Mary's Voyage: The Adventures of John and Mary Caldwell - A Sequel to Desparate Voyage - Softcover

Caldwell, Mary; Douglas, Matthew M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1574092677 ISBN 13: 9781574092677

Publisher: Sheridan House, 2008

Synopsis

One of the most successful sailing stories ever written is Desperate Voyage by John Caldwell. Now, almost sixty years later, his wife Mary tells her own inspiring story. Born in England, Mary immigrated with her family to Australia where she spent her early youth on a farm. As a young woman, she served in the Australian Air Force. During the war she met Tex (future husband John Caldwell), a young cocky American who became the inspirational mainspring for her adventures. In 1952, after living in California for several years, Mary and John and their children became the first family to attempt a voyage around the world on a small sailing craft using only a sextant and dead reckoning to guide them across thousands of miles of ocean. Mary was pregnant at the beginning of the voyage and already had a toddler and an infant son in tow. Months would pass without sight of land. She gave birth to her youngest son in Tahiti, weathered constant seasickness and survived frightening ocean storms, several hurricanes, and a tsunami. Mary and John finally settled in the Grenadines where they built the world-renowned Palm Island resort. Mary's story of endurance and fearlessness is remarkable and inspiring.

About this title

About the Author

Mary Caldwell is the widow of John Caldwell. She has led an adventurous life on three continents, and is now enjoying retirement in Florida. Dr. Matthew M. Douglas is a scientist and a writer. He is the author of several books and numerous articles. He recently completed a screenplay based on Desperate Voyage. He lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Review

An intriguing autobiography about an unconventional family -- her book certainly describes a fascinating life...recount(ing) her husband's crossing of the Pacific in the late 1940s followed by their Pacific crossing in the 1950s with a young family and completing the circumnavigation in the 1960s. The story is beautifully told by Mary, now in her early eighties. (Royal Naval Sailing Association)

John and Mary Caldwell's humdrum life in California is driving them mad. With two infants and a third child on the way, they make the 36-foot ketch Tropic Seas their home and sail around the world via Mary's native Australia, navigating by dead reckoning and sextant. Imagine the courage of a pregnant woman prone to seasickness battling the seas, sharing watch duties with her husband, and taking care of children and meals. Storms don't seem to daunt her, but a whale with amorous intentions for Tropic Seas certainly does. Roger, their third son, is born in Tahiti. After completing their circumnavigation, they convert a swampy, mosquito-infested island into the superb Palm Island Resort in the Grenadines. This book will appeal to anyone who likes their adventure stories, particularly a sailor. (The Ensign)

John Caldwell's Desperate Voyage told the story of how the author, longing for his Aussie bride, Mary, in the days after World War II, set sail on an improbable journey aboard his 29-foot PAGAN that would take him from Panama to shipwreck on a reef fringing a small island near Fiji. In Mary's Voyage, Mary Caldwell tells her own story, picking up where Desperate Voyage leaves off: Mary and John find their next boat, OUTWARD BOUND, cut their ties to work in the United States, and set sail with a toddler, an infant, and a third son on the way. It's a family adventure as they make their way across the Pacific; their only deadline is a self-imposed desire to be in Tahiti for the birth of the baby. The descriptions of the children at play are often entertaining, but in one darker scene, the kids take apart John's only sextant, forcing the family to find their way to the Marquesas via dead reckoning. Their voyage takes them nearly round the world, but ends just shy of a circumnavigation when they acquire Prune Island quickly renamed Palm Island in the just-developing Grenadines. Hard work, revolutions, and invasions do little to dampen Mary's zest for adventure and the couple's quest to build an island resort. Mary's Voyage is a delightful tale and a home-spun glimpse into a Caribbean age gone by. (Cruising World)

Edition details

• Publisher: Sheridan House
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1574092677
• ISBN 13: 9781574092677
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 364