Review:
AROUND ALONE
Sailing Magazine
by Shimon-Craig Van Collie
Dodge Morgan not only acts like an American hero, he's got a name like one. ("Here comes Sheriff Dodge Morgan. Run for the hills, boys!") A self-made millionaire and devoted family man, fair-haired Dodge, 53, made a promise to himself 20 years ago to sail around the world without stopping, alone. Last May he made good on that promise, covering 27,500 miles in 150 days, a record shattering trip. Six onboard cameras captured the event.
AROUND ALONE is another offering from Boston's New Film Co., which seems to have cornered the market on thrilling singlehander against-the-sea films. They also brought you Phil Weld's OSTAR triumph in AMERICAN CHALLENGE and the classy BOC singlehanded race around the world saga of THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE.
AROUND ALONE is well produced, narration written by sailing journalist Martin Luray and featuring Dodge and his state-of-the-art 60-foot Ted Hood designed sloop American Promise. Using his organizational skills developed in building a 500 employee electronics manufacturing firm, Dodge put together a first class effort for the circumnavigation.
American Promise’s success seems to be almost a foregone conclusion. The film's drama comes from watching Morgan go through a wide swing of emotions and states of mind. Part of his stated goal for the trip was to push himself to the limits of his endurance and to find new ways to cope with being alone. "It’s a long time between warm embraces," he comments at one point, adding that seeing anything living, whether it was a bird, a porpoise, or just some algae, made his spirits soar.
There are also some great humorous moments. On New Year's Day, he resolves not to covet his neighbor's wife, not to argue with the boss and not to stray too far from home. "I know I can keep those for at least three months," he quips. There is also a section where he jokes about the questions from his daily psychological test, revealing under his captain of industry persona a naughty schoolboy who just wants to have some fun.
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