0046: Irving and Exy Johnson, Yankee that sailed the world

 



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0044: Irving and Exy Johnson, Yankee that sailed the world

The voyages of Irving and Electa “Exy” Johnson aboard their various vessels named Yankee are legendary among sailors and adventurers worldwide.

Irving McClure Johnson was born on July 4, 1905, on a family farm in Hadley, Massachusetts. From his teenage years he trained for a life at sea. He worked as captain on the New York 40 Squaw for two years, then spent four summers as captain of the 70-foot Seawanhaka schooner Charmian.

Seeking greater adventure, Johnson joined the Merchant Marine in 1926. He served as quartermaster aboard the Grace Line steamer S.S. Santa Teresa, then on the freighter S.S. Stanley Dollar, and later as a cadet on the Dollar Steamship Line flagship U.S.S. President Wilson, completing his first circumnavigation in 1928. The following year he sailed with Cunard on the R.M.S. Aquitania. While in Europe he joined the four-masted barque Peking and rounded notorious Cape Horn in late 1929 — a dramatic voyage he filmed himself and later released as the classic documentary Around Cape Horn.

In 1930 he crossed the Atlantic as First Mate aboard the J-class yacht Shamrock V. His final mate’s position came aboard the schooner Wander Bird, where he met Electa Search. The couple married in 1933 and began one of the most remarkable sailing partnerships in history.

Together, Irving and Exy sailed around the world seven times with crews of enthusiastic amateurs — mostly young people. Their first vessel, the 92-foot Dutch-built pilot schooner Yankee, completed three circumnavigations out of Gloucester, Massachusetts. With a typical crew of about 20 (including four women, 16 men, a doctor, and a mate), the Johnsons alternated 18-month world voyages with seasonal sailing along the Eastern Seaboard.

During World War II, Irving was urgently called into the U.S. Navy by Admiral Kimmel for his unmatched knowledge of the South Pacific. He was in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Later assigned to the survey ship U.S.S. Sumner, he charted reefs, blasted channels through coral, and helped prepare for key invasions.

In 1946 the Johnsons purchased the German North Sea pilot boat Duhnen. Converted into a handsome brigantine at the J.W. & A. Upham yard in Brixham, England, their new Yankee carried them on four more circumnavigations (voyages four through seven) over the next eleven years. Their book Yankee’s People and Places (co-authored with crew member Lydia Edes) recounts the sixth voyage.

In 1959 they launched their dream ship — a 50-foot ketch also named Yankee, designed by Irving Johnson and Olin Stephens and built in Holland. They cruised Europe’s canals, waterways, and seas, and sailed more than 1,000 miles up the Nile River. These adventures are beautifully documented in their books Yankee Sails Across Europe and Yankee Sails the Nile.

Irving and Exy shared their experiences through National Geographic articles, popular travel lectures, and films. In 1984 they were featured in the National Geographic special Irving Johnson, High Seas Adventurer. Irving also served as Trustee Emeritus of Mystic Seaport Museum and South Street Seaport.

Through skill, courage, and a passion for teaching, the Johnsons turned blue-water sailing into one of the finest classrooms on earth.

Today, their legacy sails on in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Maritime Institute’s twin brigantines, the Irving Johnson (with a red stripe, outfitted for long cruises with extra water and fuel capacity) and the Exy Johnson (with a blue stripe), were launched in 2002. These beautiful training vessels carry thousands of young people—especially at-risk youth—out to sea each year, teaching seamanship, teamwork, and character in the exact spirit the Johnsons championed.

Irving and Exy didn’t just sail the world—they showed generations that the sea is the greatest classroom of all.


For more info:  

Mystic Seaport Museum: https://research.mysticseaport.org/coll/coll240/

Los Angles Maritime Institute :  https://lamitopsail.org/

 

 



Curtis Anthony Neil/Grok 4.0/ LibreOffice. April  09th. 2026 AD.

Bakersfield, California, USA, North America, Planet Earth (Terra), the third planet from the Sun (Sol), Solar System, Orion Arm, Milky Way Galaxy



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