John Lennon...The Old Man of the Sea | Fab forum

I recently finished reading John Lennon: The Life, by Philip Norman. 

There is a really fascinating story that I'd never heard about John in it.  Like a lot of us, he turned 40 and began to feel the need to do something adventurous.  So he bought a small sailboat and took lessons and tooled around Long Island with Sean. If you've ever sailed (I've done just a bit), you understand the appeal of guiding a vessel under wind power from a specific point to another specific point.  Unlike power-boating, you have to think the trip through.

Anyway, having learned the basics, John took a bigger step.  He hired a 43-footer to sail on from New York to Bermuda.  His crew was "Cap'n Hank" and two others.

Cap'n Hank was a character.  He had lived a counter-culture life in the 60's, so he and John bonded.  He of course new all about the Beatles and Lennon, but surprisingly didn't recognize John when they first met. 

The forecast was good weather and smooth sailing.  However, out in the middle of the Atlantic, things got nasty.  A gale-force storm blew up, with 20-foot waves tossing the boat about.  This was seriously dangerous for a boat that size.  The two mates got violently seasick and worthless.  Only Hank and John were unaffected (John explained that while quitting heroin "cold turkey", you learned how to subdue nausea).  Hank directed the boat for over 48 hours through the storm before he told John he had to take over…Hank was too exhausted to continue.  John was terrified at the prospect and told Hank that he only had these "little guitar-playing muscles."  But he accepted the duty.  Hank showed him how to handle the boat in the crashing waves and whipping wind and then left John to take over.

After a little while, John was master of the sea, shouting at the storm, daring it, cursing it, and having the time of his life.  And he actually piloted them through to safety.

The seasoned seamen were duly impressed, and Lennon himself was astounded and excited.  When he got to Bermuda, he was full of life and actively started writing songs again.  The result was his first album in years "Double Fantasy." 

Shortly thereafter, he was murdered.  The loss is even more acute when you see he was finally at peace with himself and excited to be alive again.