyth stepped ashore in Ireland, having crossed the Atlantic in their dory, English Rose III, to receive a well-deserved hero’s welcome.  They had left America’s shores twelve days after Puffin, Ridgway having decided to challenge David Johnstone in his endeavour after Johnstone had declined to take Ridgway as his partner in Puffin.

Several weeks later the Canadian coastguard ship HMCS Chaudière came across the wreck of the Puffin and retrieved the little boat, by then festooned inside and out with marine growth.  Of Johnstone and Hoare there was no sign, but among the artefacts found in Puffin was Johnstone’s hand-written journal, which gave a complete and telling account of the men’s four months at sea.  Puffin was returned to England, cleaned up and repaired, and then exhibited at various museums around the country before finally ending up in a rather sorry state in a museum of old craft.  And there Puffin might have remained had Graham not seen her at a display of historical rowing boats and immediately decided that Puffin’s unfinished Atlantic crossing needed completing. 

Graham will take his first stroke on Jan 21st 2006, forty years after Johnstone and Hoare set off in Puffin.  Graham will be rowing west to east, from La Gomera, Canary Isles, to Antigua, a distance of some 2,700 miles.

This site includes brief snippets about Johnstone and Hoare’s 1966 attempt taken from Merton Naydler's excellent book The Penance Way (original copies can be bought via Amazon).  Naydler, an experienced sailor, was a family friend of David Johnstone’s, had full access to Johnstone’s journal, and sea-trialled the restored Puffin in 1967 to see what conclusions could be drawn about the boat and her design.

This site is also the story of Graham Walters.

Graham, 58, has a remarkable record of three successful crossings of the Atlantic, which he has completed as part of a team, solo, and in both directions.  With his experience and proven ability he is therefore the ideal person to make the attempt in this legendary if ill-fated craft.

Graham wishes to maintain Puffin’s original design features as much as possible but with some added safety features that would not have been available at the time (See the pictures in the ‘Gallery’ section).

The ‘Stop press’ section will contain Graham’s latest updates of the voyage as he reports back by phone from mid-Atlantic.

The ‘Gallery’ section shows Puffin before the first voyage, the condition of the Puffin when it was found, and photos of pictures drawn by Johnstone and Hoare inside the tiny cabin.

We hope you enjoy this site, and keep revisiting to get updated news on the voyage.