JOHN STRUCHINSKY

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JOHN STRUCHINSKY September 13, 1918- August 25, 2000 John was born in Oak Hammock, Man. He joined the air force in 1940 and served overseas in the Second World War. He retired in 1968 in England. John bought a sailing boat there. He learned to sail, navigate and outfit this vessel. In 1970 he sailed the Atlantic alone to the Barbados. In 1971 he sailed westward through Panama Canal, and by 1975 he had circumnavigated the globe from Bermuda to Bermuda entirely alone, joining a handful of individuals who had accomplished this feat. He then docked his boat at the Shearwater Yacht Club in Dartmouth, N.S. and spent the next 18 summers there sailing. In winter he lived in Winnipeg and cross-country skied every day possible. He even found time to make two long-distance bicycle trips from Vancouver to Elkhorn, Man., in 1984 and from Vancouver to Wynyard, Sask. in 1994. In 1997, failing health made him decide to live in Vancouver, where this Iron Man died. In his lifetime he proved that the best sailor was not necessarily in the navy.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Sep 05, 2000