THE FIRST UP TONIGHT, FOR 10 YEARS, HE SAILED AROUND THE WORLD IN A WOODEN BOAT HE FEELS HIMSELF.
>> THE HULL SMOOTH.
THE CRAFTS FILLED. -- CRACKS FILLED.
JOHN NOON DRAWS CLOSER TO REALIZING HIS DREAM.
JOHN: I HOPE I CAN GO IN 2020 THE CLASSIC WOODEN BOATING FESTIVAL.
KAREN: HE PLANS TO HOP ABOARD THIS 35 FOOTER HE IS BUILDING FROM SCRATCH AT HIS BARN IN KENSINGTON.
JOHN: THIS BOAT IS REALLY BULLETPROOF -- THAT DOES NOT MEAN YOU CANNOT SINK IT.
THE TITANIC SANK.
KAREN: JOHN HAS BEEN BUILDING WOODEN BOAT SINCE HE WAS A KID.
HE ESTIMATES THIS IS NUMBER 25.
HE GOT A HEAD START ON THIS ONE, BARRING A FINISHED HALT.
THE PRICE JUST TOO GOOD TO RESIST.
JOHN: THAT IS OLD-GROWTH, SOMETHING REALLY HARD TO FIND.
NO NONSENSE.
KAREN: WOODEN BOAT’S RARE THESE DAYS.
MOST ARE MADE OF FIBERGLASS.
JOHN: IT IS A HUGE COMMITMENT.
BUT IT’S ON YOUR FINISHED WITH A BOAT LIKE THIS, YOU CAN HAVE 5000, 6000, 7000 HOURS IN IT.
KAREN: WHAT IS BECAUSE AND FOUR, DOESN’T ABSORB?
JOHN: IT JUST GOES IN ANY TINY LITTLE CRACKED THAT MIGHT BE IN THERE.
KAREN: WITH TIME, JOHN’S PRIORITIES HAVE CHANGED.
JOHN: GET WILL BE A GOOD BOOK TO READ I STARTED OUT WITH A FANCY BOAT, BUT EVERY POST THEN, HAS GOTTEN SIMPLER.
ALL THESE GADGETS TAKE AWAY FROM YOUR SAILING.
KARE THIS BOAT DOES NOT EVEN HAVE A STEERING WHEEL.
JOHN: YOU ATTACH IT TO THE RUDDER.
INSTEAD OF HAVING A STEERING WHEEL, LIKE MANY BOATS DO, THIS -- I PREFER IT.
LESS PROBLEMATIC.
KAREN: MANY PARTS CAME OFF AN OLD VESSEL JOHN BOUGHT AT AUCTION.
HE HAS GOT A NICE FOR DEALS AND STEALS.
JOHN: NOBODY WANTED TO GO ON IT BECAUSE OF ALL KINDS OF JUNK, COVERED WITH TREE SAT.
ALL OF THE RIGGING IS GOING INTO THIS BOAT.
KAREN: HE WON’T SET MANY RECORDS SAILING TO FRANCE.
THE 35 FOOTER IS DESIGNED TO BE SEAWORTHY, NOT SPEEDY.
THE COUPLE TOOK OFF ON ANOTHER WOODEN BOAT HE BUILT, THE GUARDIAN, PLANNING TO SINGLE TWO YEARS.
THE TRIP LASTED 10.
JOHN: I PROBABLY SPENT ONE THIRD OF MY LIFE IN A BUNK SOMEWHERE, AND THEY DO SOMETHING ABOUT LEAVING ON A BOAT.
IT IS JUST MAGIC.
>> IT REALLY WAS A DREAM COME TRUE.
KAREN: 20 COUNTRIES, FROM THE BAHAMAS AND BERMUDA TO THE CARIBBEAN, EUROPE TO AFRICA, NORWAY AND SWEDEN, SCOTLAND AND IRELAND, EVEN THEIR CAT, WILLIE, HAD A PASSPORT.
>> IT WAS VERY REGULATED GETTING A CAT INTO THE U.K., SO WE HAD TO GET A PASSPORT.
KAREN: ALMOST FOR NOT.
THE CA FELL OVERBOARD ON THE WAY TO BERMUDA.
>> HE WAS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND.
KAREN: THEY WERE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.
>> THIS WAS ABOUT 2:00 IN THE MORNING, FLAT PALM, NOT A BREATH OF AIR, LOW STUDS.
JOHN: YOU KNOW WHEN YOU ARE IN THE WOODS -- YOU CANNOT EVEN SEE THE HAND IN FRONT OF YOUR FACE.
KAREN: THE DARKNESS ULTIMATELY SAVE THE CAP.
AFTER TURNING THE BOAT AROUND AND SCOURING THE WATER FOR MILES, THEY THOUGHT THEY HEARD HIM, AND THEN THEY SPOTTED HIM.
>> WE COULD SEE HIS EYES.
IT WAS ENOUGH TO SAVE HIM.
JOHN: I LEANED OVER THE SIDE, GRABBED HIM BY THE HEAD, PUT HIM IN HER ARMS, AND SHE FELL TO HER KNEES, THANKING THE LORD.
KAREN: THE REST OF THE TRI LESS TRAUMATIC.
JOHN PICKED UP VARIOUS JOBS AT PORTS TO PAY THE BILLS.
THE LOCALS EMBRACING JOHN AND LINDA AS THEIR OWN.
JOHN: WHEN YOU’RE IN A NEW COUNTRY OR IN NEWPORT FOR SIX OR SEVEN MONTHS, YOU BECOME A PART OF THE COMMUNITY.
THE PEOPLE AT THE HARDWARE STORE, "BIG JOHN, BIG JOHN," OR "LITTLE LINDA, LITTLE LINDA." WE COULD NOT HAVE HAD A BETTER TIME.
KAREN: THINGS GOT ROCKY AT TIME LIVING IN CLOSE QUARTERS.
LINDA: WE HAD WHAT WE CALLED FAST FIGHTING, WE WOULD HAVE OUT REALLY FAST.
JOHN: YOU ARE A BLANKITY, BLANK BLANK BLANK.
THEN WE ARE SCREAMING, THEN OK, WE ARE OVER IT.
LET’S GO GET AN ICE CREAM.
[LAUGHTER] KAREN: FINDING JUST AS MUCH SUCCESS WEATHERING METEOROLOGICAL STORMS.
JOHN: WE HAD A SITUATION WHERE THE WEATHER WAS BAD, AND WE WAITED IT OUT.
WE NEVER GOT INTO A GALE, FOR 10 YEARS.
WE WERE CLOSE.
LINDA WE WERE CLOSE, BU WE PRIDED OURSELVES ON NEVER HAVING BEEN IN A GALE.
KAREN: LIKE BACK ON LAND IN NE HAMPSHIRE PROVED DIFFICULT.
LINDA: WE WERE VERY CLOSE ALL THE TIME, AND WHEN WE MOVED BACK TO THE STATES, THAT WAS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WAS THE HARDEST, NOT BEING NEAR EACH OTHER, WITH EACH OTHER.
JOHN: ALL THE TIME.
KAREN: THEY SOLD THE GUARDIAN TO MAKE ROOM FOR JOHN’S NEW BOAT, RELIVING A DREAM