Love with a Chance of Drowning

April 1, 2013
A charming memoir of how an Australian woman with a neurotic fear of the ocean set sail across the Pacific with her Argentinian lover. Graphic artist DeRoche came to San Francisco from Melbourne to accomplish three things within a period of one year: "leave [her] comfort zone, work in a foreign city [and] enjoy some uninhibited fun." A few months after she arrived, she found herself head over heels in love with Ivan, an Argentinian man she met in a bar. Tall and handsome and, as she found out later, hopelessly clumsy, Ivan had plans to sail his small boat, Amazing Grace, around the world the following year. DeRoche loved that Ivan could dream big, but she hated the ocean and all the "creepy crawly wet things." For almost half a year, Ivan tried to persuade her to come with him, while the author looked for every possible way that the trip could go wrong. Afraid of dying at sea, but even more afraid of losing the man she realized was the love of her life, she took the plunge and traveled with Ivan "into oblivion." They sailed to the Marquesas, Society and Cook islands, where they encountered bewitching tropical landscapes, generous natives and other "ocean gypsies" like themselves. But bad storms, equipment failure and leaks that almost sank the Amazing Grace caused DeRoche to finally abandon the voyage in Tonga and leave Ivan to finish the journey alone. The ending to this love story is still a happy one, though, since, once apart, both realized that a life spent testing limits together was the best adventure of all. A funny, irresistibly offbeat tale about the risks and rewards of living, and loving, with an open heart.

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December 13, 2012

An urban 20-something Aussie girl gets on the booze in a San Francisco bar, chats up a soulful, handsome stranger, has more drinks and finds herself in his bed next morning. Months pass, they drift into a relationship, then the man (Argentinian Ivan) introduces DeRoche to his other love—a sound but aging ocean yacht named Amazing Grace. His ambition—obsession might be a better word—is to spend years at sea, escaping from the world and coming ashore as rarely as possible. DeRoche could hardly be a worse companion for him, being a sophisticated city girl with a serious water phobia, yet they fall so deeply in love that she resolves to conquer her mountain of fears and accompany him. Her book is the entertainingly told story of the three years the couple spend planning and executing their voyage, despite doom-saying friends and family, DeRoche’s inexperience at sea, storms and setbacks and Ivan’s almost slapstick ability to court accidents. The book is by turns gripping, laugh-out-loud funny, moving and uplifting. It races to its conclusion and gives tantalising glimpses of their life after Amazing Grace. Almost any reader with a sense of adventure or a desire to confront their fears should love it. This book was originally self-published under the title Swept, before being purchased by a major trade publisher.

Max Oliver is a Sydney bookseller and traveller