Go Anyway: Sailing Around the World with Parkinson's - Softcover

Foley, Lyn

Softcover

ISBN 10: 098546240X ISBN 13: 9780985462406

Publisher: Round Top Books, 2012

Synopsis

Two California hippie artists watched enviously as elegant yachts cruised the waters of San Francisco Bay. A dream was born – they’d work just long enough to earn money to run away to sea. Eighteen years later, Lyn and Jim Foley sold everything — down to the last teacup — and moved aboard 40-foot Sanctuary. Then, just before they ventured under the Golden Gate Bridge to follow their dream 43-year-old Jim was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. They decided to go anyway. Go Anyway tracks Jim and Lyn's ten-year adventure, logging more than 35,000 sea miles and 39 countries — from getting their sea legs, to the storms that tested their skills and perseverance, from languorous days savored in romantic tropical anchorages, to the hustle of foreign cities. And all the while, they battled the fierce foe that was Jim’s illness, learning life lessons that can be appreciated by sailors and non-sailors alike. Go Anyway is a story of true grit, of warmth and laughter, and ultimately, of triumph over adversity.

About this title

About the Author:

As clearly described in the first chapters of Go Anyway, Lyn Foley was not a sailor before the dream of offshore voyaging came into her life. She gained her skills on the often boisterous waters of San Francisco bay, taking classes ranging from boat handling to celestial navigation. Only after taking a trial voyage (a challenging passage upwind from San Francisco to British Columbia,) did she and Jim feel they were ready to attempt a longer voyage.

As a fabric artist and later, jewelry maker, her writing was at first limited to the newsletters sent out to friends as the voyage of Sanctuary progressed. She later contributed articles to various magazines

Since returning from their voyage, Jim and Lyn settled in the small Texas town of Round Top where she learned the glass art of lampworking. She now designs and creates one-of-a-kind glass jewelry which has been included in the collections of many galleries and is featured at art fairs throughout Texas. It was during this time that she wrote this highly readable narrative, hoping to encourage both sailors and those with physical limitations to ignore the nay-sayers and attempt to live their dreams.

More than 23 years after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s and despite ever worsening symptoms, Jim Foley still works at designing and creating silver jewelry. At the same time he is highly active in experimental testing to find ways to combat the symptoms of his disease.

In 2000 Lyn and Jim were recipients of the Ocean Cruising Club- Award of Merit which recognizes an outstanding voyage by an amateur sailor.

Visitwww.LynFoley.com to see Lyn’s glass work jewelry.

Review:

Navigating around roadblocks, whether emotional, physical or financial, becomes part of life if you choose to undertake any adventuresome endeavor. For folks who want to sail across oceans, the challenges start long before they set to sea: earning the money to buy or build a boat, learning both sailing and seamanship, finding the right boat, convincing themselves to put aside careers, everyday contact with friends and family, and the security of life as they know it for the constantly changing life that lies beyond the horizon. Lyn and Jim Foley successfully navigated all of these hurdles. With their business and home sold, their skills honed, their boat outfitted and charts on board, they were literally within days of setting sail when they encountered one more unexpected roadblock. Jim was diagnosed with Parkinson s disease. Don t go, the doctor said. But as Jim and Lyn walked toward the doctor s door, his intern whispered the fateful words, Go anyway. There is inspiration to be found in the book Lyn wrote about their journey. There are also useful guidelines for anyone who wants to get out cruising. Go Anyway should be essential reading for anyone who has started a career, then discovered the idea of cruising under sail. The steps Lyn and Jim took to go from sailing neophytes to coastal cruisers helped prepare them for the realities of choosing a cruising boat wisely. Once they d chosen their boat, they undertook real sea-trials and a proper shake-down cruise before setting off into foreign waters. This logical and often enjoyable approach saved them from the first passage traumas that end many cruising dreams. Lyn clearly shows the work that goes into keeping a cruising boat ready to cross yet another ocean, plus the difficulty of insuring that it is done properly if outside contractors are used. Their boat had relatively simple systems by today s standards. Yet there were times when Jim and Lyn felt they were repairing their boat in a series of exotic ports. They learned the reality of cruising life is that you are the one who must insure that all the systems keep working; the sails, the rigging, the engine, generator, water tankage and pumps, ground tackle and your shore boat. This takes time, patience and a commitment to understanding and knowing how to maintain the gear you have on board. A survey of marine professionals suggests it takes two and a half to three days a week to maintain a 35 to 40 foot cruising boat, equipped with currently suggested equipment in top, ready to go to sea condition while it is being used for offshore voyages. Combine this with the time spent actually crossing oceans, plus time to clear into then out of various ports, time for basic people maintenance (laundry, shopping, provisioning) and in actuality, folks who take off cruising find they have little more true time off than those working at normal jobs on shore who get weekends and holidays free. But here is the magic that Lyn s story shows. Those who do set off cruising, and then learn to slow down and take the time to savor this new life they ve chosen will spend all that free time surrounded by potentially enticing adventures. Then, as they sail onward they will spend much of the time while they are at sea reminiscing about these encounters and wondering what magical happening the next landfall will bring. As much as Lyn s descriptions of moonlight nights at sea, magical landfalls or swimming in crystal clear tropical waters might entice you to go to sea, it is the stories of the people Lyn and Jim encountered, the friendships they formed that will encourage you to go anyway.

--Lin Pardey, Sailor and author

Few of us, even in perfect health, would dare accept the challenge Lyn and Jim embraced. That they did so, while simultaneously battling Jim s Parkinson s disease, makes Lyn s entertaining, well-written account doubl --Kurt Wilson, Editor, The Round Top Register

Go Anyway by Lyn Foley (Beth A. Leonard) When Jim Foley was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson s Disease (PD) in 1990, he was 42 years old and he and his wife, Lyn, had just taken delivery of their dream sailboat and been on the brink of heading over the horizon. At the time, there was no cure and very little in the way of palliative medicine to treat the progressive, degenerative neurological disorder, and the doctor who made the diagnosis told the couple that Jim might only have five more years to live. The eminent neurologist then pronounced their dream of sailing away on a boat a foolish idea. Jim and Lyn might well have believed him except for a young intern who whispered from behind the doctor s back, Go anyway. Go Anyway is, first and foremost, a love story. There is no pretense that love can conquer a disease like Parkinson s. But the book demonstrates how love can allow two people to live their lives with grace, courage, and strength despite it. Lyn writes about the challenges they faced with honesty and integrity and without any trace of self pity. Jim was Jim a healthy, alive, loving, and magnificent person. He had been thrown a ball named PD with which to play the game of life. Until the rules changed or we discovered how he could drop it, he was destined to carry the ball. However, the PD ball was not Jim; he just carried it. We would accommodate, but not surrender to, Parkinson s. And they didn't surrender. They face the same challenges that all circumnavigators face: storms at sea, corrupt officials, groundings, problems with the boat. But all of these paled in significance in the face of the relentless march of the disease that Jim carried with him. At every stage they must not just assess the boat s condition and their own willingness to continue, but PD s relentless progression and whether or not Lyn can manage the boat as her husband becomes less and less able to do anything aboard. By the time we arrived in Singapore, Jim was really out of steam. All of his symptoms had worsened: more tremors, more stiffness, more freezing, more difficulty walking, more difficulty talking, and more difficulty sleeping. Just functioning on a daily basis wore him out... In order to compensate for his unresponsive body, he rested more often and took things more slowly. I shouldered more and more of the physical necessities (especially the deck work) of sailing... The compensations we made worked well enough to get by on shore, at anchor, and on short harbor-hopping passages, but the big question we needed to ask, and answer truthfully, was: Should or could Jim safely make the ocean passage from Japan to the United States? If he couldn t, or shouldn t, what would we do? This is an inspiring story about overcoming what cannot be changed and living life as fully and completely as possible. Lyn s hard-won wisdom allows us to see that the ball we ve been thrown, as challenging as it may be, is not us, and we, too, can carry it with spirit and integrity. We can go anyway. --Beth Leonard, Author, Sailor

About this edition

• Publisher: Round Top Books
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 098546240X
• ISBN 13: 9780985462406
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 366