Pacific Islands

Sea Wanderers to Australia – Martin

Published by Macmillan, Sydney a first edition 1977. Octavo, 192 pages with endpaper maps and nicely illustrated. A very good if not fine copy.

Norman Martin’s car hire business got into difficulty as UK Governments changed the rules. This was partly the stimulus that drove him and wife Sheila to give it all up in 1970 and spend five years at sea in their 42 foot ketch “Shebessa”.

And what an adventure. Circumnavigating west to the Caribbean through Panama to the Galapagos, on to the Marquesas, the Tuamato Group, Tahiti, Cook Islands, Tonga, Fiji then down to Australia landing at Byron. Down to Sydney and Melbourne before sailing for Lord Howe Island and on up to New Caledonia, Santa Cruz, Cheery Islands. Through the Solomon Islands to Rabaul and on to Madang before turning back to Cairns and on through the Torres Straits and the long sail to the Maldives. The voyage continues with equal intensity.

Martins in the Shebessa a full voyage every beauty spot visited.

$25.00

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Sails Full and By – Dom Degnon

Published by Sheridan House, Dobbs Ferry a first edition 1995. Octavo, 244 pages illustrated. Very good near fine condition.

A seven-year circumnavigation in the 41 foot ketch “Taku”. With so much time they need a full crew of friends and family who come and go during the “voyage”. With more time than some they have more time for the exotic .. and in the Pacific Ahe, Tahiti, Samoa, Sunwarrow, Tonga, Fiji and New Zealand. Then off to the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea and then difficulties with the boat and they just made it to Australia’s Lizard island. And then more ….

A long time around the world an unusual narrative

$25.00

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Cutting Loose – James Lipscomb

Published by Angus and Robertson in 1975 having been published by Little, Brown in the USA the year before. Octavo, 304 pages plus diagrams of the boat and endpaper maps of the voyage. Very good condition.

This book by James Lipscomb is unusual .. five young men sail the “Four Winds” from San Pedro south to Costa Rica and then across the Pacific and on up to Singapore. His son John is the leader of the group … difficulties arise including personality issues and illness. Written in “diary fashion” it makes for interesting reading.

Cutting Loose – more than a voyage

$25.00

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Starbound (Circumnavigation) – Gordan and Nina Stuermer – 1977

Published by David McKay, New York a first edition 1977. Large octavo, 330 pages with numerous photographic illustrations taken on their voyage. Very good condition.

Gordan and Nina Stuermer decided to give up a “normal” life to sail on the square-sail ketch “Starbound”. The circumnavigated the globe in two and a half years with their teenage son. But not after living on and growing accustomed to the vessel for seven years.

They set of around the world from Annapolis, Maryland in October 1973 … down the Chesapeake Bay and off to Bermuda. Some tips on how to deal with the Panama Canal (should you be lucking enough to need them) and then into the Pacific and the beautiful island nations. Tips on the inside of the Great Barrier Reef and arriving at Dili just in time for a revolution. And further remarkable adventures ensue. Useful appendices for those with ambitious plans including the preserving of meat and other produce onboard.

Circumnavigating … a comprehensive account

$30.00

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By Way of the Wind – Jim Moore

A first edition published by Sheridan House, Dobbs Ferry, New York in 1991. Octavo, 215 pages, illustrated with the authors photographs and with endpaper maps. Very good if not fine condition

Jim Moore and his partner Molly gave up a normal life in Portland Oregon to build their dream boat a 36 foot fibreglass Cascade Sloop to be named Swan. It took them four year to get it all shipshape.

They set off in 1977 across to Hawaii, Christmas Island, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Lord Howe island, New Zealand and then on to Sydney. It was 1989 by the time they sailed round Cape York and on to their second Christmas Island before Mauritius, Cape Town St Helena and up to the West Indies and a stop off in Tampa. Back through the Panama and back to Hawaii and on home.

Entertaining circumnavigation .. including getting stuck on the Mooloolaba sand bar!

$30.00

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117 Days Adrift (In the Pacific) – Maurice & Maralyn Bailey – First Australian Edition 1974

Published by The Australasian Publishing Co, Hornsby a first edition 1974. Large octavo, 192 pages with endpaper maps, further charts and numerous excellent illustrations

This story is up there with Apollo 13.

Maurice and Maralyn Bailey give up their lives as a clerk and a tax officer in the South of England sell their house to live life at sea. They had the Auralyn built to meet their own needs and finally sailed for New Zealand in June 1972.

The made the Atlantic and through the Panama without notable incident. However North East of the Galapagos it all went wrong when they were hit by a whale and the boat began to sink. All attempts to save her were in vain and they had to abandon the Auralyn for their inflatable raft and dinghy. Meagre supplies were recovered.

Along the way we have storms, capsizing, numerous sightings of ship that did not see them … the first on day 8! They captured fresh water but not without difficulty and caught fish and turtles for food. Eventually rescued by a Korean fishing vessel “Weolmi 306” drifting further north having already crossed the main shipping route.

Their remarkable story and their survival among the marine life of Pacific area known as the “Tropical convergence” warranted foreword by Sir peter Scott

Incredible story of survival in the Pacific

$30.00

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Sea Wanderers to Australia – Martin

Sails Full and By – Dom Degnon

Cutting Loose – James Lipscomb

Starbound (Circumnavigation) – Gordan and Nina Stuermer – 1977

By Way of the Wind – Jim Moore

117 Days Adrift (In the Pacific) – Maurice & Maralyn Bailey – First Australian Edition 1974

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