Rowing for My Life: Two Oceans, Two Lives, One Journey

by Kathleen Saville

In the tradition of Cheryl Strayed's Wild, one woman's transformational journey rowing across the savage sea—twice.

Just out of college, newly wed, and set up with her husband Curt in a small town in New York, Kathleen Saville quickly realized that an ordinary life working for a better used car and a home with a mortgage would never satisfy her thirst for freedom and adventure. The year before, she and Curt had retraced Henry David Thoreau's canoe journey through the Maine Woods, and both were veteran rowers. Inspired, she suggested that they row across the Atlantic Ocean. Returning to her hometown, living on a shoestring, they built their own twenty-five-foot ocean rowboat. They set out from Morocco and, tested by adverse currents, gales, and their own inexperience, accomplished the near impossible.

Three years later, while they attempted to row across the Pacific, Curt was washed overboard and lost their sextant—their only means of navigation. Now, besides confronting fatigue, storms, sharks, and deadly reefs, they had to find a way to avoid becoming lost at sea and succumbing to starvation. Their ordeal in completing their crossing exposed the fissures in their marriage, and in this and subsequent adventures, Kathleen was forced to confront the difference between courage and foolhardiness. Cinematic, suspenseful, heartbreaking, and ultimately triumphant, her story of an unraveling marriage is also the account of finding her true self amid the life-and-death challenges at sea.

“It is easier to sail many thousand miles through cold and storm and cannibals, in a government ship, with five hundred men and boys to assist one, than it is to explore the private sea, the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean of one's being alone.”—Henry David Thoreau

Genres: Adventure, Nonfiction, Memoir

368 pages, Hardcover

Published February 7, 2017

About the author

Based in Cairo, Egypt and Holland, Vermont, Kathleen teaches creative writing at the American University in Cairo. She's the author of the recently published "Rowing for My Life: Two Oceans, Two Lives, One Journey" (Skyhorse / Arcade Publishing) and her non-fiction work has appeared in Smithsonian Magazine, Written River, Orion, Adventum Magazine, and St. Katherine Review. When not teaching, she loves spending her summers bush-whacking with old friends, kayaking and just hanging out in the beautiful Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.

Reviews

[Sabeeha Rehman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a 'once in a lifetime story'. What fascinated me was that this actually happened--she and her husband actually rowed across the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. The detail is remarkable--it puts you in the moment, in the boat, on the sea, braving the storm, rocking with the pounding of the waves, and feeling the splashing of the sea water against your skin. Kathleen's courage in undertaking this venture, her physical endurance in braving the storm (literally), and presence of mind in making instant decisions with the gut and the head, is like something I have never read. She weaves in the emotional experience--the impact it had on her marriage, how each crisis either strengthened or strained their relationship, and it is so credible. I was tickled when I read that she actually ended up in Pakistan, the country of my birth, and talked of places where I lived. Her discourse is so honest, that when she describes her dilemma on learning that her husband is marooned on a plateau in the Sinai desert, and she has to manage the arrangements of getting medical help on one hand, and get her son to his sports competition, on the other hand. She accomplishes both, but in the end, loses her husband. Her writing is beautiful, her descriptions vivid. This is more than a story of an adventure, it is the story of a woman's journey as she rides the waves and battles the storms of life, always looking for what more life has to offer. Reading it, makes you want to go out and explore the world and the seas.

[Vicky Pilkington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting and inspiring book about a couple who row across both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and the trials and tribulations along the way

[Linda Reich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Impressive but overwhelming

I enjoyed this book but could have stopped after the Atlantic row. The way this young couple complemented each other and the knowledge they possessed was impressive. They were able to accomplish more than seemed possible.
The continued story was somewhat repetitive, introduced their son and how the needs of Kathleen were achiev.ed . Curt's obsessive goals were selfish when they effected the family and eventually led to his demise.

[Abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read for those specific events during each crossing that were given a description in the book. The writing of the early crossings, maybe because they were decades ago, seemed drier and heavier on the technical aspects of the rows (weather, equipment, wave height) than on the personal emotions and interpersonal dynamics that I thought were going to be explored to explain her confrontations with "the difference between courage and foolhardiness" as described on the book jacket. I came to believe the relationship and hence communication between the author and her husband was not truly intimate. But it left me wondering why she didn't share more at least from her own perspective - particularly relative to the potential/ultimate pregnancy. She seemed to have kept growing as a person and parent, but at least from what she shared, her husband died behaving just as he had when they were newly married - still pursuing adventure, without much personal growth. The bookjacket said the book would describe "one woman's transformational journey rowing across the savage sea - twice" But the writing suggested to me that it was really becoming a mother that was transformational for the author. It was having Christopher that changed her own perspective, but not her husband's, which led to marital problems. So in a way, I think this is a book about motherhood, hidden inside a unique travelogue. I would have enjoyed more reflection on her journey through motherhood and her feelings on what was harder - rowing across the oceans, or fulfilling her role as mother.

[Lyn Zuberbuhler · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I appreciate the self reliance, skill and adventurous spirit of Kathleen Saville and her husband Curt, I found many parts of this story hard to read.

I suffer from claustrophobia. The thought of spending years of one’s life confined to the space of the rowboat built by these two to cross the two major oceans of the world, plus doing shorter but no less strenuous trips, was mind boggling to me.
And then there was the vastness of the water crossed. With only the most rudimentary of navigation tools: a sextant and sailors’ calculation books. A testament to Curt’s navigation skills that they did make their ports of call with only some fairly minor adjustments given the vast water crossed.
They did manage communication through ham radio operators in disparate parts of the world, but in general were on their own.
Years of planning and preparation with limited sponsorship. A truly amazing story.
I found Kathleen’s writing to be somehow emotionally detached from the enormity and magnitude of what they managed. Two people completely reliant on each other in a partnership which literally meant life or death for both of them.
The technical aspects of how the boat was constructed and the skills they both needed to develop to survive were interesting. I would have liked a few more details of how they determined how much food and water was required for the time spent on the ocean.
In general, a great story of adventure and pushing oneself to find your personal limits.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is a first person memoir of a couple of people who took on the oceans. As you may expect they are not necessarily the smartest or wisest people in the world. However Saville's honesty about the downside of such adventures saves the book.

It's really two books - the Atlantic, and the Pacific, with a coda at the end after her partner dies. (I read a whodunit in between the two halves.)

Stylistically it could stand some improvement and editing. Which is why I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars.

[Patrick Teti · Rating 5 out of 5]

I applaud Kathleen Saville for finishing this book so many years after the events took place. The more time passes, the harder it is to finish a project. Once I got past the fact that I was reading about events that occurred decades ago, I was completely immersed thanks to her clear writing and daring exploits.
As the book progressed, the adventures became more consequential - physically and emotionally. Kathleen's writing style also evolved very impressively as the narrative became more serious.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best novels to read are those that are true. That real people actually lived thru what the book is about and then wrote about it. Thank-you, Kathleen, for sharing this part of your life with all of us.

[Katiecaper · Rating 3 out of 5]

A super interesting somewhat dry monotonous read. Much like being on the ocean for days on end I imagine. I loved learning about the natives reading and using the stars for navigation purposes. Then I saw this happen in Disney’s Moana movie soon after.

[Jo-anne Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times repetitive, but an inspirational read.

[Kirk Dobihal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Made me laugh, made me cry. Crazy amazing book. I've had many desires to travel adventures in the guise of this book, but I think I will stay safe reading of such jaunts in the safety of my limited haunts at home. Still it will make one think, what if....