Mary E. Trimble

Note: The following is taken in part from my memoir, Sailing with Impunity: Adventure in the South Pacific.

Early on, we established a four-hours on, four-hours off watch system while at sea. For safety, someone needs to be on deck at all times. Weather can change in a heartbeat, or another vessel could be on a collision course with your boat.

Although our watch system dictated four hours on, four hours off, sometimes we didn’t even get four hours of sleep. We had a safety rule that if one of us went to the forward deck, the other had to be at least in the cockpit. Although when going to the foredeck we always wore our safety harnesses (well, maybe not in dead calm), there was still a danger of losing our balance and falling off the boat. If that should happen, even tethered to a line, the person in the water could be dragged along and unable to get back onto the boat.

Bruce always tried to have Impunity’s sails set conservatively for the night, but there were times he had to wake me during his night watch so that I could be in the cockpit while he changed a jib or took a reef in the mainsail. The sea doesn’t care what your sleeping schedule is.

One night after a particularly calm, peaceful day, I was sleeping when around three in the morning I not only heard, but felt a loud BANG! It sounded as though we’d hit something. I heard Bruce yell, “Mary! I need you on deck!”

I scrambled out of the midship berth and up to the deck into screaming wind and driving rain. Bruce handed me my safety line and I clipped it on as he made his way to the bow, fighting against a strong wind. He took down the jib and lashed it to the railing with a bungee cord, then made his way back to take a couple of reefs in the mainsail, reducing the effect of wind and calming the boat’s action..

Sudden squalls come without warning and can knock a boat down. Since it was dark, Bruce couldn’t see it coming, but he said moments before the squall was on us that he had noticed a subtle wind shift and felt the temperature drop a few degrees. Then, the wind suddenly picked up and the squall slammed into us. Another reason why a person should always be on deck. Without quick action, we could have been in trouble.

On another occasion, while I stood my 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. watch, I spotted lights from a large ship on the horizon. Although we were the privileged vessel, because of our position relative to the ship and because we were under sail, I kept my eye on the ship. I took bearings repeatedly and after a period of time could see that we were on a collision course.

I hated to wake Bruce, but it was our rule. In situations like this, he never grumbled about being awakened. We monitored the approaching ship together, and it appeared as though they didn’t see us, even though we’d shown our deck lights. The ship made no attempt to change course.

Bruce called on the VHF radio. “To eastbound ship on my port bow, this is the sailing vessel Impunity. Over.” Nothing.

A few minutes later Bruce called again. “To east-bound ship on my port bow, this is the sailing vessel Impunity. Please state your intentions. Over.” No answer.

A third call and still no response.

Because we were the privileged vessel, we were obligated to maintain course and speed. But finally, when we could see that the ship was not going to change course, we had to alter our course in order to avoid a collision. We tacked and went around and behind the ship.

After the collision danger was past and we were back on course, Impunity received a call on the VHF. The caller spoke in a heavily accented voice. He identified his ship as a Japanese freighter heading for the Panama Canal. The captain, possibly the only English-speaking person on board, was apparently asleep when we first called on the radio. Afterward, Bruce, relieved, joked to me, “I thought they were going to make sushi out of us.” In truth, they could easily have hit us, and it is entirely possible that they would not even have known it. They apparently were keeping neither a visual, nor radar, nor radio watch. To them we might have been merely a bump in the night.

As Bruce often joked, “right-of-way is a matter of tonnage.”

Book Review: Sticks, Stones & Songs: The Corey Story

Posted on November 7, 2016 by Mary

Eleanor Corey, the seventh child of ten children, has written a remarkable family history of the Corey family who lived on the Olympic Peninsula in rural Washington State.

Arthur Corey, a preacher, paid $28, the amount of over-due taxes, for an old drafty grange hall he converted into a home. The year was 1937, toward the end of the Depression, and times were tough. He moved his wife, Margaret, and three daughters into the old derelict building situated on rough acreage, and they did what they could to make it into a home, a home without insulated walls, or running water, and with an outside toilet where catalogs were used instead of toilet paper. Despite these hardships, it was a home of love and unbridled faith.

The story takes us through the pains of poverty in terms of money, such as subsisting on canned green beans three days in a row, but also on the richness of accomplishment through faith and hard work. Clothes were made from the material gleaned from missionary barrels, food often received as charity, tools fashioned from bits and pieces. Nevertheless, the Coreys were rich in their faith, in their love for one another, and in their music. Gradually their living conditions improved, the land became bountiful through the family’s grinding toil, most often accompanied by singing.

Through their hard work and dedication, the children became resourceful, leaders of their classes at school, involved in community musical activities, and generous with their time and talents. Their father’s powerful faith and their mother’s constant love and attention instilled in the family the lessons of sharing and serving.

Sticks, Stones & Songs: The Corey Story is an inspiring, well-written account scanning from a 1937 bare-bones beginning to a glorious 1979 family reunion that brought members scattered from six countries, many serving in humanitarian projects, and ending with a 2014 epilogue. I feel enriched having read about the Coreys and I highly recommend this heart-warming family history.

To learn more about the author, visit http://www.eleanorcorey.com

Anne Schroeder: A Versatile Writer

Posted on November 4, 2016 by Mary

My guest today is award-winning writer Anne Schroeder. Her latest release, Maria Ines, is a novel about an Indian girl in California who grows up under the tyranny and greed of Spanish, Mexican and Yanqui invaders.

On a lighter note, Anne writes this fun fantasy, “My Inner Fashionista” about herself as a young girl:

My inner writer is an eight-year-old fashionista. The alarm goes off, the coffee perks and my computer boots to a wardrobe of possibilities. With the first sentence, I’m standing in my mother’s closet, trying on the strapless formal from her nightclub days, her pink high heels and stockings with the lines up the back, the paper rose that she pinned on her collar. I stuff the cups with tissue paper and mull the possibilities. In my mind, my younger sisters are sitting on the bed, watching with bright eyes, believing that I am fearless. The amazing thing is, I feel that way. They watch and wow while I try on Mom’s fur stole, the one with the little fox heads draping down the back. The one that’s so off-limits that they’ve never ever touched it. But I do. I describe its luster in waves of scrumptious adjectives until they overcome their fear and hold out their hands.

They feel the pelt. But I am bored with the little foxes. After all, I am the storyteller and this story has already been told. I can’t wait to skip off to show my dad the grown-up, glamorous version of what I hope to be one day. It doesn’t matter that everything’s still lying in a heap on the floor. I’m on to a new project.

But not so fast. Enter my mom. Mom looks at my outfit and nods with a slight smile, but all she sees is the mess. She has a dozen ideas about cleaning the mess, and I don’t like any of them. I sigh dramatically. Mutter beneath my breath, but my complaints fall on unresponsive ears. Eventually I start to work, but I’m not happy.

Cleaning up is tedious. It erodes my fashionista high. My mother’s clothes are no longer stylish or clever; in fact I don’t remember what I even liked about them. They’re stupid, out of date, lame, and I wish I’d never even opened the closet door. I’ll never be voluptuous like my mother; what’s the use? And my audience? My sisters disappeared at the first yelp from my mother’s lungs. I’m left alone to clean up with no one to notice all my hard work. And not even a “thank you” when I finish.

But I hear Daddy at the front door. I emerge from the closet wearing the fox stole and Mom’s favorite high heels and Daddy laughs and says what a clever girl I am, and pulls a five dollar bill from his wallet and hands it to me. I feel exonerated. Someone has noticed. Life is good again.

But Mom still thinks the job isn’t finished. After dinner it’s back to the closet. It’s late, I’m tired and the fun is over. All of my younger sisters are outside, singing, dancing, and buying ice cream from the street vendor, and I’m alone in a stuffy closet with empty hangers.

My sisters return, licking their ice cream cones, asking me to come out and play. But I’m stuck with the job until it’s finished. Mom would say, just fill a few hangers, but I’ve promised myself. I start writing news releases, bios and blogs, and soon the hangars start filling. I pretend I’m having a great time. Maybe if I can produce a Tom Sawyer motivation, I can get someone to help me. This is too much. A terrible waste of time. Painful.

But as I work, I get another bright idea. As soon as I finish, I start writing again. I can’t wait. It seems to me that eight is just the most perfect age in the world. The world is bright. I’m clever and wonderfully talented. But then I pick up the strapless formal and I realize that what I REALLY want are curves like Mom. Then I’ll be happy.

For more information about this versatile author, visit http://www.anneschroederauthor.com

The Art of Cooking at Sea

Posted on October 31, 2016 by Mary

Gimbaled stove with pot restraints

Note: The following is taken in part from my memoir, Sailing with Impunity: Adventure in the South Pacific.

There’s truth to the mariner’s adage “One hand for the ship, one hand for yourself.”

It gets tiring, always hanging on to something to go anyplace on a rocking, pitching boat. Life got complicated with the effort it took to do the simplest thing. But even when the seas were rough, we had to eat. Occasionally, it really was too rough to cook and we’d have something like crackers and cheese. But I normally managed to cook a hot meal. We needed good, wholesome food to keep up our strength and spirits.

In Impunity’s galley, I strapped myself in so I wouldn’t be pitched out. Still, I needed to hang on to something while I cooked. Bruce rigged bungee-cord holders into which I placed bowls, measuring cups, jars or pans while I prepared a meal.

The gimbaled stove rocked gently to keep the stove level. The stove top’s stainless steel pot restraints could be adjusted to snugly fit around any pot. My favorite pot during rough weather was our pressure cooker. I didn’t always use the pressure feature, but the lid could be secured and not fly off. If I needed a second pot, I often used my dutch oven, but I had to secure the lid closed with three clothespins.

Cooking a meal at sea seemed to take twice as long, and use twice the energy as on land. I was rewarded with Bruce’s appreciation of a good meal and the knowledge that we were eating nutritious, well balanced meals. Occasionally, seas were calm, but most meals at sea were a constant challenge.

Book Review: Becoming Clementine

Posted on October 24, 2016 by Mary

Jennifer Niven has written a third novel in her Velva Jean series, Becoming Clementine. As a WASP flyer during World War II, Velva Jean flies a B-17 Flying Fortress to Britain. After the delivery she volunteers to co-pilot a B-24 Liberator carrying special agents to their drop spot in Normandy, France. Besides wanting the experience of additional flying, Velva Jean has a personal mission to find her brother, a pilot who is missing in action.

The B-24 is shot down and only Velva Jean and five agents survive. Although she’s considered a nuisance, she tags along with the five, much to their agitation. Eventually she becomes one of them, a spy with the Resistance and is given the name Clementine Roux.

Clementine’s grit becomes a necessary ingredient to her survival as she encounters cruelty dealt by invading Germans. Clementine and the members of the team work toward their assigned goal to capture an operative known only as “Swan.” All the while she searches for her brother.

Although some of the situations are a bit far-fetched, I enjoyed this book. For one thing, I find the subject of the WASP’s (Women Airforce Service Pilots) of special interest. These brave women did our country a great service, but met with little appreciation and even sabotage by fellow male pilots. I also found the references to French resistance fascinating, and admire the courage and sacrifice required to regain their country from German occupation. Clementine spends some time in prison and, again, learning of those conditions reinforces the atrocities of war.

Despite the gim subject, I enjoyed the humor in Becoming Clementine and the main character’s spunk. It’s hard to imagine the hardships of war, the loss of life, the lack of basic necessities, and the hopelessness of regaining a normal life. Jennifer Niven does a good job of capturing war-time conditions.

To learn more about the author, visit http://www.jenniferniven.com/

Visitors at Sea

Posted on October 10, 2016 by Mary

Note: The following is taken in part from my memoir, Sailing with Impunity: Adventure in the South Pacific.

On the first leg of our journey, about fifty miles out from the coast of Oregon, Bruce called me for my morning 6:00 watch. “Since about 3:30 I’ve been watching a light astern of us. It seems to be staying with us. Keep an eye on it.”

It seemed strange to have no one in sight for days and suddenly there was another boat and they seemed to be following us. I found it unsettling.

We ate our oatmeal in Impunity’s cockpit and continued to watch astern for the lights of whoever was following us. Finally, around 7:00 they called on the VHF, identified themselves as the Coast Guard Cutter Resolute. They asked who we were, the name of our boat, its documentation number, the number of crew onboard, and where we were going. Bruce answered all their questions. A long period of silence followed. Bruce wondered if something was wrong with our radio.

Finally, the radio crackled to life and the Coast Guardsman asked, “On which side of the boat do you want us to board?”

To stop the boat, of course, was out of the question. The Coast Guard wouldn’t expect that, nor would it even be possible.

Bruce offered to put a boarding ladder on Impunity’s port side. Within a few minutes a sixteen-foot RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat) pulled up alongside carrying four heavily armed Coast Guardsmen. Three climbed aboard and introduced themselves, very professional and thoroughly efficient.

“We need to inspect all compartments of your boat. Please don’t be alarmed, this is mostly a safety check.”

Right, I thought. I would not have wanted to be carrying illegal cargo. These guys meant business.

The officer in charge, carrying a clipboard, nodded to Bruce. “Go ahead, Sir, lead the way.” He turned to me, “Ma’am, please stay in the cockpit with Seaman Turner. Two of them went below with Bruce. One remained in their large, inflatable dinghy, keeping pace with Impunity, but never touching it. Both boats rolled with the rough seas.

Bruce told me later that the fellows who went below decks with him searched every nook and cranny. One of them remarked that he’d never seen so many drawers and compartments in a yacht’s head. They checked the engine compartment, all the lockers, all the drawers throughout the boat. After the search, the officer in charge referred to his clipboard and began writing down the particulars of the boat. Bruce handed him a copy of our ”Vessel and Personal Information” document that he had designed. The Coast Guardsman was impressed. “All boats should be required to do this.”

In the meantime, the fellow and I sat in the cockpit and carried on a conversation. The Coast Guardsman still at the wheel in the RIB kept an even pace with Impunity, but never tied up to us.

The Coast Guardsmen then inspected the cockpit lockers. The officer in charge looked at his clipboard. They were satisfied that we’d complied, and presented us with a nice safety certificate. According to them, it’s rare to pass a safety check with no citations or warnings. In our case, not even a suggestion.

They climbed into their RIB, still never having tied to Impunity, and were off, back to the Resolute. They were onboard Impunity for about an hour.

We wondered if the Coast Guard thought perhaps we were carrying drugs. We didn’t mind the boarding. In fact, we approved. It was our tax dollars at work.

Book Review: The Borrower

Posted on October 3, 2016 by Mary

Rebecca Makkai has nailed the personality of a precocious 10 year-old boy in The Borrower, and I have no doubt that she’s captured the essence of a children’s-book librarian, too.

Lucy Hull, a Hannibal, Missouri children’s-section librarian is the center of Ian Drake’s world. She holds the key to his happiness, since it appears he’s only happy when he’s reading. But they hit a snag when Ian’s mother insists he should not read anything except books that contain “the breath of God.” When Lucy tactfully suggests it is not the librarian’s job to censor books, she realizes she must be careful not to create a situation where Ian would be forbidden to come to the library.

Lucy and Ian find creative ways to smuggle prohibited books past his overbearing mother. Lucy is concerned about Ian’s increasingly disturbing life, not only the censorship of his reading material, but also that his parents have enrolled their son in religious anti-gay classes.

One early morning before it officially opens, Lucy finds that Ian has run away from home and is hidden in the library. He insists she take him on a road trip. She knows his home life is endangering his mental health, but can she take a boy away from his own parents? It seems he is giving her no choice.

This book is more than a fun read, it’s a story that weaves social activism, literary culture, together with a somewhat wild road trip. It’s a coming-of-age book for all ages. Makkai’s comical writing offers sojourns into the character’s Russian ancestry, as well as the mind set of a young woman determined to make her own way. She openly discusses the dangers of interfering with a child’s sexual orientation, but she does so with honesty and enlightenment, and always with humor.

The Borrower is Rebecca Makkai’s first novel and it is a gem. To learn more about the author, visit http://rebeccamakkai.com/

Provisioning for a Sea Voyage

Posted on September 26, 2016 by Mary

Note: The following is taken in part from my memoir, Sailing with Impunity: Adventure in the South Pacific.

The challenge of cooking at sea can be daunting. Before we left on our 13,000-mile voyage through the South Pacific aboard our sailboat, Impunity, I tackled the task of determining our grocery needs for two years.

Many offshore sailboats don’t have refrigeration, nor did ours. Refrigeration systems often break down in rough seas, leaving sailors without food they had counted on. Luckily, our 40-foot sailboat had a lot of storage space below decks.

After much reading and talking with sailors who had “been there,” we learned what worked and what didn’t, to plan ahead, keep it simple, and to not rely on buying it there.

I wanted to ensure we ate healthy foods, but knew the limitations and challenges of cooking at sea on a rolling, pitching boat. We bought bulk rice, pasta, dried beans, peas, and lentils. For dry storage, I used Seal-a-Meal and heavy plastic bags. In each bag I measured enough for two meals for both of us. For instance, once at sea I planned to prepare at one time enough rice for two meals. We’d have it the first meal with something like a tin of roast beef and canned green beans. The next night I’d use the already cooked rice and make Spanish rice, sautéing onion, and adding canned tomatoes and spices to the cooked rice. I had several simple meals in mind which later turned out to be a great help when cooking at sea.

We also dehydrated and vacuum-sealed fruit–apples, peaches, and pears–which proved to be wonderful additions to our morning oatmeal. Also, we often used these packages of dehydrated fruit as gifts when invited aboard other boats or to islanders’ homes..

I made lists of meals I could fix at sea, calculating how much we would need over a two-year period. We knew that in some ports of call we could buy supplies, and others perhaps not. From all that we read, food in Polynesia was expensive. We hoped to buy fresh fruit, vegetables and bread when reaching landfalls, and use our stored supplies for the basics.

We planned to fish while at sea, but knew that we couldn’t count on fish alone, or even that we’d have success with our equipment. As it turned out, we didn’t catch fish on the way, but after learning what equipment the “locals” used, a double hook with 120-pound test, we had good luck on the return voyage.

We’d heard the argument: Why bother taking all that food? Wherever you go, people have food. You can eat what they eat. That’s true, but island people often eat what they grow themselves, like taro leaves and roots, eggs and meat from their own chickens, or fish they’ve caught at sea. After researching the possibilities, we decided not to rely on local fare.

We were glad we’d decided to provision for the long haul. We felt we ate more nutritionally balanced and far less expensive meals by planning ahead.

Book Review: One Who Loves

Posted on September 19, 2016 by Mary

A captivating read, One Who Loves by Toni Fuhrman features complex and believable characters. The novel provides a refreshing look at ordinary lives in extraordinary circumstances.

Jon is the first person Liz meets at Bo House, a residence for university students in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She is immediately attracted to him, but once Jon meets another newcomer, Tess, Jon and Tess become a “couple.” Although Liz and Tess are friends, they have opposite personalities. Liz is cautious, carefully plans her life, and finishes what she starts. Tess has a flair for life and intends to live it to the fullest. Liz dates Patrick, a pre-med student, but her love for Jon secretly smolders in her heart.

The two couples remain friends. Liz and Patrick marry, as do Tess and Jon. Their lives evolve over a 20-year period as they experience love, anger, triumph and disappointments. As the two couples have children, go on vacations together, live their day-to-day lives, the reader experiences a rich texture of their different personalities. Through it all, Liz carries in her heart a love for Jon, though she performs her responsibilities as a loving wife and mother. Tess remains flamboyant, bringing vivid color and eloquence to everyone and everything she encounters.

When tragedy strikes, strength of character is shown, along with weakness and denial.

Although an accomplished writer of poetry, essays and technical articles, One Who Loves is Toni Fuhrman’s first-published novel. The novel takes place in Michigan. where Fuhrman spent most of her adult life. This excellent novel is currently available as an ebook, but soon may be published by New Libri Press in trade paperback..

Creating a Hook to Grab Readers’ Attention

Posted on September 12, 2016 by Mary

What grabs readers’ attention, compelling them to commit their time to read a story? With this prologue, I attempted to hook readers’ interest in my memoir, Sailing with Impunity: Adventure in the South Pacific.

The boat hummed with built-up pressure. We were going too fast. I hated to wake Bruce, so I waited until the change of watch to call him. Finally, at ten in the morning, I gently shook him awake. He’d only slept for an hour, but that was enough to hold him until two that afternoon when I’d again take the watch and he could sleep a bit more.

Bruce’s eyes flew open and he was immediately awake. I doubted if he ever truly slept while we were at sea.

We were both exhausted. This 3,000-mile leg of the journey from Samoa to Hawaii would be the most difficult of our entire journey. We beat against the wind during the whole passage, making the boat climb each wave and then pound the ocean’s surface coming down. During the past three days, we had passed just west of a tropical depression, and the stormy weather tried our patience and made our lives even more difficult.

“We need to shorten sail. We’re pushing the boat too hard.”

Bruce stood and reached for the overhead rail to steady himself against the boat’s crazy lunging. “Okay, I’ll be right up.”

Once on deck, he slipped on his life vest and harness, glanced at the compass to confirm our course, watched the raucous seas for a moment, noting streaking foam atop the 10- to 12-foot waves, and looked up to survey the already reduced mainsail. He stepped to the upper deck and eased the halyard. Knealing and leaning against the boom to free both hands, he pulled the mainsail down, preparing to take in another reef.

I stayed in the cockpit to handle the coiled halyard. I heard a loud bang, a noise I hadn’t heard before, and looked up. “Bruce, what was that? Bruce!”

No answer. He wasn’t there. I let out a garbled scream. My worst nightmare! Bruce had fallen overboard! The boat surged ahead as my mind whirled with what I must do. I’d rehearsed it often enough. Forcing myself to think, I went through the steps.

Reverse our direction. I always knew our reciprocal course—180 degrees from the direction we were headed. I had to start the engine. I had to drop the sails or they would work against me. I needed to throw the man-overboard pole, but I had to see him first, so he could get to it. Wait a minute! Was there an electronic box on the pole that I was supposed to set? Oh, God, I can’t remember! My mind screamed with panic.

But where was he? I looked around—I’d lost him already! Had his lifeline failed? The waves were so high, he would be out of sight as soon as two or three swells came between the boat and him.

Truly, I had always thought that if one of us fell overboard, I hoped it would be me. I knew Bruce could find me, I seriously doubted I had the skills to find him.

In this prologue, I tried to capture the essence of the story— a high seas adventure—plus create enough suspense to compel the reader to delve into the rest of the story.