The twelve metre yacht Vixen with owner/skipper thirty-two year old Ian

Townsend and his eight year old son David, arrived in San Francisco on

Christmas day from Vancouver Canada. The immigration officer was unaware

that Ian had abducted his son from Social Services after his wife’s death

and was on the run.

Ian placed an advertisement for crew resulting in David being taken

hostage to force his father to carry a cargo of illegal weapons to

Mexico. Ian overcame two of the kidnappers, rescued David then sailed out

of the harbour.

Peter, Sarah and Beverly answered Ian’s advertisement for an unpaid crew

in Los Angeles. Halfway to Tahiti, Beverly, dying of anoxia from severe

seasickness was a great difficulty put aboard on ship headed to Hawaii.

Arriving in Hawaii, Ian was charged with murdering Beverly when the

authorities informed him that Beverly did not exist in the ship carrying

her. Eventually released, Ian and David sailed to Honolulu. Among other

adventures ashore, while acting the Good Samaritan, he unknowingly

involved himself in a serious robbery and fled the country. They arrived

at Canton Island, a NASA missile tracking station, soon to be closed and

the assets sold to the government of American Samoa. Ian was offered a

job to run the generators and help to dismantle and crate the entire base

to be shipped out by a U.S. Naval tug and barge. After the station was

officially closed the NASA crew flew out leaving Ian and his son alone on

the island.

A North Korean long liner fishing vessel arrived to plunder the island

expecting it to be abandoned. It was a dangerous and frightening three

days.

Later Andrew, the American supervisor of the dismantling crew was

investigated by the FBI from American Samoa for crating and sending home

office machines and electrical tools and arrested. Ian, not a party to

it, was in danger of being arrested and fled before the arrival of the

FBI.

Wanted by the government of American Samoa and the FBI he and his son

played hide and seek with the air and sea search until able to escape and

then took part in the greatest adventure of their lives.

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