BY SHARON KRATZ (1ST BOOKS LIBRARY, 2004; 150 PAGES; $16.75)
REVIEWED BY KAREN LARSON
Jim and Dianne Carlin had all the time in the world to sail their Island Packet 38, September Song, around the world. That’s the way author Sharon Kratz is portraying their travels by sea and explorations on land, a voyage which took five years, circumnavigating via the Panama and Suez canals. The Carlins started and ended their journey in Texas, November 1996 through April 2002.
Sharon intended to tell the Carlins’ interesting tale in a magazine article or two. But once she met with the couple, she became so mesmerized she was inspired to write this book, her first.
Writing and publishing a book, particularly about someone else’s travels, is no small undertaking in itself. Sharon tells the Carlins’story so well that readers experience the highlights of their travels with them. Readers make the voyage without having to spend “all the time in the world” doing so. Sharon cuts right to the chase scenes: the inevitable storms, global political hostilities, pirates, and mechanical failures. She also adds interest with a look at cultural experiences, food, native people, other cruisers, and sights along the way, including inshore sightseeing.
Jim and Dianne did not sail endlessly; they put September Song into storage several times while they returned home for months at a time for family events. The Carlins often took family members along for extended passages or met family members for tourist travels while overseas. This opportunity to take a break from life aboard and to be reunited with family will be reassuring for those who want to cruise to distant shores, but are reluctant to leave family behind. By example, the Carlins tell other sailors who would follow in their wake that cruisers can have the best of both worlds — the watery one and the one they left behind.
Did they have all the time in the world? Not really. Many cruisers have taken longer to circumnavigate. And there are places they rushed past that they would like to visit someday. But perhaps that’s for the best. If you’ve seen it all and done it all and got the T-shirt, what’s left? The Carlins ‘ horizon has expanded. Other travel beckons even though September Song has gone on to new owners and new travels.
Telling the Carlins’story may launch Sharon’s writing career in a direction she did not foresee. Now that she has completed a book, who knows? And since she and her husband are sailors, the Carlins ‘ tale may inspire further cruising for them just as it might for readers of All the Time in the World.
For all of us, this book presents a realistic view of long-term cruising today. It is a valuable resource for any sailors wondering whether making a circumnavigation is right for them. If distant shores beckon, this book offers a sneak preview of what you can expect. Read it. Enjoy it. Then pursue your dream.
