An Angel on Each Shoulder

I picked up this book having read and enjoyed his earlier book The Epic Voyage of the Seven Little Sisters without knowing much about it - probably expecting it to be an earlier book, not once occurring after his balsa raft voyage. Willis was around 60 years old when he undertook that voyage, so this one took me a bit by surprise.

But I have jumped ahead a bit. This book opens with a couple of chapters about Will Willis's childhood and early life. Born in Hamburg to working class parents, both of who worked thoughout his childhood he was put out on the street from a very early age to fend for himself during the day, and found himself drawn to the harbour and to ships. After attending school, and developing an interest in art he realised a static life was not for him, so he threw it all in, and went to sea on a square-rigged four masted bark (don't worry, google has pictures - I had only a vague understanding). After learning the ropes (not a pun, as this is literally where the saying comes from), he jumps ship to move his way up from a deck boy to an able bodied seaman! However once he reaches the USA he realises it is in America that his future lies, and he sets off for a life of hard work.

He shares this, then briefly he explains his voyage in the balsa raft - the Seven Little Sisters so named due to the seven primary balsa logs forming its structure. He reflects on how much he enjoyed his solo rafting experience, how the challenges were met, and so much against the odds, the success and what he gained from it mentally and spiritually, and of course physically. And so, he set about planning a new solo raft voyage - at age seventy! Like his last voyage, he would leave from Peru, and this time, rather than end in American Samoa, he would continue to land in Sydney, Australia.

While most wrote him off as an old man trying to relive his youth (probably accurate) who was past being able to physically manage such a voyage (also not unreasonable), he gained the support of his wife, who knew him all too well to know he had set his mind to it.

He set about his plans, urgently seeking balsa logs from South America to be prepared for his raft which was to be constructed in New York. Not only was obtaining logs the necessary size problematic, but the season was wrong and then the chance of them being shipped to the USA and arriving in a condition where they had not dried out and split required a change in plan.

And so, a raft of iron pipes (capped each end I assume) was created.
The raft consisted of three pontoons, each twenty feet long, two aft and one in the centre and each having a somewhat flat shape like a powerboat. The length at the waterline was approximately thirty-four feet and the width about twenty... To this frame was bolted a deck of... oregon planks... The main mast, straddling the raft with its two legs, was almost thirty-eight feet high. From it hung the eighteen foot long yard with the mainsail. The after-mast was twenty feet high and the jibboom holding the forestay and jib sprang out ten feet beyond the bow. After was a cabin to house provisions, charts, sextant, chronometers, cameras and films and everything else that cannot be left on deck... I had two rudders, one on each after-pontoon...
For company, Willis on this raft wanted to take a cat and a dog. He had taken a cat as a companion on his earlier raft voyage, along with a bird (which didn't end well). A cat they obtained from an animal shelter in New York, but were not satisfied with any dogs on offer, and running out of time decided they would obtain one in Peru, for it was time to ship the raft to South America.

Arriving in Peru, Willis was treated as a returning hero. he had made himself very popular with his earlier voyage, having departed from the same place. Given the run of the harbour and city, lavished with gifts and food he made ready for his departure, although was still unable to find a suitable canine companion. In the end he settled for a second cat, a very small kitten.

And so he sets off.

Like his earlier book, Willis's writing is good. He is descriptive, shares all his thoughts, his concerns and the things he considers while making his plans. He provides a short logbook entry for each day, recording his location (when he gets a sun sighting) or a dead reckoning location, and any events during the day, but in the general narrative he discusses more. He brings into the story events from his past, particularly the other raft voyage, his thoughts on what goes on around him, including the interactions with his cats, and fishing or shark incidents, etc.

As he progresses his voyage there are, of course, challenges and incidents. I won't share those in this review.

The book is accompanied by four pages of photos, and they are not particularly good, which is a shame; the other obvious thing missing is a route map. Both these are disappointing, as they would have supported his good writing, and helped illustrate some of the descriptions.

I enjoyed this book, and there is no doubt it was an incredible feat for any solo sailor on a raft, but for a man of advanced age, quite amazing. I rated The Epic Voyage of the Seven Little Sisters four stars and while I enjoyed that just a little more that this book, it is worthy of four stars also.