Eight Bells — West Coast Circumnavigator John Guzzwell
West Coast sailor and circumnavigator John Guzzwell passed away in August at his home in Seattle. He was 94. At the age of 29, Guzzwell completed a four-year circumnavigation aboard the 21-ft yawl Trekka. At the time, Trekka was the smallest boat to have sailed around the world. His story is immortalized in his book Trekka Round the World, which became a cult classic among would-be voyagers, and is credited for sparking the dreams of many who have circumnavigated since.
Trekka was designed by J. Laurent Giles of Lymington, England. Guzzwell built the boat himself with the intention of singlehanding around the globe. Despite many sailors saying the boat’s small stature and lack of weight made her unseaworthy, Guzzwell set off from his home port in Victoria, B.C., Canada, in 1955. George Day of Cruising Compass writes, “The boat was way ahead of its time, with a light, shallow hull, reverse sheer and an early cruising fin keel and semi-spade rudder.”
Along the way, Guzzwell tied up in New Zealand and spent 16 months sailing with Miles and Beryl Smeeton on their ill-fated Cape Horn attempt aboard the 46-ft Bermuda ketch Tzu Hang in 1957. When the boat pitchpoled and dismasted in a storm, Guzzwell’s carpentry skills enabled the three sailors to reach Chile after 87 days at sea. This story is chronicled in another sailors’ classic, Once Is Enough.
Latitude editor Andy Turpin wrote about Guzzwell in the lead-up to the 2009 Strictly Sail Pacific Boat Show, where Guzzwell was to join the Authors’ Corner and share insights and video footage from his lifetime of voyaging and custom boatbuilding.
Andy writes, “Born and raised on Britain’s Channel Islands, John grew up around boats, the son of a sea captain. But the tranquility of his childhood was shattered when WWII broke out, as the family was soon interned in a Nazi POW camp. Afterwards, he was trained as a shipwright and eventually emigrated to British Columbia, where, at age 22, he began building Trekka in his spare time to a J. Laurent Giles design. Her light-displacement hull was many years ahead of its time.
“John later became a pioneer in cold-molded construction, a method he still advocates at annual workshops at Port Townsend. During his distinguished career as a custom boatbuilder, he has lent his expertise to a diversity of projects ranging from the 65-ft Farr-designed Lively to the 158-ft topsail schooner Tole Mour.
“Between projects, John cruised extensively with his family, and in 1994 did the Pan Pacific Yacht Race from L.A. to Osaka, returning via the Aleutians and mainland Alaska. In both 1998 and 2002 (then 71) he raced to Hawaii in the Singlehanded Transpac aboard a cold-molded 30-footer called Endangered Species, a half-sized Open 60 that he designed and built himself.”
We join the sailing community in mourning the legendary sailor John Guzzwell (1930-2024).
You can learn more about John Guzzwell and Trekka at The Maritime Museum of British Columbia. See Guzzwell and other West Coast Circumnavigators here.
John was an inspiration. Trekka Round The World is a must-read for small boat adventurers and Once is Enough is a must read for Southern Ocean aspirers.
I had the honor of having dinner with John and his wife about eight years ago. I was in Port Townsend, shooting a Safety at Sea video with famous sailmaker Carol Hasse, and she arranged that we would bring pizza to John’s house near Poulsbo. What a delightful evening! There was music, stories, and plenty of wine. While he had slowed down somewhat at that time (at the age of 88 or so), he still told some great stories about Trekka and other voyages. Everyone who has the slightest interest in sailing or cruising or voyaging must read Trekka. It’s a classic and it gives you an insight into John’s character and resourcefulness.
My father, Harry Heckel, is perhaps one of those inspired by Guzzwell’s story. While living with us in his mid nineties, I had to get copies of both Guzzwell’s and Smeeton’s books. Dad told me his first trek across the Pacific (“Around the World in Eighty Years”) was an attempt to follow in Guzzwell’s wake.
I was also inspired by John Guzzwell when I was a teenager in the 1960s (as recounted in my sailing memoir, Last Days of the Slocum Era), but these days I am also inspired by your father’s example of how to carry on well into old age. I have a copy of Harry’s book and treasure it.
Fair winds and following seas to Fiddlers Green . You were an inspiration and one of my heroes!
Many years ago when making plans to go cruising I figured I would be doing so single handed. That led to reading most of the great single-handed-around-the-world books, including John Guzzwell. Years later in 2021, having already started cruising, I had the good fortune to have lunch with John and my cousin. What a memorable lunch it was and John was a delight. So reading of his passing is sad but also a reminder of what a life well lived John had.
John Guzzwell was a true gentleman and an incredible sailor whom I was honoured to sail with in the 2007 Van Isle 360 Yacht race. When we left Winter Harbor on the overnight leg to Ucluelet, I asked John if he had ever seen the green flash. John just smiled and that evening we saw the green flash, me for the first time. I will never forget John, the afternoon teas we shared and the intriguing stories he told. RIP John and my condolences to your loved ones.
John Guzzwell was one on my heroes when I was a teenager growing up in Durban, South Africa, in the 1960s. There were many people around the waterfront there who remembered him well. I will never forget my excitement the day I found Trekka Round the World in the Durban library in November 1967, as recounted in my sailing memoir, Last Days of the Slocum Era. A few weeks before John’s passing, I had the pleasure of connecting with his wife, Dorothy and children, through mutual friends, and to be given permission to appoint John as Race Patron for the Mini Globe Race (MGR) (minigloberace.com), which kicks off from Antigua on 23 February, 2025. The transatlantic qualifier for this race begins in Lagos, Portugal, on 28 December 2024. This is a solo race around the world in 19ft plywood sloops, most of which are home-built, and is to be sailed in the spirit, and in honour of, John Guzzwell and Trekka. Hull Number One of this class, (ALVA Class Globe 580) is called Trekka II. The Guzzwell family were delighted with this tribute to John, and will be following the race. John’s legacy will live on as long as people sail small boas across oceans.
What a guy and inspiration to many…including me when I finished reading his book …wow…Sail on John!! 🙂