National Geographic Special Collections: Archives & Film Preservation Blog

Yankee Sails the Nile (1964)

The Yankee circumnavigated the world four times under Captain Irving and Electa Johnson.  Irving Johnson joined the Merchant Marines in 1926, and worked summers as a crew member on various vessels.  He would meet his future wife, Electa, aboard a schooner touring France, and they were married in 1933.  Between the years of 1932 and 1958, they taught young enthusiasts how to sail, and went on seven tours around the world.  Each tour lasted about 18 months. Both Irving and Electa contributed many articles to the National Geographic Magazine, as well as lectures to members of the Society detailing their expeditions aboard the Yankee.  There were also two NGS television Specials that featured the Yankee, Voyage of the Brigantine Yankee (1966) and Yankee Sails Across Europe (1967).

Prior to their television debut though, in 1964, the Johnsons set out on a historic Yankee expedition along the Nile. They wanted to sail from the mouth of the Nile down to northern Sudan before the completion of the Aswan High Dam, which would cut off the river above Aswan.  As they sailed into Cairo, the Johnsons were joined by NGS staff photographer, Winfield Parks, who would be there to document the entire journey.   The crew visited the Great Pyramid, and climbed the 450-foot summit of the Pyramid of Khufu, which took about an hour.  They also went inside the burial chamber of the Pharaoh Khufu.  They wandered through the Avenue of Sphinxes and temples at Karnak.  Then onward the Yankee sailed to Luxor, where the Johnsons were joined by Gilbert M. and Donna Grosvenor.  There, the group visited the Valley of the Kings, the Ramesseum, the temple of Queen Hatshepsut, and of course, the tomb of King Tutankhamun.

The Yankee concluded its roughly 600 mile voyage at Abu Simbel, with awe-inspiring views of the Temple of Nefertari.

The clip above shows a montage of highlights of the ancient Egyptian monuments the Johnson's visited.   The original full length 90-minute film was shown as a lecture event for members of the Society on January 27-28,  1965.  The narrator you hear in the clip is Captain Irving Johnson.

For more on the Yankee’s voyage along the Nile, please read “Yankee Cruises the Storied Nile” by Irving and Electa Johnson in the May 1965 NGM.