Last Voyage - Ann Davison

[machurley22]

Subtitled "The true story of a desperate escape and a tragic shipwreck" and also lent to me by Webmeister on that fateful night this has to be the most depressing book I've ever read.

An incredible series of business failures for Ann and her husband Frank in 1940s Britain leads to the purchase of the 70ft fishing vessel Reliance for a RTW cruise to get away from it all. A quick and dirty fix-up turns into a no expense spared restoration with the seemingly inescapable result that they run out of money and put to sea, unprepared, to escape their creditors.

The madness which follows, leading to shipwreck and Frank's death, is an absolutely rivetting read, if more than a little disturbing.

Highly recommended though not perhaps for those of a sensitive disposition.

PS - I've just discovered this forum. I'm obviously not spending enough time online.

 

[LeonF]

It's a rivetting account, specially as she only realised the mental ill health of her husband once they were at sea. I read a potted account in a compendium. She went to work in a boatyard after the tragedy having lost everything she owned, taught herself to sail properly, and I believe became the first woman to singlehand across the Atlantic.

 

[RupertW]

It's a superb book which I've read a number of times. It tells so much about the restrictions of post-war living, the perils of "project" in the hands of a perfectionist, and a lot about the potentially fatal consequences of a non-existent watch system leading to sleep deprivation. Her husband reminds me of an extreme version of Tom Good from The Good Life - Richard Briers always says that Tom was the only true monster he ever played.


If they had got a bit further away from the Irish Sea and English Channel then who knows whether they'd have learnt enough to survive to sail again?