Sea Trials: Around the World with Duct Tape and Bailing Wire

Hinman’s (Tightwads on the Loose) second around-the-world sailing travelogue features engaging family drama. Her first book described a seven-year Pacific voyage with her husband, Garth Wilcox. Here, Hinman recounts the Wilcox family expedition that launched from San Francisco in 1973 when Garth was 13. While electrical engineer Chuck could fix most things that broke on their 40-foot sailboat, he and his wife, Dawn, a nurse, had little experience with ocean sailing, and this plays out in both humorous and terrifying ways throughout their travels. Garth’s younger sister, Linda, was the most reluctant sailor, although she did write an unpublished account of the trip which Hinman used, along with interviews, news articles, the ship’s log, and Wilcox family correspondence, to construct her exciting narrative. Hinman seamlessly blends these sources and writes in a conversational style that’s perfect for audio. Narrator Eric G. Dove expertly switches from an energetic delivery of the maritime exploits and foreign-port adventures to an empathic delivery of the family’s personal struggles. Boat enthusiasts will appreciate Dove’s deliberate reading of the rich technical details.