A Busman’s Holiday by Pedal Power

Donald W. Spaulding drove a bus 13 years for the Orange County Transit District before retiring. Now he has decided to pedal a 22-foot-long boat on a nonstop, 7,800-mile crossing of the Pacific Ocean from Newport Beach to Sydney, Australia.

He also plans to pedal his self-designed vessel around the world--twice.

“It’s a challenge, and I just want to do it,” said the 50-year-old Anaheim resident who plans to write books, some about his voyages, during the trips. “Everyone needs to have a dream. This is mine.”

Spaulding said he expects that the three trips, with time off in between, will take 14 years, although he thinks the Pacific crossing, starting April 28, will take just seven or eight months.

He hopes to sell some of the books to offset the $25,000 cost of the trips.

His human-powered yacht, as he calls it, is nearing completion in an Oceanside boatyard. It is designed to carry enough supplies and navigation equipment for the Pacific crossing.

The boat does not have sails or a motor. Its 16-inch propeller will be driven from a midship pedal station.

“I can type with one hand and steer with the other while I’m pedaling,” he said.

Spaulding is not particularly concerned about rough weather, contending that the boat’s flotation system will keep it upright even if all 17 watertight compartments become flooded.

“The Titanic should have been so lucky,” said Spaulding, who served four years in the Navy aboard submarines. “I’m sure that experience will be helpful to me.”

While driving buses, Spaulding was active in union politics and worked for changes in the transit district. Now he wants to encourage other people to change.

“If I have the guts to do this, then it will show other people that they can break free from alcohol or drug addiction or an abusive relationship or anything,” said the Anaheim High School and Fullerton College graduate.

Before driving buses and boats, Spaulding was a motorcycle buff and in 1974 rode coast to coast on one of his cycles in 57 1/2 hours.

His wife accompanied him in an air-suspension sidecar that he designed.

“One could sleep, sit up and rest or eat in comfort--even knit,” he said.

Spaulding also climbs small mountains and occasionally takes a kayak on river trips. He is riding bicycles to prepare himself physically for the Pacific trip.

“The ocean is a challenging and violent environment, but I know I’ll be ready,” he said. “I know the boat can handle it, and so can I.”

An admitted “Mr. Fix-It who can’t say no to kids,” Spaulding said he is looking forward to the 11 months of solitude.

“I like to be alone. It’s quiet and I can be alone with my own thoughts,” he said. “I’ve always been that way. As much as I love people, I also like to get by myself.”

For company on the trip, “I’ll he able to view ocean life through two windows in the bottom of the boat,” he said. “I can look down and see what gathers under the boat.”

Talk about proud grandparents.

“I think this is terribly exciting,” said Judyann Peckham of Laguna Beach. “It’s amazing to see your grandchild in living color in the centerfold in Life magazine and on the news on television.”

And grandfather Robert Peckham? “He’s just beside himself,” said Judyann, a surgical nurse at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo.

Their grandchild, 16-month-old Andrew P. Nestler--who lives with his parents, Robin and Andrew Nestler, in Pleasanton in Alameda County--won $25,000 in U.S. Savings Bonds for being named “Cutest Baby in the United States” by Life.

He was chosen from among 20,000 toddlers.