Last summer Georgs asked if anyone was interested in doing a
brief article on "Sea Tracks of the Speejacks" or A. Y. Gowen, the first
power boat to circumnavigate in 1923. Though I did not write the article
it sparked an interest in me and I started looking for the book. Well my
librarian wife and I found a number of them. One published in 1923
loaned to us by an out of town library and one published in 1926 that I
bought.
I noted that the 1926 publication had a chapter in the beginning
written by Jean Gowen the wife of A. Y. Gowen. It seems that at the
start she was going to write the book but by the time they got to
Australia they had decided to hire someone to write it and they did in
the person of a Mr. Dale Collins which is listed as the author. In the
1926 version Mrs. Gowen fills in the space between the beginning of the
journey and Australia.
Anyway getting back to the purpose of this e-mail, there was
also a fellow on board that documented the whole trip on film, 93,000
feet of it to be exact. This summer when I was trying to find out if
that film was available I stumbled across an American Film Institute web
site that actually listed the film. I cannot find it now though. I was
wondering if anyone on this list knows Bruce Kessler. He was a
television producer I believe and possibly could find the film or help
me find it. Boy, I sure would like to see it.
Randal Johnson
Last summer Georgs asked if anyone was interested in doing a
brief article on "Sea Tracks of the Speejacks" or A. Y. Gowen, the first
power boat to circumnavigate in 1923. Though I did not write the article
it sparked an interest in me and I started looking for the book. Well my
librarian wife and I found a number of them. One published in 1923
loaned to us by an out of town library and one published in 1926 that I
bought.
I noted that the 1926 publication had a chapter in the beginning
written by Jean Gowen the wife of A. Y. Gowen. It seems that at the
start she was going to write the book but by the time they got to
Australia they had decided to hire someone to write it and they did in
the person of a Mr. Dale Collins which is listed as the author. In the
1926 version Mrs. Gowen fills in the space between the beginning of the
journey and Australia.
Anyway getting back to the purpose of this e-mail, there was
also a fellow on board that documented the whole trip on film, 93,000
feet of it to be exact. This summer when I was trying to find out if
that film was available I stumbled across an American Film Institute web
site that actually listed the film. I cannot find it now though. I was
wondering if anyone on this list knows Bruce Kessler. He was a
television producer I believe and possibly could find the film or help
me find it. Boy, I sure would like to see it.
Randal Johnson
