There was great excitement in Tel Aviv port on July 15, 1953, when crowds came to watch the final preparations of six young men around a small sailboat that was supposed to embark that evening on a sea voyage around the world.
The commander of the boat was Max Glazner, a 26-year-old German-born from Haifa, who was considered the oldest of the group. He was the only married father of a child. The rest of the team were in their earlier 20s.
Training for the trip began two years earlier, after the six received the boat as an excellent gift from England, where it served as his private yacht. The boat weighed about seven tons, was ten meters long and about three meters wide. In addition to the sail, there was also a diesel engine that produced 15 horsepower, as backup, and could propel the boat at 11 kilometers per hour.
The globe-spanning journey ignited the imagination of many young people in Israel. In return for a payment of $700, the weekly HaOlam HaZeh received the exclusive permission to publish the travel records, which were transferred to Israel by wireless and received by a professional wireless operator who volunteered for the mission.
At an impromptu press conference held at the port, before setting off, the commander of the boat revealed that her name would be "Israela". He added: "The planned route will be along the Mediterranean coast, from there to South Africa, and on to South America. It will take us a year and a half of sailing before we return home."
In the end, "Israela" returned to Israel after six months. "We've had enough," the young sailors answered questions from the many journalists who were waiting for them on their return to Tel Aviv port.
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