Workaholics Adrift: Transformation in the Pacific Islands

by Judy Martin McCandless

Overview

Workaholics Adrift is a true adventure conveyed with honesty and emotional depth. Upon the sudden death of a 42-year-old contemporary, Judy McCandless abandons a stressful corporate career in midlife to cross the Pacific Ocean in a sailboat with her husband, John, seeking freedom and a more meaningful life. On their initial cruise offshore, she braves a frightful storm alone and returns home to an alcohol rehab lockup. They re-launch enjoying the fraternity of other "yachties"; but with shaky sobriety, Judy endures a 28-day Pacific crossing beside a menacing crewman. Midnight in mid-Pacific, they evade collision with a ghost ship. The author describes nature's glory and fury as she experiences marital, medical, and cultural clashes in remote areas. Expats and Pacific Islanders teach her compassion. In Fiji she saves a man's life. Sober time and adaptability grow. After surviving a typhoon in Guam, the couple returns stateside vowing a more balanced life; however, retirement brings a crisis that requires all the strength Judy gained and more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781543972290
Publisher:	BookBaby
Publication date:	07/15/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	274
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Judy McCandless grew up four blocks from the sea in Marblehead, Mass. with a passion for travel. At age 24 she drove to California for adventure and stayed to marry, complete a B.S. in business and advance to corporate positions in contract negotiation, the last one with Westinghouse, Sunnyvale, CA. She lived aboard a sailboat for seven years, sailed 20,000 miles of open ocean and has achieved thirty years of sobriety. She is currently retired from business and still travels widely.

Table of Contents

Part I To Go Or Not Go 1

1 Considering Mortality - A Trial Cruise 3

2 A Taste of a Different Life - Tropical Mexico 11

3 A Dream Diverted - Descent from Status Quo 19

4 A New Beginning - A Different Mexico 29

Part II In an Unfamiliar World 43

5 Crossing the Pacific - A Month in a Capsule 45

6 The Marquesas Islands - Far from Civilization 55

7 The Tuamotus - The Dangerous Archipelago 67

8 The Society Islands - More than Tahiti 74

9 The Cook Islands - The Koras of Suwarrow 88

Part III Staying Together 103

10 The Islands of Samoa - A Separation 105

11 The Kingdom of Tonga - Discord in the Friendly Isles 117

12 New Zealand - A Reset to My Earlier Life 130

13 The Fiji Islands - Three Cultures and a Coup 143

14 New Caledonia - Another Divided Land 160

Part IV Delving Deeper 169

15 To Australia and Home - Here and Gone 171

16 Inside the Great Barrier Reef - Aussie Escapades 181

17 Papua New Guinea - A Primeval Land 197

18 The Solomon Islands - Wounded in War 211

Part V Challenges Back North 223

19 The Federated States of Micronesia - Pohnpei, Chuuk and Puluwat 225

20 The U.S. Territory of Guam - Work and Other Natural Disasters 240

Epilogue - An Unexpected Retirement 252

Acknowledgments 257

Bibliography 259

About the Author 261

Editorial Reviews

08/03/2020

In this candid memoir, McCandless recounts how she and her husband left their comfortable life to sail the Pacific Ocean, traveling from San Francisco to Guam via New Zealand, Australia, and many islands between 1984 and 1991. McCandless and her husband, John, were on the American dream treadmill: both had well-paying corporate jobs that required long hours, and evenings were spent with John sitting in front of a television while McCandless drank. The couple often dreamed of quitting their jobs and voyaging across the ocean. When they attempted a trial sail, Mother Nature and McCandless’s alcoholism tested their resolve. Despite the difficulties, then and later, the couple boarded their 35-foot sailboat and fully embraced a life they found far more meaningful than the rat race.

There is much to admire in the McCandlesses’ courageous decision to set aside financially success lives and fulfill their passions for traveling and sailing. McCandless shares both the highlights of their journey, such as their visits to islands and different ports with their “yachtie” friends, and the downsides, which included hiring Dan, an unreliable crewman; dodging large ships and suffering through storms; and arriving in Guam to a $29,000 tax bill thanks to their accountant’s incompetence. Readers might wish for more insight into how others experienced their interactions with the author throughout her years at home and abroad.

It could be argued that McCandless’s story is a “what-not-to-do” guide; exhibit A is the couple developing near-fatal cases of malaria after skipping their anti-malaria medication because it upset John’s stomach. However, McCandless’s courage in facing her demons and changing her life is inspiring. Most compelling, perhaps because of McCandless’s brutal honesty, is her sincere encouragement to follow one’s dream, as one never knows what the future holds.

Takeaway: Anyone dreaming of making a significant change in their life will find McCandless’s candid memoir inspiring.

Great for fans of Frances Maye’s Under the Tuscan Sun, Thor Heyerdahl’s Kon-Tiki.

Production grades Cover: A Design and typography: B Illustrations: - Editing: B Marketing copy: A

BookLife Reviews