Memoir

Irene is currently at work on a memoir centered around the 30 summers she and her husband spent cruising the Pacific Northwest Coast’s Inside Passage, beginning when their first child was not quite two. 

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Had she known and fully understood the challenges of traveling on a small sailboat with a family to care for, she may have hesitated. But that hesitation would have cost her the experience of waking in a cove to see bears breakfasting on the beach; of cruising alongside pods of orcas; and of venturing deep into First Nations territory and visiting abandoned villages.

 

Irene very quickly learned that a day sail was vastly different from the extended trips they embarked upon. Finding safe overnight anchorage, cooking and caring for children in a small, cramped space, and being hammered by unexpected storms and engine breakdowns were not in her boating repertoire. Yet.

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Based on Irene’s meticulously detailed journals the memoir chronicles their travels and the intimate relationship they developed with the Pacific Northwest Coast and with each other.

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During the years that she and her family cruised, Irene learned about her resilience in the face of discomfort and danger, her worth as a crew member, and her strength as a spouse and mother. 

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Stay tuned as the memoir nears completion!