Wendy Hinman, Sea Trials: Around the World with Duct Tape and Bailing Wire - A True Story (Seattle: Salsa Press) 2017.

Wendy Hinman had already experienced the trials of ocean cruising in small craft with her husband and written up some of their adventures when she undertook the task of writing up the story of her husband's childhood adventures circumnavigating the globe with his family of origin. Theirs was a truly remarkable journey. They started out on their dream and made it from California to a remote Pacific island where they washed upon a reef and were shipwrecked. The damage was extensive and they almost judged the boat to be unrepairable, but somehow they managed to repair the boat and resume their journey. The rest of the trip around the world was a trip of constant innovation, makeshift repairs and learning to live with a lack of communication, poor boat performance, insect infestations, and struggle.

The book is a tribute to the relationship that Hinman has forged with her husband and her inlays. Her sensitivity to the emotions of the parents as they went through this journey is remarkable. At times the book reads as if it had been written by her mother in law.

For those of us who like sea adventures, this book is an adventure worth reading. And for those who enjoy loving families, here is an example of how relationships can be strained and strengthened through adversity. This is no idealized, model family. It is a real family in a set of incredible circumstances. The story is remarkable.