The fast-paced story…takes readers from the coast of France to the seas of Fiji during the couple’s voyage, recounting in candid detail what it is like to cast aside worldly possessions and spend nearly a decade sailing a small boat with your spouse
Who hasn’t thought of packing in the day job and heading off to sea on a round-the-world adventure? A wish for many, but few actually have the means or where-withal to follow their dreams. Not so for Julie Bradley. After retiring from a 20-year career in the Army as a Russian foreign area officer in the Military Intelligence Corps, she set off on the trip of a lifetime. More than just another narrative of long-distance voyaging under sail, this aptly named book includes in-depth discussions of preparations, both practical and mental.
The life Julie and husband Glen 'escaped' from was far from ordinary. She was an Army Special Forces officer whose last assignments were conducting nuclear weapons inspections in Russia; he was a defense contractor. Julie did her 20 years; the couple sold their old boat and flew to France in the late '90s to pick up their new one, an Amel Super Maramu 53 ketch they named C'est Assez ('it's enough'). They proceeded out into the Bay of Biscay in what became known as the 'Christmas Storm', a force-10 gear-buster that almost ended the voyage before it started. C'est Assez eventually made it to the Caribbean, transitedPanama, and arrived in Fiji two and a half years later — on 9/11. That was back before smartphones and satellite TV, when cruisers got their news largely viasingle-sideband radio. Julie's descriptions of the cruising community's reaction andsupport are as surreal as they are touching: "In a display of solidarity and supportfor the United States, every single boat in the anchorage flew the American flag." There was much more cruising after that, and we look forward to reading about it in Julie's next book, Sailing Pirate Waters
Sometimes, simpler is better. And some people are willing to sell everything, walk away from their jobs, and buy a boat to explore the world. That’s what Glen and Julie Bradley did when they decided to retire early. Julie’s book, Escape from the Ordinary, describes how they battled Force 10 storms in the Atlantic Ocean, plied the tiniest of Pacific islands, and sailed everywhere from the Galapagos islands to Tahiti, Fiji, Tonga, New Zealand, the Caribbean, Peru and more.
The 10 Best Sailing Books for 2019 - Escape from the Ordinary relates the story of a husband and wife who made their dream of an around the world cruise a reality. They tell of exotic adventures from places as close as the Caribbean and as far flung as Peru and Tahiti…. Contains many harrowing accounts…. Written with wry humor