Albatross

It was an ill-assorted crew that set out in October, 1982, to deliver a 58-foot yacht, Trashman , to Florida. John, the captain, his friend Meg and the author first sailed from Maine to Annapolis, where they picked up two more crew members, Brad and Mark. Sailing without charts, they encountered gale winds and high seas off the North Carolina coast on the second day out. A freak wave crashed through the cabin windows, and Trashman sank in minutes, leaving the crew adrift in a rubber dinghy without food and water, each one hanging onto his or her own survival. Meg had been severely injured in a fall; she developed blood poisoning and died. The second day in the dinghy, John and Mark, both delirious, went overboard. Debbie and Brad managed to hang on to their belief that they would be rescued. Four days after the sinking, they were picked up by a Russian freighter and brought to shore at Morehead City, N.C. This is a harrowing story of endurance and survival. Author tour. (May)