World Voyagers

Armchair sailors love to read about other people's round-the-world sailing voyages. If they had to do it themselves, however, they would find such a journey to be a grueling test of patience, endurance, and self-reliance. Even experienced blue water sailors find a global circumnavigation to be a daunting challenge. World Voyagers is the marvelous true story of the round-the-world sailing voyage of Georgetown (Maine) residents Amy Wood and Phil Shelton, told with humor, excitement, and unvarnished honesty. Amy and Phil. are married and had long dreamed of a sailing circumnavigation. They took 10 years to build their own boat, a sturdy, wooden-hulled, 42-foot, gaff rigged cutter named Iwalani, The Wood-Shelton voyage began in Maine in 2000, and took three long years, finally ending back ill Maine in 2003. Amy and Phil sacrificed a great deal to live their dream, perhaps even believing a bit of the romanticized notions of the pleasures of such a trip. They quickly realized that a sailing circumnavigation is a lot of hard work, and an uneven mix of boredom, fatigue, frayed nerves, short tempers, unexpected calamity, and unmatched peace and beauty. This book then is a chronicle of their sailing adventures, as well as an eye-opening travelogue, and an honest, sometimes embarrassing appraisal of their own personal strengths and weaknesses, and intimate details of married life at sea. Phil and Amy carefully prepared themselves and their boat for this trip, but still had to endure storms, rogue waves, seasickness, mechanical breakdowns, illness, and injury, all while living in a close-quarters world reduced to a small boat and three miles of visibility in any direction in good weather. Despite their best efforts, there were times when the voyage seemed too much for them. Phil once declared, "You have to be crazy in order to sail around the world. No person in his right mind would do this!" Living at sea is not at all like living at home on land. Each person stands alternating watches, four hours on and four off, all day and night, every day. There is no privacy and a distinct lack of quality personal hygiene. Fatigue is a major problem. They sailed from Maine south to the Caribbean, through the Panama Canal, across the Pacific and Indian Oceans, up the Atlantic and back to Maine. They tell of all their sailing experiences and ports, adding colorful insight to their ambitious itinerary. They tell of rampant government corruption in Jamaica, of the Panama Canal's rundown condition and incompetent operators, about the widespread crime in South Africa, and about being chased by Indonesian pirates. Amy even had to fend off the persistently unwelcome advances of a boatyard Lothario in Cape Town. Still, there are pleasant and funny stories, too. They describe the beauty of Polynesia, the kindness of the Pacific islanders and other yachtsmen, the antics of Stewart the Cat, their lazy feline crewmember, and the irony of the lingerie model photo shoot aboard their boat. Learn how engine room profanity really helps when you need to make a difficult repair, why sailors never start a voyage on a Friday, how to get a crab out of your ear, about the medicinal uses of fish mucous, about the tasty dish called Goat's Head Soup, and now lawyers and missionaries have taken all the fun out of life. Despite the hazards, risks, discomforts, and losses of friends at sea, Amy and Phil experience a fabulous journey of self-discovery, introspection, and renewal. They learned much about themselves, the sea, and the world around them. They also learned that they will probably not do this again. This book is supplemented nicely with maps and color photographs. --BY WILLIAM D. BUSHNELL The Associated Press Oct 2007

Author Amy P. Wood stated that she wanted to write a book that told the true story -- not one with fluff... --W.H. Bunting WOODENBOAT REVIEW Sept/Oct 2007

Author Amy P. Wood stated that she wanted to write a book that told the true story -- not one with fluff and she indeed accomplishes this feat with World Voyagers, an all encompassing detailed account of a three year circumnavigation aboard Iwalani. Although this book is lengthy, it reads like a daily log or blog, (which is where Amy and Phil originally posted the details of their trip online), and it allows the reader to ultimately become part of the crew, sailing right along with Phil, Amy and Stewart. It s easy to forget you re just reading about being places like the Bahamas, Jamaica, Panama, Marquesas, Australia and South Africa (Just to name a few) as Amy unequivocally takes you there. She shares all the joys, pitfalls, sights, smells, experiences and enough of herself with us to make us feel like we really are encountering the adventure firsthand. You ll feel the seasickness she hides from her husband Phil, find yourself waking up every four hours to do your watch, and even crying along with them when they loose their beloved pet at sea. But you ll also feel the warm sun on your skin as you sail naked in the tropics, see waters in multiple amazing shades of blue, meet interesting people from all corners of the world and get up close and personal with lions and many other furred, feathered and finned wildlife. Then, once in home port again, you ll feel a true sense of accomplishment. Well, actually, it s Amy and Phil who succeed in doing something they had a burning desire in their hearts to do. It was a goal we could not abandon. Author Amy P. Wood writes. They see it through and you are right there with them, and despite all the obstacles, from an ex-wife and family who needs them at home, to health issues, to uncooperative winds, weather and currents, Amy and Phil not only chase the wind to fulfill their dream, but succeed in catching it and telling the tale. If you are expecting a lot of flowery language and poetic descriptions of this three year trek, you won t get it. What you will get is a 100 percent, hands on, authentic account of blue water sailing. Whether you are a coastal cruiser, blue water cruiser, sailing novice or just enjoy reading about a great adventure, you are guaranteed to enjoy sharing Amy, Phil and Stewart s journey across the deep blue sea. --Review by Susan Lynn Kingsbury, Good Ol' Boat Sept 2007

In the late 1990s an old red Yankee-class iceboat occasionally appeared on Maine lakes. Sailed by a bearded man and a blond woman, it went much faster than it should have, considering its aged sail. Then, for several seasons, it was missed, to reappear a couple of winters later. Come to find out that in those intervening years its co-pilots, professional shipwright Phil Shelton and his wife, veterinarian Amy Wood, had finished building the 42' Buehler-designed ketch IWALANI and sailed her around the world. They then wrote (in Amy's voice) and published a 430-page book about it all. This three-against-the-sea saga (there was also a ship's cat) differs from others of its ilk in that the authors set out to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. World Voyagers is a must-read for anyone who dreams of sailing around the world, and also for anyone feeling guilty for not dreaming about sailing around the world. And for the rest of us, it is a witty travelogue with attitude-but doesn't ape the Paul Thoreaux/Jonathan Raban smarty-pants school of travel writing. It is surely quirky, and with travel books, quirky is good. Phil and Amy trade places as captain every day. Both are in a second marriage, and overshadowing the story of the voyage are the worries about Phil's two boys, left in the care of their mother, who will not be sending any Christmas cards to Amy. Amy's devotion to Stewart, the ailing ship's cat, may strike even some cat lovers as slightly over the top, but her extraordinary candor saves the story from becoming a seagoing soap opera. Indeed, it would seem that nothing of a personal nature was off limits, including some disclosures which I cannot reveal, much less describe, given WoodenBoat's editorial prudery regarding matters of a sexual nature. IWALANI, a traditional double-ended gaff-rigger on the outside, was stuffed with every manner of modern navigational device and appliance, including ice and ice cream makers, water maker, DVD player, computer, fax machine, vacuum cleaner, and so on. Of critical importance, Phil the wizard could fix almost all of them. But despite the comforts of home, and having prepared for all manner of peril, Phil and Amy still faced moments of real danger, as well as assorted nuisances and miseries, including Amy's chronic seasickness.... --W.H. Bunting WOODENBOAT REVIEW Sept/Oct 2007