The men sailed a total of 26,000 miles (“if you count the waves,” laughed George) from 1960-1961, visiting 36 countries along the way. They had no kids, no Global Positioning System (GPS), no real radio transmitter, and no refrigerator (just an icebox – good for the first three days out of port). Instead, they had a 4-month old, black tongued, white Chinese Chow pup named “Gou” (Cantonese for dog), five guns, a sextant, a knot log - and yes, the occasional bottle of whiskey for parties.


The crew shared three things in common: college degrees, recent military service, and some spare change to invest in the Suzy Wong. The idea of sailing on a boat started in 1959, when George popped a question to Steve at 2:00 a.m. in a small frequently visited bar in Manila. He said, “How would you like to build a boat in Hong Kong and sail it home to the United States?”


After at least 15 seconds of


careful thought and hesitation, Steve said, “Sounds good George, let’s do it!” Nearly 10 months and many struggles


Clockwise from left: Paul in front of the Pyrmids and Great Sphinx in Cairo, Egypt; George at Leptis Magna, Libya; Steve holding a barracuda they caught in the Red Sea; and below: George and Paul holding what’s left of a tuna they caught crossing the Gulf Stream. They had to share the other half with a shark.


Often their diet consisted of “spamghetti” and “tunaghetti,” ship- made fried cookies prepared on their homemade alcohol stove. Eventually the oven attachment of the stove was thrown overboard due to excessive heat and awful fumes. They had U.S. Navy and U.S. Embassy contacts, swapped paperbacked books with other ships in port, and experienced the generosity of many local nationals along the way. “What was the secret of four inexperienced guys succeeding in making such a trip when everyone they asked advice from advised against it?” asked Paul’s son, Tony Cardoza, 47, who grew up hearing ship stories from his parents. Paul’s response, “It just seemed like the thing to do at the time and looking back 49 years later, it was!”


“Nothing like having your money on the table,” responded Walt, referring to their $18,000 investment in Suzy, including an $8,000 debt.


Designed by Sparkman & Stevens of New York, and built in Hong Kong,


48° NORTH, SEPTEMBER 2010 PAGE 46


the Suzy Wong was an ocean-racing yawl with a fixed keel and measured 41-foot on the deck, 27-feet on the waterline with a 6-foot draft, a 55-foot mast and a weight of 9.5 tons. Its top speed was around seven knots. The crew named her after a 1957 novel and play turned 1960 Paramount movie, “The World of Suzie Wong” staring William Holden and Nancy Kwan.


later, a crowd gathered at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club dock on March 6, 1960, to wish the crew and their four- legged friend, Gou, farewell. “With firecrackers and flash bulbs popping, it was like a second Chinese New Year. We sailed out of the harbor as probably the most publicized and least experienced crew to leave Hong Kong in many a moon,” wrote Paul in a 1960 Christmas letter. “Six days later we arrived in Manila, crossing the South China Sea. In that first week of sailing we were set upon by pirates and experienced several days becalmed at sea. We were able to extricate ourselves from the pirates by showing them our weapons smuggled into Hong Kong months earlier. Manila turned into two weeks of work, hot weather and parties.” Suzy with her crew departed Penang, Malaysia for Ceylon just before the burst of the monsoon, which hit while they were in the Bay of Bengal. With difficulty they were able to shorten sail and make the crossing.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106