Sailing to the Far Horizon

October 1, 2004
In 1978, Bitterman found an ad in " Co-Evolution Quarterly " seeking crew members for the " Sophia" , a tall-ship sailing cooperative planning to circumnavigate the globe. You paid your share and you sailed. If you didn't know how, those more experienced taught you. It was an irresistible call in a freewheeling era that suited not only her sense of adventure but also her insatiable desire to learn new things. The ship was primitive, the weather sometimes foul, and crew members came and went, but Bitterman took to sailing and the unorthodox life as if she were born to it. It was a grand, three-year ride, but as the subtitle tells us, the " Sophia" sank, putting an end to the venture with crushing finality. Drawing primarily on the logs and letters she sent home, the author tells this compelling 25-year-old story as if it happened yesterday. And the reader can't help but mourn the loss of the ship and the crew's improvised lifestyle, as well as feel the joy, danger, and discovery that the author experienced and never forgot. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)