But in some ways, he really was sailing back to an earlier era, when American diplomats were less tied down.
A truce ensued, the terms of which were that if the Malagasy would spare the lives of the remaining crew the ship would be sailed back to Madagascar, but taking advantage of the Malagasy's lack of navigational skills, the crew instead set sail for the coast of southern Africa.
"It's such a great feeling and you're sailing back across the bay after a successful disentanglement," he says.
In the middle of the 90s, Charles Moore was sailing his racing catamaran back to California from Hawaii and decided on a lark to cut through the center of the North Pacific Gyre.
Wainwright's fastball was sailing.
Waddy was promoted to acting major in October and took charge of 156 Battalion's B Company, a month before the Division was withdrawn and sailed back to the UK.
Its key feature is a single water foil, which is enough; for example a dinghy without a rudder can be sailed, even to windward, by backing the jib to turn it into a stabiliser.
Twelve target ships were so lightly contaminated that they were remanned and sailed back to the United States by their crews.
By the time a new commanding officer had been put in place, the Merrimac, believing that the Monitor had withdrawn, was already sailing back to Norfolk.
