Why a Booktrail?
2000s: A floating getaway or a floating prison?
Sea Wife
What you need to know before your trail
Juliet is failing to juggle motherhood and her anemic dissertation when her husband, Michael, informs her that he wants to leave his job and buy a sailboat. The couple are novice sailors, but Michael persuades Juliet to say yes. With their two kids–Sybil, age seven, and George, age two, Juliet and Michael set off for Panama, where their forty-four-foot sailboat awaits them–a boat that Michael has christened the Juliet.
The initial result is transformative: their marriage is given a gust of energy, and even the children are affected by the beauty and wonderful vertigo of travel. The sea challenges them all–and most of all, Juliet, who suffers from postpartum depression.
Travel Guide
Sailing into the troubled waters of Panama
Sea Wife is told in gripping dual perspectives: Juliet’s first-person narration, after the journey, as she struggles to come to terms with the dire, life-changing events that unfolded at sea; and Michael’s captain’s log–that provides a riveting, slow-motion account of those same inexorable events.
The first log:
“We are 102 nautical miles ENE of Panama City, catching prevailing winds into the sovereign territory of San Blas. The shape of the coast is visible behind us, but ahead is still water. That’s when I realise there’s only one ocean. One big mother ocean. Yes, there are bays and seas and straits. But those are just words. Artificial divisions. Once you’re out here, you see there’s just one unbroken country of water.”
Cayos Limon
“Limon is an untouched archipelago of many sheltered islands with fringing reefs and clear waters. Not a single man-made structure. Only the sound of the surf crashing against the windward reef.”
They are planning to sail the course around Central and South America. Panama city, Cartagena and Caracas.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: Sea Wife
Destination/location: Panama Author/Guide: Amity Gaige Departure Time: 2000s
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