Suzanne Heywood and her Epically Misguided 70's Cruising Parents

[Bull City]

Mmmm... no. Alternative Facts?

 

[Jud - s/v Sputnik]

Assuming her account of being left to fend for herself and raise her little brother while the parents sailed away is a bold-faced lie, then I would imagine the father would have an account that they stayed together throughout this adventure.

Has anyone found this alternative history?

Well, someone just needs to find and read a copy of his book,

Schooner to the Southern Oceans: The Captain James Cook Bicentenary Voyage 1776-1976​

I’d actually be interested in reading it (if it was easily obtainable) just for the descriptions of Southern Ocean sailing and their shipwreck and self-rescue (which is impressive). (For now, there’s “The Schooner Maggie B: A Southern Ocean Circumnavigation”.)

My guess is that Cook is probably quite self-deluded and thinks of himself as some sort of latter day seafaring great like Captain Cook and that he did it all for the benefit of his family. Interesting psychological investigation in light of the daughter’s tearjerker of a book.

 

[accnick]

It is a very interesting Marxian reading of this obscure bit of modern cruising history (and modern. British history). (Obscure enough that the father’s grandly titled cruising narrative referenced above, celebrating Captain Cook’s voyages, is nowhere to be found for sale online.)

Now, can we get a post-structuralist, and then a feminist, reading of the story too? These would be good fodder for conversation . It’s getting a bit thin around here lately.

Sounds suspiciously woke to me.

 

[accnick]

Well, someone just needs to find and read a copy of his book,

Schooner to the Southern Oceans: The Captain James Cook Bicentenary Voyage 1776-1976​

I’d actually be interested in reading it (if it was easily obtainable) just for the descriptions of Southern Ocean sailing and their shipwreck and self-rescue (which is impressive). (For now, there’s “The Schooner Maggie B: A Southern Ocean Circumnavigation”.)

My guess is that Cook is probably quite self-deluded and thinks of himself as some sort of latter day seafaring great like Captain Cook and that he did it all for the benefit of his family. Interesting psychological investigation in light of the daughter’s tearjerker of a book.

View attachment 582426

Frank Blair, who built Maggie B, had another big Nigel Irens schooner with a free-standing rig built by Covey Island in 2010. It used to live on a mooring near me in NE Harbor. He has also built several other Nigel Irens designs.

 

[Kris Cringle]

Well, someone just needs to find and read a copy of his book,

Schooner to the Southern Oceans: The Captain James Cook Bicentenary Voyage 1776-1976​

I’d actually be interested in reading it (if it was easily obtainable) just for the descriptions of Southern Ocean sailing and their shipwreck and self-rescue (which is impressive). (For now, there’s “The Schooner Maggie B: A Southern Ocean Circumnavigation”.)

My guess is that Cook is probably quite self-deluded and thinks of himself as some sort of latter day seafaring great like Captain Cook and that he did it all for the benefit of his family. Interesting psychological investigation in light of the daughter’s tearjerker of a book.

View attachment 582426

I'd like you to read it, Jud, and report back.

I've pretty much written the guy off as a trust-funded prat.

 

[kent_island_sailor]

I'd like you to read it, Jud, and report back.

I've pretty much written the guy off as a trust-funded prat.

So what was going on with the poverty routine?

 

[Kris Cringle]

So what was going on with the poverty routine?

I missed poverty. Being strapped to pay for the upkeep of a 70'er? Seems like pretty ample means was coming from somewhere for a guy with no job to be sailing for a decade and more.

It would be a fairly easy case: Sir, did you or did you not sail away from your children?

 

[J_Grove]

Some of you need remedial reading comprehension. I skimmed it once and recall several times when they by necessity took on paying crew for various legs to support boat upkeep. When dad was working the inland NZ job, mom took the boat out for paying customers, leaving the kids alone. Who knows what is true, but it usually lies somewhere between two sides to a story.

Google of father's name and 3000 rare books shows a telegraph article from 2018 that seems to confirm they weren't hurting for funds when they left, but article was behind a paywall.

 

[Raincoast]

Some of you need remedial reading comprehension. I skimmed it once and recall several times when they by necessity took on paying crew for various legs to support boat upkeep. When dad was working the inland NZ job, mom took the boat out for paying customers, leaving the kids alone. Who knows what is true, but it usually lies somewhere between two sides to a story.

Google of father's name and 3000 rare books shows a telegraph article from 2018 that seems to confirm they weren't hurting for funds when they left, but article was behind a paywall.

https://archive.is/KKnNg

Sheds a fair bit of light on the family.

There is also an article from 2016 when, prior to her husband dying in utter disgrace, the book and her outlook had a much different tone:

“The book will focus on how we survived being shipwrecked, the wonderful places like Fiji that we visited and how I managed to then educate myself to go to university. Much of the story is set in Fiji as it is the place that we sailed to possibly most of all the Pacific Islands.”

While in the country, Mrs Heywood is also hoping to meet people who will have information about Wavewalker.

“I hope that I can find someone who can tell me what happened to Wavewalker. I really hope that I have the chance to see her again as I was never able to say goodbye after she was my home for so long.

A life on the waves in the South Seas

www.fijitimes.com

Interesting that one article describes him as having been a simple teacher before departing, while another claims he was an operations director for English heritage during that time. Quite a difference in CV.

 

[mcmurdo]

There is one copy of Gordon Cook's book available on amazon.ca for $C 132.95. There is another on amazon.in for something north of 15,000 rupees. Nobody else seems to have a copy.

You might find a copy at your favorite independent used book store. 13 digit ISBN is 9781848766648, 10 digit ISBN is 1848766645.

Someone, somewhere, will find a dusty copy in a back corner of a remote used book store for $10. Get looking.

 

[TheDragon]

“So we chose a schooner that was big enough not to feel cramped − at 70ft there was plenty of room to escape the children.” Yikes!

 

[TheDragon]

Last year I met a lot of boats with kids aboard, and in most cases they seemed to be doing well. But most were on 1-3 year schedules. One Leopard 48 had two brothers aboard with their wives and 6 young kids, they sailed from Turkey to Fiji then sold the boat and returned the kids to school. Another family are committed to going around in two years with their two kids so are currently in the Maldives. Still others were headed home to New Zealand or Australia after 2-3 years afloat. Made me wish I had done that with my kids, but too late now. On the other hand, I got my boat in part because the Aussie couple who bought it in Michigan and sailed it to Panama and fully equipped it with all the safety gear decided it was too isolating for their young son and sold it there to fly home instead. I look forward to visiting them in Cairns next year.

 

[Raincoast]

Well, someone just needs to find and read a copy of his book,

Schooner to the Southern Oceans: The Captain James Cook Bicentenary Voyage 1776-1976​

I’d actually be interested in reading it (if it was easily obtainable) just for the descriptions of Southern Ocean sailing and their shipwreck and self-rescue (which is impressive). (For now, there’s “The Schooner Maggie B: A Southern Ocean Circumnavigation”.)

My guess is that Cook is probably quite self-deluded and thinks of himself as some sort of latter day seafaring great like Captain Cook and that he did it all for the benefit of his family. Interesting psychological investigation in light of the daughter’s tearjerker of a book.

Thankfully, the internet contains virtually everything if you look hard enough. It is, definitely, a book written from the perspective of a man hyping himself up. It ends when the schooner arrives in Fremantle for repairs, unfortunately, and the remainder of the pacific is teased in a sequel which seems to never have been published. There’s also a few key differences from the daughters tale:

For this and all subsequent major decisions about our future voyages we discussed the options in detail at a family conference and then had a family vote. I was delighted when I opened the four voting slips to find that we had all voted to continue the voyage.

Sue and Jon grew up on the schooner, which meant that they were unable to go to school. Mary continued to teach them but was constantly worried that they would not achieve good educational standards. Eventually we were able to register them at the Australian School of Distance Learning in Brisbane. This entailed them studying their subjects on the schooner and then posting their work back to Australia for marking. Often the marked work would go astray when we were away at very remote islands but this did not stop Sue and Jon getting excellent grades and eventually returning to good universities in England, where they both gained degrees and doctorates.

Overall it could have served with an editor and was definitely a product of an amateur author polishing his memories of events thirty years prior.

 

[Suzanneh]

Hi all. I’m Suzanne. Wonderful that you are interested in the story. If you would like, after the book is out (April 13), I would be delighted to do a call with all of you and answer any questions you have about it, including why it took me so long to tell this tale. Let me know if you would like to do that. Suzanne

 

[Jim in Halifax]

Hi all. I’m Suzanne.

Welcome aboard! Looking forward to your book. Be advised that while there are a lot of knowledgeable and accomplished sailors here (not me), it can be a rough and tumble place; I trust you have a thick skin.

On reflection, given your story and sea miles logged, you'll probably do just fine.

 

[kent_island_sailor]

Hi all. I’m Suzanne. Wonderful that you are interested in the story. If you would like, after the book is out (April 13), I would be delighted to do a call with all of you and answer any questions you have about it, including why it took me so long to tell this tale. Let me know if you would like to do that. Suzanne

Hi! Welcome to CA
We would love to hear more. Maybe our editor can set something more formal up or we can just collect a bunch of questions from here and you can answer some of them. While this is the friendliest part of SA, it is still a bit of a sailor's pub that doesn't always have the best language and so on. Don't let that put you off

 

[Suzanneh]

I think I should be ok! Thank you for the welcome. Happy to do it either way. I’ll need to do it after publication (13 April) so do start storing up questions for then. I also think when you see the full book you will find some of your questions answered (for example my father is referring in his book to a different vote to the one I mentioned in my extract. In total we had three votes. One when I was 7 (we all voted yes), one was in my early teens (the split vote in my extract) and a third one that will be revealed in the book! I can also assure you that we were not wealthy but again the book will tell the more detailed story. Suzanne

 

[kent_island_sailor]

I'll give you a few to start with:

1. How often did you meet and interact with other cruising kids? Your experience seems very different than the typical sailing family. Pretty much no one takes kids through the Southern Ocean for one thing and most cruising families I have come across tend to try and find other boats with kids to give them some social life outside of adults. I still remember how happy a circumnavigating family with a 10 year-old was when two of us anchored our boats nearby with kids around that age. The kids all went nuts having a blast swimming and getting towed on a tube behind my dinghy.

2. Can you expand on your time in New Zealand? Exactly how old were you then? I am pretty sure in 2023 in Maryland social services would do more than say "sucks to be you" if they got a call from foreign minor children left to fend for themselves.

 

[Suzanneh]

I'll give you a few to start with:

1. How often did you meet and interact with other cruising kids? Your experience seems very different than the typical sailing family. Pretty much no one takes kids through the Southern Ocean for one thing and most cruising families I have come across tend to try and find other boats with kids to give them some social life outside of adults. I still remember how happy a circumnavigating family with a 10 year-old was when two of us anchored our boats nearby with kids around that age. The kids all went nuts having a blast swimming and getting towed on a tube behind my dinghy.

2. Can you expand on your time in New Zealand? Exactly how old were you then? I am pretty sure in 2023 in Maryland social services would do more than say "sucks to be you" if they got a call from foreign minor children left to fend for themselves.

Thanks for these. I’ll keep my answers short for now as the book will explain much more. But a couple of thoughts.

On (1) this is perhaps rather an adult perspective. As a child (and particularly as a teenager) you are not really looking for occasional “play dates” with other children you have never met before, and will probably not meet again, but for longer lasting friendships. We occasionally found other children on boats (which was nice when it happened) but we rarely saw them for extended periods or on multiple occasions. I would say that 90% or more of my childhood was spent out of contact with other children.

On (2) I was 16 when I was left to live alone with my brother (who was 15).

 

[Kris Cringle]

Yours is a fascinating story. What I most want to know is, were you able to forgive your parents?