Hms Bounty Drops Anchor In Kirkland -- Actors Recount Bligh's Mutiny

-- KIRKLAND

Cliff Long is having a better voyage on the HMS Bounty this year than William McCoy had on the original Bounty 201 years ago.

When the reproduction of the famous 18th-century vessel is in port - it's in Kirkland this week and next - members of the crew play the parts of crew members aboard the Bounty the morning of April 28, 1789, the date of the infamous mutiny.

Long plays McCoy, a member of the Bounty crew who made his mark on the ship by building a liquor still.

The Bounty's history book says McCoy committed suicide. But Long, perched on the stern when the Bounty opened yesterday morning to the public at Kirkland Yacht Club, is ready to defend McCoy.

It wasn't a suicide, he said. Rather, the liquor made McCoy crazy and he fell off a cliff.

The HMS Bounty is visiting the Kirkland area as part of the Goodwill Games. Both are connected to Ted Turner and Turner Broadcasting System Inc.

The Bounty became part of Turner's empire when he bought MGM Entertainment Co. in 1986. The 169-foot reproduction was used in MGM's 1962 movie, ``Mutiny on the Bounty,'' which starred Marlon Brando.

In the past two years, the ship has toured the East Coast and Great Lakes, raising money for local and national literacy councils.

The famous mutiny was led by Fletcher Christian, first officer and a friend of Capt. William Bligh. Christian was supported by only 12 of the 42 crew members but had control of the firearms. Christian forced Bligh and 18 crew members off the ship and into a 23-foot launch with enough food for five days.

Bligh and the crew took 41 days in the open boat to sail 3,618 miles to the Dutch East Indies - now Indonesia - from islands near Tahiti, a remarkable feat considering Bligh had little food, water or fishing equipment.

Bligh's story is told in Kirkland by crew member Robert Dawson, who stands behind the captain's desk in the master's quarters.

Dawson said the quarters were not so spacious when the mutiny took place because they were loaded down with breadfruit plants being taken from Tahiti to sugar plantations in the Caribbean, where the British planned to introduce the fruit as a cheap food for slaves.

The mutiny happened because Bligh allowed his crew to remain too long in Tahiti and became too easy on them, Dawson said. Bligh wasn't a bad sort and didn't beat his men with a whip. ``That's Hollywood scriptwriters,'' Dawson said.

Actually, Bligh was taken to task by the British high command for not beating his men enough, Dawson said.

All in all, Dawson paints Bligh as a fairly reasonable captain and Christian as an unbalanced, emotional man who would do anything to get back to the easy life on Tahiti.

Dawson and the other crew members were selected for the voyage for their storytelling abilities more than their seamanship. The modern Bounty has two diesel engines, and while it sometimes raises a sail, it hasn't been under full sail for 22 years.

Bounty tours

-- The HMS Bounty is open to the public from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Kirkland Yacht Club Marina through Saturday. Parking is available in lots on Second Street.

The cost is $4 for adults, $3 for senior citizens and $2 for children under 12.

Sunday the ship moves to Carillon Point, also in Kirkland, where it will be open for tours through July 26.