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Sailing
to the Far Horizon
The Restless Journey
and Tragic Sinking of a Tall Ship
Pamela Sisman Bitterman
Terrace Books
One woman's true story of life, loss,
and survival at sea
I boarded the tall ship in Boston on
August 20, 1978. We left the harbor bound for the Caribbean in
the early dawn of October 25, marking the beginning of my maiden
voyage aboard the Sofia. Those
introductory months in port had proved interesting if not illuminating,
productive without the benefit of certainty. I was there, but
I did not yet belong. Had I not spent so much of my early life
marching chin high, shoulders squared through unfamiliar territory
in which I felt no semblance of belonging, I might have bolted
for somewhere safe and something accustomed. But as before, the
magnetic attraction of the unknown ignited my resolve to face
that interminable feeling of aloneness. —excerpt from
the book
Of the legions of wayfarers who shared
in the tall ship Sofia's diverse and colorful history,
only seventeen were on board when she went down. Of those who
survived to tell the tale, none has . . . until now.
More than twenty-five years ago, Pamela Bitterman began her journey
on board a 123-foot, sixty-year-old sailing ship being readied
for its second global circumnavigation. Bitterman's initial voyage,
during which Hurricane Kendra chased the schooner miles off course
to Bermuda, did not impel her to retreat home. Instead, she immersed
herself in this created space between the life of a tall ship
sailor, world traveler, and adventurer. Her narrative describes
rare gatherings with Cuna Indians in the Gulf of San Blas, the
discovery of original ancient tikis hidden away in the Marquesas,
and a treasured offering of traditional tapa cloth from island
natives. Bitterman's experiences also give readers insight into
a time of civil unrest in Latin America, including a frightening
road trip through Mexico and Central America, and the chaos during
the final stages of the treaty that returned control of the Canal
Zone back to Panama. The drama ensues with the arrest of the
entire Sofia crew in two different countries, a bout with
dengue fever, and a near-mutiny in New Zealand before the final
voyage.
The details of events from this journey endure as vividly today
as when Bitterman was a naive "shellback" swabbie,
later ship's bos'un, and finally acting first mate. In the end,
she was merely one on a life raft of grateful survivors.
Sailing to the Far Horizon draws on original journal entries,
photographs, and excerpts from official Coast Guard documents
that chronicle the fascinating enigma that was the Sofia
and its dramatic end.
"Reveals the way that a ship boils people down to their
essentials."
—Jim Delgado, host of National Geographic Television's The
Sea Hunters and executive director of the Vancouver Maritime
Museum
 Pamela
Sisman Bitterman teaches maritime
history and seamanship at the San Diego Maritime Museum.
For more information contact our publicity manager,
phone: (608) 263-0734, email: publicity@uwpress.wisc.edu
Reviews:
From Booklist
In 1978, Bitterman found an ad
in Co-Evolution Quarterly seeking crew members for the
Sophia, a tall-ship sailing cooperative planning to circumnavigate
the globe. You paid your share and you sailed. If you didn't
know how, those more experienced taught you. It was an irresistible
call in a freewheeling era that suited not only her sense of
adventure but also her insatiable desire to learn new things.
The ship was primitive, the weather sometimes foul, and crew
members came and went, but Bitterman took to sailing and the
unorthodox life as if she were born to it. It was a grand, three-year
ride, but as the subtitle tells us, the Sophia sank, putting
an end to the venture with crushing finality. Drawing primarily
on the logs and letters she sent home, the author tells this
compelling 25-year-old story as if it happened yesterday. And
the reader can't help but mourn the loss of the ship and the
crew's improvised lifestyle, as well as feel the joy, danger,
and discovery that the author experienced and never forgot.
Danise Hoover
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights
reserved
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October 2004 LC: 2004005376 G
376 pp. 6 x 9
15 b/w photos, 2 maps, 1 diagram
ISBN 0-299-20190-2 Cloth $29.95 t
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