Desperate Voyage

After having spent ten days learning the rudiments of sailing and navigation, John Caldwell set out single-handed from Panama bound for Sydney. With his motley crew of pets, he endured the terrors and discomforts of life on the high seas and the sailor's nightmare - a hurricane.

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Stranded in Panama after the war, John Caldwell set out for Sydney to rejoin his wife Mary, whom he had not seen since their three-day honeymoon over a year before. Unable to secure any other form of transport he had to resort to single-handed sailing. After having spent ten days learning the rudiments of sailing and navigation from a book he embarked on a 9000 mile journey aboard the 20-foot "Pagan". Ahead lay a mission that was to reveal in him elements not only of astounding courage and determination but also of incredible foolhardiness. Having been shipwrecked once, his boat's engine and cockpot destroyed by an a shark, he pressed on.