Small Boat To Freedom: A Journey Of Conscience To A New Life In America

by John Vigor

Small Boat to Freedom is the moving and inspiring story of one man''s decision to leave the country he loved because of a political situation he abhorred. John Vigor had it a loving family, a secure and well-deserved reputation as a syndicated South African newspaper columnist, and a lovely home in one of South Africa''s most beautiful cities, Durban. But an apartheid-regime clampdown on freedom of expression forced Vigor to make the wrenching decision to abandon his idyllic life--and financial security--and leave South Africa on a thirty-one-foot sloop with his wife and seventeen-year-old son, for a precarious voyage to a new but uncertain life in America.

At age fifty, Vigor had been a popular newspaper columnist for eighteen years, and a journalist for thirty years, working for anti-apartheid newspapers, raising a family of three sons with his wife, June, also a journalist. But in 1987 the South African government and its once untouchable apartheid policy was crumbling. In an attempt to clamp down on dissident opinion, the government began restricting writers. The Vigors knew it was time to leave, but to do so meant losing most of their savings, the scant remainder of which they used to purchase a boat for the dangerous voyage from Durban, past the treacherous Cape of Storms, around the Cape of Good Hope, and across the South Atlantic to Florida.

Small Boat to Freedom is an emotional and colorful account of two journeys--one of conscience, the other of courage--each inspired by the author''s strength and that of his family.

260 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Bryan Murdock · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not often you get to read a great non-fiction book where you know one of the main characters personally. Young Kevin in this book was a co-worker of mine for a good 7 years. For some reason the fact that his family escaped Apartheid South Africa by sailing across the Atlantic ocean when he was 17 years old didn't come up in our normal work conversations. I can't remember exactly who told me that his father had written a book about this gutsy and amazing journey but I'm glad they did. It took me a while to get a copy of the book and finally getting around to reading it, but I shouldn't have waited!

One of the things I loved about the book was that the people in it, Kevin's family, were just so human. These were not super heroes of the ocean. The father (author of the book) who captained their little vessel seems to have had a decent amount of sailing experience when they set out on their journey, but mostly he's a sailing geek, having read about a lot more than he'd actually done. He still got sea sick, and he very honestly described the painful anxiety he suffered at various points along the way. The two person crew, his wife and son, had very little sailing experience at all. The descriptions of their experiences were very poignant, very human and real.

I also loved learning about South Africa, a place I knew next to nothing about, the various islands they stopped at along their way, and about sailing in general. The author tells lots of little historical details and physical descriptions of each place they visit. He also tells snippets of stories about other sailors who's footsteps they are following the whole way. Some might not enjoy the detail he goes into about sailing (I'm still not sure what the "twistle yard" really was), but I kind of enjoyed it. It gave me good excuses to do some further research.

Even if you haven't met Kevin personally like I have, I think you could still find this book fascinating.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author John Vigor & his family found themselves in a potentially dangerous position as the African National Congress rose to power in South Africa. Although supportive of rights for blacks, they realized a time would come when the blacks would rise up against apartheid and all white South Africans would be at risk. So he, his wife and their 17-year-old son chose to launch their 30-foot sailboat and sail from Cape Town to Fort Lauderdale for a new home in America.

What a story! Although I am totally unfamiliar with the most basic sailing terminology, Mr. Vigor's descriptions of the actual sailing maneuvers were easy to understand, whether in calm seas or violent storms. Interspersed between these nautical adventures were their experiences and the history of their various ports of call at St. Helena, Bequia, the West Indies, Fernando de Noronha, St. Maarten, and the Bahamas. Lastly, Mr. Vigor wrote honestly and humorously about a father, mother and son maintaining their sanity and learning to live with each other aboard such a tiny craft.

I totally enjoyed this book!

[Lissie · Rating 5 out of 5]

an amazing story and journey

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the book that swept me away - the first book I read about blue water sailing adventures. It's now on my shelf with a dozen others. Small Boat to Freedom is exciting, lyrical, inspiring, intimate, intriguing. You don't need to be a sailor or know anything about sailing to love this book.

[Danielto · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was surprised the the dude lives in Bellingham now, apparently.