Captain Marvin Creamer's Circumnavigation Without Instruments

A Word From the Webmaster

When I was born, Marvin Creamer and his brother Richard worked for R. C. Harvey, Contractor and Builder, in Quinton, NJ. The photo above shows Marvin with his back to the camera, my grandfather, Ralph, and my father, David, on the scaffold. They were building the Salem Acme Market in the late thirties.

Marvin was also a close friend of my father's favorite cousin, Ralph Van Meter. Many think that I was named after my grandfather, but I was actually named after Ralph Van Meter which my middle name betrays. Most boys of the era were interested in cars and airplanes, but Marvin and Ralph also liked to sail.

Marvin later founded the Geography Department at Rowan University (formerly known as Glassboro State College) and Dr. Ralph Van Meter studied medicine and became a noted obstetrician in Moorestown, NJ.

I inherited a pile of newspaper clippings about Creamer's voyage from my parents and because I liked to sail, I decided to pay the Creamers a visit in 2000. We had a delightful time talking about his experiences with Harvey builders, Ralph Van Meter and sailing. They moved from NJ to NC in 2003 the same year we retired in NJ. I made the website www.globestar.org in 2004 and visited the Creamers in NC to scan his slides for the website. Within a couple of years, people were once more becoming aware of Marvin Creamer's historical feat.

I tried to get Marvin Creamer's historical voyage recognized by Guinness Book of Records, but received a reply stating that they were "not interested in recognizing that sort of thing."

Phil Miller and several siblings and friends helped plan and conduct the 25-yers celebration at Red Bank Battlefield Park, where both the 1982 send-off and 1984 triumphal return took place. The affair was held May 16, 2009.

We provided refreshments and set up displays with newspaper accounts of the voyage from around the world. Official representatives of Glassboro made speeches and the Director of the Glassboro Museum placed Creamer's now famous hour glass on display. I arranged for the Original Pitman Hobo Band to give a concert. They agreed, partially because my Uncle John Pedicord was one of the band's founders. The concert included several numbers with maritime themes. At 93, Marvin Creamer gave a fascinating account of his voyage replete with many humorous anecdotes.

We collected many signatures on a petition to get Marvin Creamer inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame, but the request was rejected. The NJHOF said that only dead people were inducted in that category. Marvin Creamer said that he wouldn't cooperate!

 


Ralph VanMeter Harvey, webmaster





About Marvin Creamer
Blanche
The "Globe Star"
The Voyage
Accolades
Celebrations
A History Lesson
Webmaster