Hugo Vihlen sailing April Fool

On April 1, often referred to as April Fool’s Day, it seems fitting to recount the voyage of Hugo Vihlen in his micro-yacht April Fool. In 1966, Hugo Vihlen sailed from Casablanca to Florida, aboard his 5’11” sailboat. In 84 days he sailed 4,100 miles and got within 6 miles of Miami, Florida before being stopped by contrary winds and current. He was finally picked up by the US Coast Guard.

The micro-yacht April Fool now resides at the International Small Craft Center at The Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, VA.  Their web page features excerpts from Vihlen’s book, “April Fool or, How I sailed from Casablanca to Florida in a Six-Foot Boat.”  My favorite is from June 9, 1968 after 71 days at sea:

“Catastrophe. I ran out of toilet paper today. Thank God for Reader’s Digest.”

This log entry may point out an unexpecting shortcoming of ebooks on longer voyages.