By the Grace of the Sea A Woman's Solo Odyssey Around the World Hardcover - 2002

From the publisher

On May 5, 1997, when Pat Henry anchored her 31-foot Southern Cross sailboat in Acapulco Harbour, she became the first American women to sail around the world alone. At 56, with two adult daughters and three grandchildren, she is also the oldest woman in the world to have done so. Her voyage began in 1989 and took her through 40 countries, 27,000 miles and eight years. Her longest passage at sea was her first, 36 days from Acapulco to the Marquesas Islands in the South Pacific. Sailing without sponsorship and with little money, learning as she went, Henry encountered storms, near collisions, fatigue, equipment failures, uncharted reefs, health problems and weeks of solitude in her voyage. She supported herself by selling her watercolours - one reason the trip took so long. At her nadir in New Zealand, down to her last $3, unable to sell paintings, she abandoned herself to despair and considered ending her life by stepping off the boat. But this resourceful and resilient sailor also found beauty, diversity, romance and a network of friendships around the globe. Her solo circumnavigation is a triumph to rival Joshua Slocum's -the prototype for all that have followed.