There’s a strong Devon connection to the film Deep Water, screening at the Exeter Picturehouse this week, which heavily features the town of Teignmouth. How impossibly glamorous!
The documentary uses archive footage, including that of Teignmouth and its ‘hinterland’, to tell the true story of the ill-fated (ie, fucken crazy) attempted round the world voyage of amateur yachtsman Donald Crowhurst.
Crowhurst, whose boat was nattily named Teignmouth Electron, set sail from Teignmouth in the first ever solo, non stop round the world yacht race held in October 1968.
After encountering technical difficulties, rather than pull out, Crowhurst appeared to lead the race by falsifying radio transmissions and log book entries in a bid to gain publicity. Instead of leading the race, he was in fact hiding in the Southern Atlantic Ocean. Oh dear…
In July the following year Crowhurst’s boat was eventually found unoccupied and adrift. Log entries indicated that Crowhurst had probably suffered a mental breakdown and jumped overboard rather than face the shame of what he’d done. A bit like Robert Maxwell then.
Catch Deep Water at the Exeter Picturehouse from Friday.
Posted by Thin White Duke
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