A Ten Year Circumnavigation: DOANN HOUGHTON
Doann Houghton sets as a perfect example for a saying that age is just a number. About to turn 74 in coming month, Doann is someone who has always looked for something different, enjoyed challenges and someone who feels that she belongs to the earth. She lives in the outskirts of Salida, Colorado just below several mountains. In an exclusive interview with A.Kameshwari from One World News, Doann Houghton expresses much more about her book Voice of Voyage and her experience of sailing through 41 countries.
How did the idea of sailing 41 countries struck you?
We have sailed before too. It wasn’t anything new for us. We both were working and my husband was airlines pilot in US he knew when exactly he had to retire. Pilots are supposed to retire at 60 and literally at midnight of birthday. My husband loved flying; he was flying a plane ten minutes before his birthday’s midnight and before getting retired, and I was passenger on that plane. We flew to Singapore and while we were flying back he was a passenger which was really sad for him. I owned a technical writing company, so when my husband got retired I sold my company and I got retired too. It was my idea to sail around the world and he was in for it. There were times when it was really challenging and sometimes we were in known places, but there were also places which were inhabited.
Voice of Voyage seems to be huge part of your memory; can you share something with us?
Some of the best experiences: just when we were by ourselves and I was in ocean, swimming. I love being in the ocean, down there, I love scuba diving, some of my best memories are of those times. I remember we were past-diving in south pacific’s coral islands with big lagoons where we could anchor our boats and many of those islands aren’t inhabited. So when tide is coming into the lagoon we would take our small boat outside, tie a long line to it and dive down, we would just float in to the lagoon, but one should do this when tide is coming in, but if you do other way round then you can find yourself in ocean and nobody would know where you are. So at least in the lagoon you can get a land somehow or other.
Other part of good memory is with people, I am not a teacher but in whichever inhabitant places we have been to, I visited schools. At some places, schools did not even have proper walls but thatch roof, I would visit the children and often these schools had English along with their regional language. So I could talk to them. I love talking to children because they tell you exactly what they think. They don’t pretend.
Do you still swim?
Yes, I do swim whenever I can. Because I live in mountains of Colorado there is no ocean, but I love mountains too.
What other sport do you enjoy?
I do downhill-skiing, trekking but I don’t do climbing, I do cycling, apart from that when I was sixty I did triathlon, it is a race where you swim, you ride a bike, then you run, all three comprises of one round.
How was your first scuba diving experience?
I had been snorkeling before, but not scuba diving. With my second husband, it was our first cruise together so he had to teach me how to scuba dive. He had old equipment, and we were anchored at a place in the Bahamas where there was nobody around. On my second dive, it was very shallow, just 12-15 feet, but during the dive my tank became empty of air as the gauge wasn’t working properly. Because I was so new to diving, I didn’t realize there was no air at all, so I gave the signal for low on air. We went to the surface. My husband wanted to fill my BC so we could easily get to the dinghy (our small boat that takes us to the sailboat), but there was absolutely no air in my tank at all. He was very surprised. I wasn’t worried though as I was a good swimmer. Other than that when I learned scuba diving, the feeling of being a part of that world was amazing.
My husband wanted to blow the tube around so, I could float, but even that couldn’t happen because of no air. I wasn’t worried though as I was a good swimmer. Other than that when I learnt scuba diving, the feeling of being a part of that world was amazing.
Did you catch any fishes down there?
I didn’t, but my husband had this spear thing with him through which he could hunt underwater. I’ll tell you one incident, we once went to an isolated lagoon, but we didn’t swim for long as there were sharks. For once, we both went under water and my husband killed a fish. Due to the blood, sharks got attracted and started swimming towards us, I swam as fast as I could and reached our small boat, but my husband wasn’t able to come. In a fraction of seconds my husband was surrounded by sharks and to save him I jumped into water again, took his spear thing and stabbed them all. So yes, fortunately we both were safe.
You’ve been to 41 countries, where did you find something interesting?
We were out on exploration and went to an island in Vanuatu. The people there are tribal and have various rituals. One of these was to construct a high tower of wood from the forests, tied with vines. On of the rituals is required for all boys at about eleven years of age. They have to climb the rickety tower, someone ties vines around their ankles, then they jump–really it is like diving off, and the vines (hopefully) keep them from hitting the ground hard. But after the boys are finished later in the season as the vines are drying out, it is more dangerous. Then the men can choose to jump to prove their physical strength and courage. What was interesting too, is that when a man is up on the platform ready to jump with the vines tied around his ankles, he can say anything about anyone and he would be forgiven.
Other than that, there are hardly any places I haven’t liked. Every country gave me some or the other special experience. On basis of top five countries, French Polynesia which is owned by France is very large and made of five different archipelagos which are separate, two of them are distinct and very good sites for scuba diving and not inhabitant. Indonesia was really interesting, I liked when we went to Borneo a part of Indonesia where we saw orangutan. Australia, Turkey, Morocco and the list goes on.
When you are sailing it is quite possible that you come across pirates, did you have any such experience?
Well, usually when you are alone you have to look after everything. We were two, and my husband would sleep at night so that he can drive the boat all day, so I used to do the night watch. We were sailing around the area of Yemen which is known as Pirates Alley. We sailed through without lights. In every 10 minutes we made sure to look around for everything being alright. It was my watch and very dark. Suddenly, I heard voices just outside. I stepped out into the cockpit and saw a man climbing on board about 2 feet away from me. I screamed and he fell back into his small boat, where there were two other men. My husband came up and started the engine. I drove the boat fast away from them while he checked the charts to see which way were safe for us to go. The pirates followed for a little ways, but thankfully they didn’t shoot.
Night watch, so anything beautiful you came across in that time?
One of the beautiful moments was when this dolphin would come and stay with us for ten-thirty minutes in day time and our only horizon was the water. On one of the nights I saw a mauve colour jelly fish, it was extremely beautiful.
What other art forms interest you?
I am also a poet, I love writing. I just found out I won three national prizes which includes the first prize too in poetry. I am very pleased about that. Other than that I love gardening and when we have summer in Colorado I love working in my garden.
Any specific rule that a sailor has to follow when they sails to another country?
Well, it’s a rule that you have to show smaller version of the flag wherever you are visiting. When we were in Turkey the Turkish police asked us to buy new flag because our flag was faded so yes, it’s that strict there.
What is it that you have learned on these trips?
Hatred, bias, divisiveness, and prejudice are as much poisons as those that we use to pollute the soil, air, and water. In the diversity of our languages, skin colors, customs, and beliefs is found the human beauty of this planet. I learned, saw, felt, and continue to believe that there is a desperate need for stewardship by all of us for the cultures and environment of this special planet Earth. This is part of the place I now know. This is part of me, where I started and now have returned.
Picture Courtesy : Doann Houghton
Have a news story, an interesting write-up or simply a suggestion? Write to us at info@oneworldnews.in
