Maiden Voyage

Bernadette Brennan and Tania Aebi (1989)

THE A5 BOOK REVIEW

Tania Aebi, a bicycle messenger and barfly from New York City, was not someone anyone would expect to change history.  She was eighteen years old, and like many teenagers, unambitious and directionless.  Her father gave her a challenge that changed her life; either go to college or attempt to sail a twenty-six foot sailboat around the world, a pursuit that would make her the first American and youngest person (at the time) to accomplish the feat alone.  In a sudden and stubborn mission for adventure, she chose to sail, despite having very little practical sailing or navigation experience.  Her book, Maiden Voyage​, tells the gripping story of her two and a half year 27,000 mile trip with her cat Tarzoon.  They faced tough weather conditions, a horrific collision with a tanker, illness, loneliness, and fear.   She completed her historic voyage in November 1987, arriving back into New York City.  What started as a challenge became a determined spiritual quest; Maiden Voyage is a story both of a great journey and of a teenager who discovers herself along the way.
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OTHER A5 RECOMMENDATIONS ON PEOPLE WHO SAILED AROUND THE WORLD

While Joshua Slocum with Sailing Alone Around the World might have been the first to create the youth-who-sailed-around-the-world genre, there are several other great books.  Each has its own appeal, and it is also interesting to see how these sailors were affected by those who went before them.  Here are our favorites.

GREAT QUOTES:

“October 23, 1987., another dawn - my thirty-seventh alone on the North Atlantic.  Around me, the sea is a liquid mountain range of heaving swells, and I'm really scared.  The winds and waves have been steadily increasing since yesterday, when they veered from southeast to northeast.  Varuna has been knocked mast-down to the water countless times last night, and I haven't been able to relax, sleep, eat or think about anything other than staying alive.  Following now are the biggest waves I have ever seen - probably 25 feet.  It's almost winter and I've pushed my luck.  The weather can only get worse."
- Tania Aebia, the introductory paragraph to Maiden Voyage

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