Synopsis
Traces the 2003 journey of Maud Fontenoy, who crossed the Atlantic in a twenty-four-foot-long boat over the course of 117 days, an accomplishment that was challenged by such difficulties as near-freezing water, exhaustion from long hours of rowing, circling sharks, dangerous weather conditions, and dozens of capsizings.
Reviews
What does a young woman who spent her first 15 years on a sailboat in the West Indies do for adventure? If you're Fontenoy, you attempt the first west-to-east crossing of the North Atlantic by a woman in a rowboat--not a dinghy, mind you, but a well-designed vessel, 24 feet long and 5 feet wide. Her living compartment is a 3-foot cube, her food is freeze-dried, her water comes from a desalinator, and she powers her vessel herself with a pair of oars. The west-to-east crossing offered more difficult currents and weather than the other direction, and besides, the other had already been done. She wanted adventure, and got it during 117 days of brutal conditions, danger, fear, pain, and grinding loneliness combined with joy and a grand sense of accomplishment. Fontenoy writes with a vividness and immediacy that truly brings the reader into the boat with her. And we can expect an encore: she just finished rowing across the Pacific. Danise Hoover
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