CROSSING AMERICA BY HOVERCRAFT
English adventurer Robert Hodson, 39, sold his home in Godalming,
Surrey, to buy a hovercraft (shown at bottom of article) that
he's now piloting across the United States from coast to coast.
His journey, skimming along 20,000 miles of river systems, is
likely to be the longest hovercraft trek in history.
His
craft is nothing like those puny, mostly backyard-built
machines that competed in the World's First Hovercraft Race on
the partly-filled Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra, Australia, 40
years ago. Hodson'shovercraft, named Wings of the Dawn,
is a custom Griffon 450 TD Mk II that weighs two tons and
measures 11.5 by 25 feet. It uses a gallon of fuel every six
miles and can travel 150 miles without refuelling. (photo: Copyright (C) 2003 World Hovercraft Organization is of Hodson's VW diesel-powered Griffon Hovercraft.)
Hodson began his epic journey on April 7, when he travelled
up the Savannah River, which forms the border between South
Carolina and Georgia, on the US East Coast. He hopes to reach
the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the Columbia River, west of
Astoria, Oregon, by the end of next year.
According to a feature story in the World Hovercraft
Organization's newsletter, HoverWorld Insider, "Most
everyone he meets asks, 'Do you need any food or supplies?' and
brings him everything from food, whiskey, and iced coolers of
soft drinks to travel toiletries and books."
When Harold Carter, Cruise Director for the Hoverclub of
America, read about Hodson's Trans-American Hovercraft
Adventure, he thought at first, "This guy is absolutely
nuts! This will never happen. He needs to get out a geography
book."
But after discovering that Hodson was already halfway up the
Savannah River, Carter travelled from Atlanta with his own
hovercraft to meet Hodson on Lake Hartwell. Carter now says,
"Robert is on my mind all the time. What he's doing is
something we'd all like to do, and it's absolutely
awesome."
Anyone following Hodson's adventure through local newspaper
reports on the Internet could have discovered that by July 14 he
had reached Delta, Mississippi. The Delta Democrat Times
reported, "From far-away Godalming, England, new world
explorer Robert Hodson docked his 2-ton Griffon 450 TD Mk11
hovercraft on the boat ramp between the Jubilee Casino ..."
On to Tennessee. Writing in the University of Memphis's
aptly-named Daily Helmsman on August 5, Ryan Sisung
reported that Hodson had stopped over in Memphis to repair his
hovercraft. Jim Hardin, adjunct professor of history and
political science, had offered him a place to stay and invited
him to speak to a group of his students.
"I was on the Savannah River asleep in my craft and
awoke to the sounds of what I believe are called rednecks,"
Hodson told the students. "They were out hunting gators and
hogs and such."
Sisung wrote that Hodson said he had held many interesting
positions, including estate management for the Saudi royal
family.
Explaining why he had undertaken his present journey, Hodson
said "I figured I should go out and do what I desire to
instead of waiting until I'm 60. I'm not trying to break any
records. I may do some filming and writing by the end of it. The
bottom line is I'm just enjoying myself."
Mark Grizzard, junior mechanical engineering major, said
"I am thinking of building a hovercraft in my spare time.
It's great he is using this mode of transportation to get across
the US."
By August 16, Hodson had journeyed north to Indiana, where
the Terre Haute Tribune-Star published a story by John
Chambers, "Nation-crossing hovercrafter stops in Terre
Haute."
"Hodson has weathered southern heat, storms, almost fell
90 feet off the edge of a dam and was even searched by the
FBI," Chambers wrote. "Federal officials search
Hodson's British boat, telling him they were looking for nitrate
he could use to blow up a dam.
"Hodson said he only wanted to see the country the way
early explorers saw it. Part of his trip will lead him through
the route taken by Lewis and Clark. One difference is Hodson
navigates with a cell phone and electronic computer
charts."
When Thomas Jefferson dispatched Lewis
and Clark to find a water route across North America and
explore the uncharted West, he expected they'd encounter
woolly mammoths, erupting volcanoes, and a mountain of
pure salt. What they found was no less surprising. See
it all: our journey: journal entries, historical photos,
drawings and more.
- National
Geographic |
Terre Haute is the hometown of Neoteric Hovercraft, Inc.,
whose President, Chris Fitzgerald, a former Australian, took
part in the world's first hovercraft race in 1964 He is chairman
of the World Hovercraft Organization and founder of its free
international school hovercraft program, DiscoverHover.
Hodson decided to spend two weeks in Terre Haute while his
craft receives a little tender loving care from Neoteric. The Wings
of the Dawn has travelled more than 4,000 miles of rivers
without breaking down. "Duct tape and cable ties get you
out of a number of problems," said Hodson. "Neoteric
generously offered a great servicing facility at their factory,
a very pleasant change from the normal muddy banks along the
river."
He plans to head south to Tennessee before travelling
westward. Along the way he'll introduce the DiscoverHover
program, which gives students worldwide the chance to build a
hovercraft and compete in national and international races. Free
hovercraft plans, instructions and curriculum guides are
available at no charge to students and educators at DiscoverHover
Asked for a map of his journey, Hodson said he had not yet
completed one. He supplied these details:
I started by heading up the Savanah
River system in Georgia. A portage around the bottom of the
Appalachians took me to the Tennessee River which I
proceeded along before heading down the Tombigbee and into
the Gulf.
I then back tracked up the
Alabama river, and back down to the Gulf on the
Alabama/Florida border. Next I headed towards New Orleans to
enter the Mississippi and proceeded to St. Louis. I then
returned down the Mississippi to the Ohio which I proceeded
along until branching off into the Wabash and on up to Terre
Haute, Indiana from where I'm writing this. So far I have
covered around 4000 miles.
I'm not sure where I'll go next
this year. It could be south, it could be north, or it could
be east. I'm saving west for next year. The main rivers that
will take me west are the Missouri, Yellowstone, Snake and
Columbia. I wish to explore many others along the way.
This is Hodson's second big adventure. Twenty years ago he
hitchhiked from Key West, Florida, across the US and Canada to
Alaska.
