This navigation could have been beautiful. Alas, it ends in tragedy. Tami, a young American girl in her early twenties, and her young friend Richard are in love. Happy, they live on a sailboat and start a world tour by visiting the Polynesian islands. A couple of friends suggested that they take their sailboat, a Trintella 44 from Tahiti to San Francisco. Attracted by the remuneration and by the desire to take a cruise on this beautiful ketch, the young couple accepted this delivery.
Unfortunately, a hurricane arrived in the area and the couple despite the fact that they reacted like good sailors and fled could not avoid it. The sailboat was overturned by a wave. Tami inside remains stunned (how long?). Richard who was in the cockpit will be taken away despite his harness. When Tami wakes up alone on board, the sailboat is in a sorry state. The mizzen is in the water and the main mast has even ripped off part of the bridge, causing a big leak, but fortunately without sinking it. Stunned, wounded, under the impact, she will eventually regain the upper hand, rig a makeshift rig and succeed in making her way.
This book describes the young woman's state of mind, alternating between suicide desires and self-preservation instincts. Today, at almost 60 years old, Tami tells this story without hiding anything. And even if we feel that the time spent has erased a few details or rounded up a few episodes, the story is precise enough so that we can properly reconstruct the facts and learn from them.
This book comes in parallel with the film "À la dérive" made from this story (released in July 2018). Having seen the film and read the book, the written version provides much more detail and explanation for this incredible drift. A book that can be swallowed up as easily as a wave bigger than the others would..
Drifting - Alone in the Pacific
- Editions Glénat
- 248 pages
- 14 x 22.5 cm
- 22.00 euros
