About

About Francis Brenton

 

–>Before starting to talk about Francis Brenton’s life we have to mention that this is a work in progress, and we will improve it as we go along. There are over 40 years since he disappeared at sea trying to cross the ocean … again. Everything that is going to be published in this website is going to be based on documents and first hand memories of people who meet Francis Brenton.

Born in January 17th 1927 in the family home, Adair Road, Sub-district of West Derby Eastern in the County of Liverpool, Great Britain.
His father Victor Brenton, was a house painter, and his mother Mary Ellen, formerly Flattery, was apparently taking care of the kids.
He was “the youngest offspring of a hardworking family of four sons and four daughters” as he is introducing himself in one of the books.

He joined the British Army in February 1945 and was transferred to the Royal Corps of Signals in March 1945. He was discharged on June 16th 1948 after having received the War Medal.

From March 1952 to April 1954 he served in the Australian Regular Army including overseas service in Japan and Korea.

Between 1954 and 1960 we are not sure what he did in Australia but in the beginning of 1960 he made arrangements to leave Sydney and return to England. As he was interested in traveling and exploring he wanted to see as much as possible between Australia and England. So on his way home he visited 45 countries, used five passports and eight plane rides. We are in possession of a detailed description of this trip and we hope to publish it someday.

He did not stay too long back home. In January 1961 he was in Alicante, Spain looking for a boat he wanted to sail all the way to the Caribbean islands. It took him three months to find the right boat and he traveled all the way on the coast to Valencia, Cape Palos, Casablanca, and end up in Tenerife in March where he found the perfect boat: the Nengo. 24 ft long, seven feet wide with a depth of hold of five feet, 11 inches, the boat was perfect for his goal. Only a few days after his purchase, Francis left Tenerife in his first ocean crossing.
After 53 days he made his first landing: Santa Lucia in The Windward Islands. He spent several weeks sailing from island to island, taking some jobs and recovering after his long trip. In what he thought to be a routine stop in Haiti he was arrested on suspicion of being a spy. Whilst he was in prison, The Nengo was destroyed. He spent some time in various jails before the British consul was able (with difficulty) to rescue him from the Haitian Secret Police. This trip is described in Francis first book: “Long Sail to Haiti”.

After this trip he established himself in Chicago. The Field Museum asked him if he could go and get a South American canoe for their collection. So in 1966 he purchased two dugout canoes, rigged them as a catamaran and sailed all the way to Chicago. With his cocky sense of humor he named his boat “Sierra Sagrada” which means “Holy Mackerel”. After exhibiting the whole boat on the main floor, the Field Museum kept only one canoe. Francis built a new second canoe out of plywood and the very next year he sailed from Chicago North to Lake Huron, St. Lawrence River. Then, via Newfoundland across The Atlantic with destination Africa . In this trip all his rudimentary navigation instruments failed, he was lost and ran out of water.
Off-course by almost 800 miles he was saved by a German freighter and finally after 106 days he reached his destination. From Africa he wanted to get back to the US in a combination balloon-boat. Unfortunately everything that could go wrong did and the whole balloon project was abandoned. Finally he sailed the “Sierra Sagrada” back to Chicago, this time in only 46 days. This adventure is in “The Voyage of the Sierra Sagrada: Across the Atlantic in a Canoe”.

The last documents and information we have from Francis Brenton are dated 1970 when he tried to sail again to England, and he was lost at sea.