This sailing adventure is frightening and amazing

Harrowing, frightening, astonishing – I just can’t come up with the right adjective to describe this journey on a dilapidated schooner.

Author Maxwell Taylor Kennedy subtitled his book Sea Change, as “A Man, A Boat, A Journey Home.” That is very much understated for this calamitous voyage.

Published by IslandPort Press of Yarmouth, this is a true story about Kennedy’s purchase of an old dilapidated schooner, Valkyrien. He sets off from California, hoping to sail the boat through the Panama Canal and up the coast to Washington DC. I lost track of the number of times he almost died.

Everything that can go wrong on a ship did go wrong, often more than once. Kennedy usually had to jump into the sea to fix things, or swim to shore to get help or purchase needed equipment and food.

But as exciting (or frightening) as this story is, Kennedy’s sharing of his life’s challenges, thoughts and fears, and amazing wife and kids, makes this book really special.

Sea Change will be published this month and you are definitely going to want to pick up a copy.