The Water in Between - by Kevin Patterson (Paperback)

About the Book

A stint in the army and a broken heart lead Patterson to the dock of a sailboat brokerage on Vancouver Island, where he stands contemplating the romance of the ocean. His plan is to sail to Tahiti and back while burning away his failings in hard miles at sea.

Book Synopsis

Wise, funny and beautifully written, The Water in Between is an inspiring-and cautionary-tale for anyone who has ever wanted to escape into another life.

A stint in the army and a broken heart lead Kevin Patterson, who has never sailed before, to buy a 37-foot sailboat. He recruits a more experienced sailor-another brokenhearted guy-and together they set sail for Tahiti, hoping to burn away their miseries in hard miles at sea.

At first Patterson finds life under sail distinctly less heroic than the travel literature that has inspired him. But when his companion remains behind, Patterson single-handedly sails his boat across the North Pacific and through a perilous four-day gale, truly testing himself against the elements.

Review Quotes

"A first rate, quietly enthralling account othat belongs on the shelf with Theroux's Happy Isles of Oceania, Raban's sailings, and the work of landlubber Chatwin." ?Christopher Buckley, The New York Times Book Review

"[A]n old fashioned story of personal adventure that probes its own themes with subversive intelligence." ?The New York Times

"If a klutz like Patterson can sail to the South Seas, so can you. But writing about it this well is something else again." ?Outside

About the Author

Kevin Patterson grew up in Selkirk, Manitoba, and put himself through medical school by enlisting in the Canadian Army. When his stint was up, he worked as a doctor in the Arctic and on the B.C. coast while studying for his MFA at UBC. His short fiction has been published in Descant and Canadian Fiction Magazine. He is currently a resident in internal medicine at Dalhousie in Halifax and a regular corres-pondent for Saturday Night magazine. The Sea Mouse is moored on Salt Spring Island.