By the Grace of the Sea: A Woman's Solo Odyssey Around the World Paperback - 2004 - 1st Edition

A Life-Changing Voyage Over Vast Oceans

Teen mother, architect, professor, businesswoman--Pat Henry knew a thing or two about survival. But when her once-successful business went bankrupt, she lost the will to begin again. Instead, she set sail with no money aboard her 31-foot Southern Cross on a journey through eight years, forty countries, and thirty thousand miles that would ultimately make her one of the first women--and the oldest--to sail around the world alone. Ahead lay new beginnings on exotic shores. But at sea, in a solitary circle of gales, slow miles, and overarching sky, she found by hesitant degrees a precious gift--the distance from which to reach peace with the choices and abandonments of a tumultuous life. Searingly honest, By the Grace of the Sea is for travelers, daughters, mothers, and seekers.

"A damn good book--it might even be a great book. . . . The way in which [Henry] tells her story is nothing less than extraordinary."--Sailing

"Henry's captivating account fills readers with admiration for her courage and stamina."--Booklist

"A powerful and compelling personal account of [Henry's] battle with the elements--plus inner and outer demons--while struggling to complete her solo journey around the world. What a book and what a woman!"--Willard Manus, author, This Way to Paradise

Her openness about her life should inspire others to make their own way in the world, however they define it. Her message resounds: If I can do this, anyone can."--Caribbean Compass

Pat Henry, a recipient of the Joshua Slocum Society International Golden Circle Award for her solo circumnavigation on board Southern Cross, has sailed eighty thousand miles on small boats. She is a founding partner in Coming About, Any Woman's Sailing School, in Puerto Vallarta. Her watercolor paintings have been exhibited in galleries around the world. She can be contacted through her Web site (pkhenry.com).