Customer Reviews

66 Days Adrift: A True Story of Disaster and Survival on the Open Sea

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I agree with whichever reviewer wrote that this was a great story poorly written.

I am so happy that the Butlers survived their ordeal. I think that this story had a lot of potential. I know it must have been difficult to fill all those pages with exciting prose, but it does get monotonous after awhile. The dialogue is excrutiating to slog through. After reading about two weeks worth of Simone's whining and Bill's chest-puffing denial, I would have wanted to be eaten by sharks. And if Simone didn't divorce Bill for his behavior before this ordeal, she should have after she read what he had to say about how great she'd look after she starved for a few more weeks on the raft. What a schmuck! As we say here in the midwest, the man needs killin'!

Would have loved to have seen photos of the Butlers, their boat, their family, the raft after their rescue, etc. Also would like to know more about why whales would sink a boat and how many times this type of thing has happened in the past.

I've been sailing quite a few times and fortunately every time the sail boat has stayed afloat. I can't imagine this scenario but I do remember the news reports back when it happened so I was interested to find this book about the Butlers and their story of survival. I always wondered how they managed to survive out on the ocean in a little raft without food or water. It's definitely a "survival" story. They managed to survive for 66 days and nights in the middle of the Pacific ocean after their sailboat was sunk by a pod of whales who thought it was a threat. They went through several near-death experiences while on the raft, and many near rescues which must have been very frustrating. Apparently things alternated between boredom and life-and-death struggles until they were finally rescued on the 66th day. If you are a sailor, survivalist, or interested in nature, this book may be of interest.

This absolutely hair-raising account of 2 people adrift at sea for what seems forever will keep you rivieted to the pages right through the last sentence. I did think it ended sort of abruptly and would like to have had more information on what they found about about search efforts and what was going on behind the scenes with those left on land wondering what had happened to them. You almost can't believe when the time came that they were actually rescued. How they maintained their fragile sanity during the 66 days is truly wonderous.

I don't like to write bad reviews, but I have to say, this might be the worst book I've ever started to read. I couldn't finish it because:
1) It was very repetitious. I naively thought the chapters would move the story along. The only thing that changed was the weather.
2) William Butler is kind of unlikable. I felt like he put himself up on a pedestal. He rarely talked of his fears and his self doubts. It was mostly about how smart and brave he was.

Read "Adrift" intead of this stinker . . . . I mean sinker.

Even though I found the author somewhat arrogant, I couldn't put this book down. His honest account of their terrifying ordeal made by heart pound.I felt like I was there.I didn't find his recounting of their ordeal monotonous because his detail made it seem even more real. I did find myself disliking him somewhat but I think it's a testament to a writer when you can like their book but not care for their character. I found myself sympathizing a lot with his wife.

For other books that I found gripping and well worth reading, see my other reviews or my listmania list. I am an avid reader of true adventure and/or survival stories.

The key selling point of this book is the story. I found it interesting and horrifying and I couldn't wait to see how the Butlers were saved. The author's writing style, however, is monotonous. The middle part of the book is repetitious (in language and content) and somewhat boring. He often repeats thoughts and phrases which caused me to wonder if I was re-reading parts that I had already read. I agree that pictures would have added a lot to this book. I was especially curious to see Siboney, the characters, and to see what the raft looked like after they were saved. All in all, it's an OK read.

A wonderful, thrilling account of survival. I doubt too many people could have held up like Bill and Simone. Obviously they were meant to survive, considering all they were tested with during their ordeal. I find it totally amazing that Bill even bothered to document their time adrift. Some can criticize the writing and metaphors used but I doubt many could have had the skill and fortitude to battle the elements as these two did and stay sane, let alone stay alive. I found it to be a powerful story of human survival and congratulations to Bill and Simone.

66 Days Adrift is an exciting story that i read in a couple of sittings, it was hard to put down! Based on a true story, it is a most gripping tale with a bittersweet ending. Buy the book, you won't be disappointed.

I've greatly enjoyed sea survival stories. "66 Days Adrift" is not very compelling, though. The writing gets to be very repetitious. Butler's biggest challenge was to deal with his bitterly angry wife who harangues him daily about their predictament. Simmone comes across as an absolute harridan. The Butlers later divorced and I am guessing that as part of their divorce settlement Butler agreed to not write any book about their experience for a certain number of years lest he have to split the profits with her.

If you want to read survival adventures you'd be much better off reading Steven Callahan's "Adrift" which is just outstanding. "117 Days Adrift" by Maurice and Marylyn Bailey is better than Butler's book, too, and far more of a study of how a husband and wife cooperate to ensure their survival. Dougal Robertson's "Survive the Savage Sea" is extremely well written. Lastly, "Men Against the Sea" by Nordoff & Hall which is a fictional account of the real-life William Bligh's sailing of the Bounty's launch with many of his loyalist crewmen is very well done. Bligh's navigation of the launch to safety is probably the greatest feat of sailing in world history.

William Butler's memoir "66 Days Adrift: A True Story of Disaster and Survival on the Open Sea" is a riveting account of his 66-day odyssey in a life raft with his wife Simonne in 1989.
A pod of pilot whales attacked and sank "Siboney" their sailboat twelve hundred miles west of the Panama Canal in the Pacific Ocean. Bill was in his late 60s and Simonne in her early 50s. The couple drifted back east towards the Panama Canal in their leaky six-foot raft meant for coastal waters. Their raft was battered by sharks over 80 times a day. They also endured violent storms, near misses by a few of the over forty vessels that passed without seeing them, a three-inch rip in the bottom of their raft, open sores and their own inner demons of fear and anger.
They survived by catching and eating trigger fish by hand, using a manual desalinator for water and with their determination, hope and faith.
Reading their story made me feel as if I was right there with them. Their highs and lows were my highs and lows. Their book gave me a new appreciation for what's important in life.
Bill has, surprisingly, lost three sailboats. The first in manila in 1967, the second in the Pacific in 1989 and the third in 2000 near Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The Butler's story was featured in the 2004 Outdoor Life Network TV program "Countdown: Survival 25."