Book excerpt: One of the most successful sailing stories ever written is Desperate Voyage by John Caldwell. In this book, John, stranded penniless in Panama after World War II, sets out for Sydney to rejoin his wife Mary whom he had not seen since their three-day honeymoon over a year before. His famous book tells of the adventurous journey in a twenty-foot boat. Now, almost sixty years later, Mary tells her own story in this fascinating biography. Born in England, Mary immigrated with her family to Australia where she spent her early youth on a farm. As a young woman she served in the Australian Air Force. During the war she met Tex (future husband John Caldwell), a young cocky American who became the inspirational mainspring for her adventures. In 1952, after living in California for several years, Mary and John and their children became the first family to attempt a voyage around the world on a small sailing craft using only a sextant and dead reckoning to guide them across thousands of miles of ocean. Mary was pregnant at the beginning of the voyage and already had a toddler and an infant son in tow. Months would pass without sight of land. She gave birth to her youngest son in Tahiti, weathered constant seasickness and survived frightening ocean storms, several hurricanes, and a tsunami. Mary and John finally settled in the Grenadines where they built the world-renowned Palm Island resort. Mary¿s story of endurance and fearlessness is remarkable and inspiring.