The Sailor (2021) - full transcript

At this moment in my life, I would
actually be very happy to just stop.

I've had enough.

I've been riding storms and been silly.

And...

I have terrified myself for years.

I don't know why I did it,

but I couldn't not do it.

Well, I've never lived on fucking land in my life,
and I'm not sure that I want to try.

I wanted to be free, I wanted to be let loose.

I wanted out, I wanted freedom, and I didn't
want to be around people particularly anymore.

I just didn't want to belong to anybody else, except myself



I've spent a lot of my life on remote islands,
where there are no people, but just animals.

When I was maybe 10 years old I had my own dinghy.

and I used to go up the river, beyond where everybody was.

After a while all of the strange animals that live there,

they get used to you,
and then they just aren't scared anymore,

and then, they come to hang out with you.

The boat I was born on was called Escape.

My mother died on the boat and so did my father.

My sister and I were twins.

I really don't remember my sister very well,
she was very young when she died.

and my parents wouldn't talk about it.

My parents were honestly really upset when I arrived
and tied up alongside their boat from Shetland.

It took a while and my father said: "Are you
just on holiday?" I said: "No, I've quit."

And he said: "Paul, you have one of the best jobs in the world,
you are running a military place… Why did you quit?"



"Because," I said, "I want to go sailing."

And he couldn't understand.

- Johnson.
- How are you, my dear?

- What's up? Everything good?

- I don't know, how can you tell at this stage?
- What's wrong with you this morning? - Nothing.

Have you had breakfast?

No... Well, I did have a couple of beers.

First thing in the morning?

Well for breakfast, a hydraulic breakfast, to wake up.

- You're having too many beers. It makes your hair turn white.
- I know I'm going white. I'm getting old.

You're getting old.

- You know, Johnson had many wives. Yeah?
- No.

- Yeah.
- Is it?

I know he likes young girls. That's all I know.

Yeah, for sure.

He loves liquor and women.

I mostly stay as ripped as possible,
I used to smoke a lot of weed.

You're supposed to have fun.

Life is supposed to be a kind of a joke.

I made a decision back in the 60s.

I live just below the poverty level and I'm happy there.

I've actually made a lot of money in my life.

One time I had half a million dollars.

I've become a boatbuilder because it seemed to me
that I didn't have to do anything except sell plans.

And they were famous because I had invented
a new system of boatbuilding.

If someone wants to build one of my boats,
they have to pay me a thousand US dollars.

But now with the internet, people can get my plans off the
fucking internet, and they don't have to pay me anything.

I've got a few thousand dollars in the bank at the moment.

I didn't think I was going to live this bloody long.

Alright, here we go, hurricane season starts at midnight
and there's already a warning to be ready to be prepared.

The hurricane forecast is again to be maybe slightly above
average, and then major hurricanes within that average zone.

...and right on queue, we're getting another
early taste of what the season's activity may look like.

We have a tropical disturbance that the National
Hurricane Center is just keeping an eye on,

that could develop over the next several days.
In fact, about a 20% chance of further development here

as we go over the next two days, looking ahead about 30%
chance of further development over the next five days.

The Atlantic, the Caribbean, and the Gulf of
Mexico are very much awake at this point.

I'm getting to the age, truly, where I can't
really get up at two o'clock in the morning,

and start the engine and get the fucking
anchor up and make a move.

I need my motor,

I never used to use it, I always sailed everywhere.

It normally is splendid, I run it once a week,
I turn it on and it goes "brum",

and I really don't know what's wrong with it,
I thought it was okay.

- Hello, Gus.

- Hey, good morning, Johnson.

Is it morning?

Morning, mate, yeah, I'm not quite sure
what time it is though, but it feels like morning.

So, how is your engine?

My engine is... So, something happened.

So, then you definitely need your engine then.

Unless you can be on standby every time
I have to go into the swamp.

Well, I think I do need the engine, yeah.

Well, I will come by you and do the engine for you.

Good, that would be really good.

That would make you a happy man
and that would make me happy.

And I don't have to come and pull you every time.

Then that would be good because,
yeah, because that's a bit of a...

So, where do you want to go when you have the engine?

I don't know.

- Hi, John.

- Johanne,

- How are you, dear?
- Not too bad, how are you?

- Could I steal a cigarette from you?

- Sure.

How about your boat, is it working?
Does it have an engine in it?

The boat I can handle, I created the boat,

I designed it and I know every inch of it.

My boat needs about two weeks' work,

and it would be ready to cross an ocean.

Cross the ocean, where are you going?

Well, I don't know, I thought I might
go back to Africa or something like that.

Mostly, I am much happier here
than I would be in Africa, so I'm...

I've done an awful lot...
You know, I've sailed over 200 000 miles.

And I've spent my life going through
gales and storms to sea.

So that means, you're not going anywhere from here.

I don't know,

I haven't yet decided.

I've been very, sort of...

I've had a few accidents since
I've been here and I'm not...

I've lost a lot of weight and...

Do you think you can sail that boat by yourself again?

I spent seven years living on a tiny boat, thinking...

Trying to understand what the fuck was happening
in this world because I realized the place was a crazy house.

I eventually sailed across the Atlantic.

I really didn't know that I had the courage to do it,

so, I never told anybody, and I slipped away in the night.

It was pretty scary.

And then suddenly, I rounded the bottom end of Martinique.

And the smell, the smell of the jungle was...
it nearly killed me. It was so beautiful.

After 40 days alone in the middle of the fucking ocean.

I was so glad to get out of Europe and all the communists,

and the fucking fascists and all of the lunatics,

and to get, you know...

A breath of fresh air.

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

- Johnson.
- Andrew.

- How are you doing, sir?
- I'm...

You're getting wetter by the minute.
Look, here's some more water for you.

Thank you very much, Andy.

You can mix this with your vodka.

It's good, it's good, it mixes with vodka
very nicely this stuff.

Andrew, why is everyone going into the mangroves?
Well, they aren't, only some are,

but are we going to get anything that matters?

There is a possibility that Dominica will get hit by a storm.
It's been downgraded to a storm from a hurricane.

Now, we're not panicable, because we'll just drink
the vodka and forget about it all and carry on no problem.

Johnson, I've got to love you and leave you.

Thank you very much.

I can't see why I should honestly stop drinking.

Well, I don't drink more than usually
half a bottle of rum a day or something.

I mean, it's not excessive.

But if I'm doing nothing, I find it's very relaxing
to have a few drinks and let the world go by.

In the 60s, we lived on a crazy island in the West Indies,
where everyone was really out of control.

There were very wealthy girls married
to extraordinary wealthy Americans.

They wanted to have crazy children,
so, they'd come and make babies with you.

And what am I going to say?

I have probably quite a lot of children in America.

I know this sounds terrible. I was only young then.

But at the time, it didn't really seem terrible.

I wake up some mornings and I just cry for an hour,
because I really miss my children.

Everything is a mess. It's just that
I'm really not used to living alone,

I'm used to having a woman in my life.

It's so nice to spend months on the ocean
with a beautiful woman.

I have loved all of the women that I've lived with.

I have loved them desperately.

I don't blame them, making a run for it.
For most of them, it's been about 10 years.

And instead of roaring around oceans in terrible storms,

they want to go and be sensible, and I don't blame them.

And I wish I could go with them, but this is where I live.

You good?

I'm extremely good, but I'm thinking
about becoming very bad.

Johnson.

- Hey, Andrew.
- My brother, good night, sir.

- Johanne, how are we doing?
- Andy! Long time no see. - It has been too long.

Not you though.

What's he drinking? Oh, I'll have a Stag, please.

The first time I came to Carriacou,

my wife got off with a drug dealer
and she left me with a 2-year-old child.

Two of us came cruising down through the Caribbean
and that's when I first came to Carriacou.

Andrew, are you wonderfully well?

Yes. Finding solace in hurricanes.

- Do you remember 20 years ago?
- Johnson, hurricanes are happening.

But... I don't want to know about hurricanes.
I hate the things the bloody things.

Harry Canes.

You know, I don't want them.

You know you relax for five minutes
and think: 'Whew, it's ok."

And suddenly they say: "Oh well, don't panic,"
and there's another one coming and you think: "Come on."

But I actually think of all the places in the world that
I would've liked to be in a hurricane, I mean...

Yeah, that's why we're here.

- Do you still paint?
- Yeah, yeah, I still paint.

- Well, I don't really, I haven't painted...
- You should. You sure are getting lazy.

I know, I know...

Just want to say good morning to you as you're keeping it
locked to Vibes FM. It's yours truly, Kim the King.

So glad to be in your company this morning, as we're taking you
through the morning segment, which we call "Vibes drive".

We just got an urgent report from the weather team
that says that a tropical storm

located just about 200 miles east of Grenada
moving west about 15 mph at this time.

Now this motion is expected to continue within the next 24
to 48 hours and is packing wind speed of 65 mph and rising.

Maria might become a hurricane overnight,
and as it continues to move towards our side,

but don't worry, I'll keep you frequently updated.

- Johnson, I'm around.
- Gus.

- What are you doing to this weather?

- Well, to tell you the truth,
things aren't looking right and...

I had a feeling of that, and you know,
it's supposed to rain like buggery on Monday.

It's going to be wet on Monday, and it's
going to be wet tomorrow Sunday.

And it's going to start blowing a whole lot tomorrow afternoon,
and Monday is going to be pretty rough in the bay.

So,

I've come to check you out.

Well, that's terrible, how could you?

It's my bloody birthday on Monday,
you can't have it raining all day.

- Well, the thing is...
- Well, just talk to the gods.

What do you want to do? Do the engine, or do we take
the boat into the mangroves before the engine?

Well, it seems to me, that we probably ought
to take the boat into the mangroves.

Because everybody else is there, it would be nice
to have a place, instead of anchoring outside.

What do you think?

I think it's a good idea because staying out there can get
really rough, and you don't want to end up on the beach.

No, I've ended up on too many beaches already.

So, what are we going to do?
Push and go in today?

Yeah, I think the best option is going in today.

Whenever I felt like it, I would just sail out of here
under full sail just to scare the fuck out of everybody,

and I'd go out and go fishing.

and I was coming in on a Sunday evening just before dark,
and I was rounding up to come into the harbor here,

and I was sitting in the hatch, no problems. And I'm pulling
like fuck to get the mainsail in, so I can round up.

And the block broke.

That thing hit me so hard,
it knocked me totally unconscious.

And I woke up the next day, I didn't know where I was.

Then I realized that I hit the reef,
went over the top, ripped the bottom out of my boat.

I pumped for 24 hours without stopping
to keep the water down.

And then it was too much.

So, I ran us up the beach.

That was the last time I sailed alone.

Hello, can we come aboard?

They are going to help you with the ropes and stuff.

You have to arrange on the bow.

Now what's going to happen, I need somebody…
this stern line… a little tight, Mickey...

I need you to tighten that stern line for me.
I'm going to come back.

No, no, hang on a minute.

I wouldn't put it through there actually, I'd just put it
over the rail and tie onto it whatever you can.

That was a work and a half.

I'm actually never home. Apparently, after I did my first
crazy trip, I was made an honorary Shetland islander.

So, when people ask me where come from, I say Shetland.
It's the only place I haven't been thrown out of.

How many times have you crossed the ocean... the Atlantic?

I think it's 39, but it might be 40 by now.
I've forgotten to keep count.

Alright, Johnson, when you see
I have clear passage, let me know.

No, no, no…

I want to go a little bit further that way,
I don't want to be pushed in.

Please, don't push the boat in!
I want to go further up there.

Beautiful sunny morning to everyone,
this is Kim the King from Vibes FM,

most current weather reports
from Grenada and its dependencies.

Maria regained its strength overnight
as it was expected and became hurricane

category two with packing wind
speeds of 100 mph and still increasing.

Its motion is northwest at speed of 12 mph, currently
located 120 miles east of the islands of Dominica.

Maria is expected to become
a major hurricane category five.

The center of Maria is projected
to move across Leeward islands.

Hurricane warnings are already in effect for Martinique,
Dominica and Guadeloupe and its dependencies.

The motion of Maria continues northwest,
she is not expected to change its course,

so, we just might be out of immediate danger
and return to our everyday lives.

Let's pray for our brothers and sisters
in Leeward islands to stay unharmed.

In other news from our small island of Carriacou from Tyrell Bay,
where a new modern supermarket is being built and opening soon.

In the 60s, I lived on a remote island
that no one ever went to.

I lived on St. Barts, now it's
the most famous multimillionaire everybody.

At that time, nobody ever went there,
it was abandoned, so I lived there and built boats.

Nobody was doing what I was doing,
so I was kind of famous.

A lot of people say that I pioneered
small boat sailing in the world,

but I don't think I did, but I certainly was
one of the first people to actually live on a tiny boat.

And when I did these huge, long voyages
in a tiny dinghy, that changed everything.

The first time I crossed the Atlantic,
there were five boats that crossed the ocean that year.

The last time there were 5 000 boats on a rally,
set up by some damn fool English person.

I have been in huge storms in a tiny boat,
that's why I created these boats, because they ride storms.

They've been very good at it.

I have driven these boats 200 miles a day in storms.

I've had the sails frozen up.

I could take this boat of mine down
to north Africa in five days.

There's not another boat, ever,
being designed that could do what these boats do.

Yeah, this is so bad…

And then the anodes on there are gone,
and the aluminum doesn't like the bronze without the anodes.

You know when I do anything like this or try to,
I always do a bloody drawing of the thing,

because I'd never remember how to put it back.

Engines are something like that, they're like aliens.
They're something out of another world.

Engines like aliens…

Yeah, this is all dead.

I think I have to cut that piece of wood.

Too many different metals alongside each other.

- What's that?

That's all...
- All that's dead. All that's dead you see.

So here, you have a choice, either Marinetechs,
cut those or else cut those, take that out, weld that up.

Let me take it back to Dominique
and let me see what he can do with it.

If he says he cannot weld it,
then we have to go for Marinetechs.

It would really upset me if I thought I'd been selfish.

I can't imagine any reason to be selfish.

Maybe I have been, you don't really know.
Maybe I have been a dreadful person.

Now, you don't want the velocity to carry…
It's very difficult.

That's all deep, so it's not a problem.

- All right, I don't think she's going nowhere.

- She's here to stay.
- She's imprisoned now. She's in chain.

Nice…

okay.

Paul Johnson, you're back home.

You're back home.

Well, I'm not sure...

In the next five days we'll see what happens,

all right?

Thank you very much.

Your sunglasses?

The pole is probably somewhere
I would say, roughly, over there.

Her name was Diana.

I lived with her for 9 months,
wallowing around in my mother's tummy.

And so, she's part of me.

I still dream about her.

Twins are sort of… They're glued together.

She was only tiny when she died.

I grew up through a war.

The Germans bombed the school.

And then she disappeared before I really got to know her.

If my sister hadn't died, I wouldn't be
who I am, of course, I wouldn't.

One of these days, you're going to give me
a big hug again, I hope…

- You need a hug? - I need a hug, would you like to
give me a hug? - Thank you, I feel so much better.

Johnson, you're having a feeling this morning.

We're having a moment.
You wish to get married again?

Johnson?

Maria, ripping through the Caribbean island
of Dominica Tuesday as a fierce category five hurricane,

lashing out with winds of nearly 160 mph.

In a Facebook post, the nation's prime minister
is detailing the fury of the storm, writing, quote:

"So far the winds have swept away the roofs of almost every
person I have spoken to or otherwise made contact with."

The National Hurricane Center's warning
that the "extremely dangerous storm"

could retain its strength as it moves towards
the Virgin Islands Tuesday night.

Millions in the region are still reeling from the destruction
caused by Hurricane Irma earlier this month,

which killed more than 80 people
in the Caribbean and the US mainland.

This is Nagma. We are collecting relief
for the hurricane victims in Dominica,

and the rest of the islands,
which were affected by Hurricane Irma.

We are asking you to be compassionate
with the victims and help us collect food,

water, clothing, building materials, whatever you can.

The victims of the hurricane are desperate and in need
of your support, and we should give as much as we can.

Give generously because we never know
when it will be our turn.

Come on, birds.

Well, they're gone.

Well, I don't know what's happening.

Yeah, it's been 7 or 8 years since I pulled the tank, eh?

It's been 8 years since I pulled the tank.

It's going to be a shock to the system.
Getting full off.

Alright, I think that's enough fuel.

Let me see the vents, if it's going through the vents.

- Paul Johnson, good morning.

- Good morning.

- How are you doing?
- I'm not going to tell you.

You're not going to tell me, why?

I got some news for you.

This is really bad,

and it cannot be welded.

- And I'm going to Dominica.
- Yeah?

And I don't have the time to fix it now.

But I will see if I find the parts in Dominica,
then I will come back and I will bring them.

And if I cannot find one in Martinique or Dominica,

I will have to try to do something with that one.
But, for now, you know it stopped.

And the engine cannot run from those.
Don't try to run the engine, ok?

So…

I should be back in 10 days.

And if we get another hurricane warning?

I'll be back for that.

I was just wondering, because…

Yeah,

I'll be back. I'm not going to stand off, trust me.

Don't let your heart be troubled.

I said, don't let your heart be troubled.

It is already.

Well, stop it, don't.

You well get organized.
And I'll be here in case of anything, I'll be back.

The only reason I won't be back is if I'm dead.

If I'm sick, I'll be back.

If I'm dead, I can't come back, alright?

So, don't worry.

This concrete jungle, this big piece of mess…

It shouldn't be there.

Yeah, I think something maybe more wooden
would be much better.

Did you see what they did to my roads?

- I know… - And the waste and all that crap.
- Well, I can't even get there anymore without,

because you know...

Well, you don't wear shoes, so...

Love. Compassion.
Help when you can.

Life is a free one way ticket
all stops, no return

It is hard to enjoy the scenery,
when you are hurtling down the stoney gully of life,

clinging to a tin trey. O.K.
Love.