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The author and his family started their adventurous sea voyage on their boat Wavewalker m July 1976 from Plymouth, England. The first phase of their planned three- year, 105,000 kilometre journey passed pleasantly. However they began to encounter strong gales when they were on their second day out of Cape Town.
They faced the alarmingly high, sea waves, which broke over the ship, injuring him and his daughter Sue. A part of their ship had damaged and a lot of water had entered the ship. The author repaired the ship as far as he could do. But still they were deeply disturbed about their uncertain fate
On January 4, after 36 hours of continuous pumping, they reached the last few centimetres of water. Now they had only to keep pace with the water still coming in. The voyagers were tired, hungry and struggling hard to survive. Mary found some corned beef and cracker biscuits and they had their first meal in almost two days. But their respite was for a short time only. At 4 p.m. black clouds began building up behind them. The weather continued to deteriorate throughout the night. They were probably aware of their approaching death.
On January 5, their situation was again desperate. Even the children were aware of their approaching death. But the children too showed exemplary courage. The author’s son told his daddy that they were not afraid of death if they could all be together his daddy and mummy and Sue and Jonathan.
The author was so moved with these words that he was determined to fight the sea with whatsover he had. The author and his wife sat together that evening holding hands, as the motion of the ship brought more water in through the broken planks. They both felt that their end was approaching very near. Thus their mental condition was quite positive despite the danger of death they were facing.