Starbound

Starbound by Gordon Stuermer. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780679507789.

The always high-spirited log of the Stuermers and their son Ernie as they circumnavigate the globe on their 35-ton ketch Starbound. The Stuermers met their squalls and lightning but were not out to pull off any great seagoing stunt or incredible voyage like Tristram Jones. Inevitably, the log excerpts reflect an endless series of minor and major mishaps (faulty transmission, ""the damn bilge pump goes blooey"") and a knotted string of sunsets, parties, and glories. The two-and-a-half-year voyage began with a shakedown cruise from Annapolis to Bermuda, then its off to Martinique, the first of the Windward Islands, to Panama and through the Canal, the Galapagos, the Marquesas, Polynesia, around Australia and the Great Barrier Reef, to South Africa and back to Annapolis. The Stuermers include a great deal of navigation information and four appendixes about food, stores, galley equipment, tools, necessary spare items, and so on. They finally run out of vodka on page 302 but their spirits remain precipitous. Kirkus Review