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We're not afraid to die

 I get a lot of queries from students as well as teachers about Gordon Cook's essay prescribed as a lesson in CBSE's class 11 English course. So I thought of presenting certain salient points here. [I'm thus saving myself from having to answer too many people.]

Gordon Cook was replicating the second voyage made by Captain James Cook from 1772 to 1775. Gordon Cook is not related directly to James Cook. James Cook was married but none of his children married and none of them had children of their own. So there are no direct descendants of Captain James Cook. 

James Cook undertook three voyages all of which started from Plymouth, the same starting point of Gordon Cook too. But only the second one was for circumnavigating the globe. The missions of the other two were different. Gordon Cook intended to go round the world too in a ship similar to the one used by his role model. 

Resolution and Adventure, a painting by William Hodges

Strictly speaking, the Resolution did not start voyage from Plymouth but a small river town called Sheerness. It carried 118 people including the 20 men who had sailed earlier on Cook's first voyage. At Plymouth, it was joined by another ship called Adventure. Both the ships together set sail from Plymouth on their mission on 13 July 1772. 

Gordon and family in their ship in 1976

James Cook's 3 Voyages: Green indicates 2nd

James Cook's second voyage was commissioned by the British government with the mission of not only going round the world but also determining whether there was a great landmass (Terra Australis) lying further south of Australia. That's why you will find the route taking too many circles near Australia. 

Ile Amsterdam

Ile Amsterdam and the neighbouring Île Saint-Paul were first claimed by France in June 1843. Today they are French scientific bases just as when Gordon Cook and family sought asylum there in Jan 1977. 

What happened to the Cook family after this? The textbook tells us that some of them were badly injured and needed much medical assistance. For example, Suzanne - the 7-year-old daughter - required 6 minor surgeries to remove a recurring blood clot in her head. 
Gordon receiving Lady Swathling Award

Gordon Cook was awarded the prestigious Lady Swathling trophy by the Shipwrecked Mariner's Society for that year's 'most outstanding act of seamanship and navigation that saved the lives of everyone on board.' But Gordon never turned up to receive the award until 33 years later. The Wavewalker was repaired in Australia and the voyage that was to last three years went on for 16 years. Mary who was a teacher by profession taught Jon and Sue in the ship. Later on Sue and Jon went on to take university degrees through distance education systems. But Gordon Cook was of the opinion that he had saved them from the British education system. 

After the longer-than-planned voyage, Gordon established a bookshop in Cambridge, England, in 1993. Jonathan went on to complete 4 Masters while Suzanne did PhD in zoology. In 2013, Gordon at the age of 74 was bitten by the travel bug again and undertook another round-the-world voyage, alone this time since Mary was not in the mood to join him. But she did join him at some places on his route for a few weeks. 

I haven't been able to find out more about Gordon and his family. Anyone who has more information is requested to leave it in the comments space below. It will be your gift to a lot of students and teachers. 



Comments

  1. Yamini MacLeanJuly 27, 2021 at 4:48 PM

    Hari OM
    Most interesting! I was vaguely aware of this part of recent history, but had not known of the 2nd voyage undertaking. The most recent report I could find was from May 2019 in The Telegraph with Cook still out on the waters... so one wonders if he still out there somewhere?!! YAM xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 28, 2021 at 7:35 AM

      That Telegraph article is one that I wanted to read but it keeps demanding subscription. Thanks for providing the information which i had suspected that Cook is still there somewhere in the seas.

      Delete
    2. Yamini MacLeanJuly 28, 2021 at 9:29 PM

      Hari OM
      Paywalls are tiresome - just met same with your link in next post to the article on the subject. Still - your post was sufficient! Yxx

      Delete
  2. AnonymousApril 9, 2023 at 7:59 PM

    The daughter - Sue - has published her own account of the voyage in her book “Wavewalker”, April 2023

    ReplyDelete
  3. veerAugust 11, 2025 at 4:25 PM

    perfect explainatio

    ReplyDelete

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