The Argo
Tim Readman, one of our Club members, took part in the Jason’s voyage re-enactment back in 1984. The culmination of this voyage was the third experiment in maritime history by Tim Severin who with Master shipwright Vasilis Delimitros, hand built a 54-foot (16.5 m) replica of a Bronze Age galley on the Greek island of Spetses and crewed her with a band of modern day Argonauts. With twenty volunteer oarsmen, Severin rowed and sailed from northern Greece, through the Dardenelles, crossed the Marmara Sea and passed through the Straits of Bosphorus to the Black Sea — a voyage of 1,500 miles (2,400 km). Along the way they identified many of the landmarks visited by Jason and his Argonauts, and found a likely explanation for the legend of the Golden Fleece. Tim Severin recounted the expedition in The Jason Voyage (1985). Suffering the same hardships as their predecessors in the Bronze Age, they won through to the Black Sea and followed the northern shore of Turkey to reach the Land of the Golden Fleece – Georgia.
In June 2014, Tim Readman returned to Georgia as an honoured guest of the Government to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the only long distance galley voyage in modern history. Tim reported that “The Jason Voyage reunion was a major event for the Georgians and our arrival there was met with joyous celebrations. Our welcome back there for a week-long celebration was very hospitable with 5 major dinners and many toasts, we even met the President. We were guests of the Georgian government who paid all our expenses. Members should consider going to this fantastic country with its’ deep and rich culture which is just emerging after 70 years of occupation by Russia.”
Tim Severin centre, President of Georgia on his right
