Paradise Is Full of Bugs Corley, W. A.

Review Talk about a reality check. We liked this book a lot, starting with the title. Corley tells the same tale that's been told lots of times before---fulfilling the dream of leaving a promising career to sail into the sunset -- but he does it with an engaging style and several plot twists that made this book hard to put down. A good read. -- Latitude 38 The loners who once sailed the pacific are pretty much gone ---Corley was one of the last of this hearty breed. -- The Monterey Herald Product Description This is the personal memoir of a middle aged man who gave up a successful business career to pursue his dream of sailing to the remote islands of the south and western Pacific with his family on a traditional wooden square rigged sailing vessel. The voyages were made in the early seventies before the age of fiberglass sailing boats and electronic navigation using the time worn skills of the early navigators. Although the man didn't realize it at the time, he was sailing at the absolute end of an era that had lasted for centuries. It was soon to be replaced by modern technology that would allow hundreds of people to follow in his footsteps and change the face of the mythical south seas and island cultures. On the final voyage, the ship was wrecked on a remote island in Micronesia and, how the skipper faced the ordeal of saving his family and salvaging his vessel against incredible odds, is the final story of the memoir. From the Back Cover This is a story every armchair sailor, or anyone with adventurous blood in their veins, will find most compelling. A man gives up a promising business career and sails with his family to the South Seas. He makes everyman's dream a reality for several years before tragedy strikes with a shipwreck on a lonely island in the Central Pacific. Instead of accepting defeat and letting fate put an end to a dream, he launches a salvage operation against incredible odds to save his vessel. About the Author W. A. Corley is a man who has spent his life involved with the sea. While raising a family and pursuing a business career, he owned and spent his spare time aboard several traditional sailing vessels off the California coast acquiring the skills of a seaman. In the early seventies, he gave up the career to devote full time to voyaging in the remote regions of the Pacific. These travels and adventures have provided the material for many short stories and magazine articles as well as the recently published book, Paradise Is Full Of Bugs. Corley is an accomplished pilot as well as a seaman and has logged several thousand hours in his own planes. He currently lives on a small ranch north of Sacramento, California in the foothills of the Sierra mountains where he raises horses and pursues his writing. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. The dream of adventuring in a small sailing ship was nurtured many years ago but the first positive step came in the late sixties. The recall is clear. I stepped out of a rented car and headed for a sleek little aircraft on the transient flightline. Bonanza 9827R---This is Boeing Tower. You are cleared for takeoff. Instinctively, I eased the plane onto the center of the runway and applied full power. It was September 23, 1969 and I felt buoyed and elated as the plane lifted easily into the Seattle morning air and started it's climb southward to 10,000 feet. The scenery in this area is breathtaking on those rare days when the sun finds it's way through the overcast and I drank it in. At 10,500 feet I leveled off and did my work. Throttle back to 2300 RPM, Manifold pressure back to 23 inches. Lean the mixture a tad more and trim for level flight. With the nose down just a hair, she roared southward. What a great feeling. Three thousand hours of that kind of travel and I still enjoyed the sensation of flying an airplane. It was time to set the radio frequency to the first of a string of beacon stations that would guide me in steps to Califor