Originally Posted by Mary
Story of the first catamaran ever to round Cape Horn.
"Children of Cape Horn" by Rosie Swale. I haven't read it, but I really must, because we owned and lived on one of the same catamarans (an Oceanic, designed by Bill O'Brien). Here is a review:
Quote
A cheeky, happy-go-lucky account of how Rosie, husband Colin and babies Eve and James Mario piloted their little 30-foot boat/home, the Anneliese on a 30,000-mile around-the-Horn junket. "She was just a boat off the shelf, not a specially built boat like Chichester's," says Rosie whose exuberance knows no bounds. And despite near drownings and a fearful and almost fatal miscarriage suffered in mid-ocean a thousand miles from nowhere, she makes it all seem very snug and domestic - a long way from the grim ordeal recounted in Robertson's Survive the Savage Seas (1973). The commercial and somewhat gimmicky nature of the expedition (they had more sponsors than daytime TV) and Rosie's exhibitionist bent (in husband Colin's photos she's clad - when at all - in the teeniest of bikinis) hardly detract from the appeal of these reckless but likable free spirits. (Kirkus Reviews)


Hi Mary, Rosie is an amazing person. I remember first reading about her when my sister and brother in law were setting of with their 5 and 2 year old on an Atlantic crossing on a 35' Warram Cat in 1977. You should start with "Rosie Darling". It was written after "Children of Cape Horn", but covers the early part of her life. After "Children of Cape Horn", things went down a bit for her. She toured boat shows trying to sell her books and did certain other things which I won't go into.
She picked herself up and is now known as Rosie Swale-Pope and has just completed a "Run" around the world.
An amazing woman !

Last edited by Dermot; 01/25/09 03:16 PM.

Dermot
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