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I've just finished reading "The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst". ........

Crowhurst attempted to sail around the world solo in the 1968 Golden Globe race. He had a rough time even before the race started: he encountered all kinds of set-backs - quite apart from the fact that he had no money to build a boat, and wasn't very experienced at sea! However he found people to support him by his sheer personality and enthusiasm "The thing about Donald was that he thought himself God. Everything in his life revolved around his belief in himself, and he was so quick and so clever, he could make others believe in him too. He thought he was wonderful - and he was a smashing bloke - a genius. But he wasn't God, and that's why his troubles were his own fault" Peter Beard.

Crowhurst encountered serious problems from the start, but rather than putting in at the nearest port, he secretly abandoned the race - but continued to radio in his alleged progress to the race organisers, giving carefully calculated - but completely false, sets of co-ordinates. He reported false positions for weeks in an attempt to appear to have completed the circumnavigation without actually going around the world!

Donald Crowhurst died out there at sea, ending his life miles off course.

How frustrating..... It so did not have to be this way! Even after his first decision to report a false position in order to cover up the fact he was doing so badly - this didn't have to be the end of it. His first decision to hide where he was, led to more and more decisons that supported the untruth, until his whole life had become a deception - what a tragic waste.....

It reminds me so much of the prodigal in Luke 15. The decision to take the inheritance early to please himself, wanting it all now, the frittering away, the ending up eating pig food - and then the 'coming to his senses' and going home.

That's what Crowhurst never did. He never faced up to what was really going on. He never 'came to his senses' and changed his course. Even though there was the opportunity to do so - every minute of every day...............