Description
On 8th June 1978, the world heard the astonishing news that 28-year-old New Zealander Naomi James had become the first woman to sail single-handed round the globe via Cape Horn – and in the fastest time ever. Newly married and with only two years’ sailing experience behind her, Naomi had never handled a boat by herself before – yet, incredibly, she set a new round-the-world record and made sailing history.
Born on a sheep farm in Hawkes Bay, educated in Rotorua, Naomi was more familiar with horses than yachts, but even at school she showed the qualities necessary to complete her epic voyage. She was a loner. She was a dreamer but with the determination to succeed, and she enjoyed hard physical work. On a lone tour of Europe, Naomi met her future husband Rob, then sailing British Steel for Chay Blyth. He taught her to share his love of sailing and encouraged her idea of a solo circumnavigation. After only five weeks’ preparation, Naomi set out from Dartmouth on her 272-day journey across 30,000 miles of the world’s wildest water.
At One With the Sea is the frank, vivid and enthralling account of the most amazing lone voyage of them all. Naomi tells of her despair when the radio broke and she faced months of silence; of her embarrassment at discovering – after three months at sea – that she had been confusing latitude with longitude; of her grief when the ship’s kitten, Boris, went overboard; and of the black horror of a dawn capsize off Cape Horn.
This story of heroism with the human touch, of epic courage and endurance, must rank as a classic in the literature of great adventures. It is not merely the memorable record of an historic journey. On 1st January 1979, in recognition of her extraordinary achievement, she became Dame Naomi James. Her award, Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, is one of the highest given to women.
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