Manning Up In Alaska By Dick Drechsler "Wake up, wake up!" Dick yelled to his sleeping wife, as he tore up the floorboards to expose the bilge in their 47-foot sailboat. Much to his shock, he discovered two feet of water rapidly rising, threatening to sink them and their boat. With thoughts of calling Mayday and abandoning ship flashing through his mind, he wonders what a 62-year-old cancer survivor is doing here, facing a life and death emergency. In this true story, meet Dick Drechsler - a fun-loving, hard-working executive - who finds his fast-paced lifestyle abruptly derailed by cancer. When he sees that he'll be anchored for life to a feeding tube, at first he's discouraged. Despite some very long odds, he refuses to give up until he regains limited use of his throat. Not willing to postpone his lifelong dream to cruise throughout the world aboard his sailboat, he sets out on a voyage of adventure and discovery. "Every once in a while a book comes along that you just can't put down," says publisher Nick Agro. "Occasionally, you'll come across one that also inspires you. Dick takes us through the wild romp that is his life, up until the moment he slams into his own mortality." "Regardless of whether we're sailors or landlubbers, he holds our wide-eyed attention with this action-packed tale, as we sail with him, accompanied only by his wife, Sharon, up the coast from Mexico to Alaska aboard the couple's 47-foot sailboat, aptly named Last Resort. " "On the way, he discovers his calling and establishes the Sail Through Cancer Foundation to help other cancer survivors escape the rigors of the disease, if only for a few hours at a time, aboard a volunteered yacht." "If you're like us," continues Agro, "you'll find yourself gritting your teeth together with Dick, when a malfunction creates a flood resulting in a life-and-death struggle at sea. You'll have a chuckle toward the end of the book when he reveals how he came up with the book's name, Manning Up. Like us, you'll come to marvel at the magnificence of Alaska's untapped wildness, recognize your own wanderlust in its waterways and dream of casting off to follow your own calling. In the end, Dick reminds us with a wink and a grin, 'Life is a game and the art is how well you play it.'" About the Sail Through Cancer Foundation The Sail Through Cancer Foundation (www.sailthrucancer.org), is a 501(c )(3) tax exempt organization whose mission is to encourage boat owners to form an "Armada of Hope" by volunteering to treat cancer sufferers, particularly children, their families and loved ones to a day sail. Dick found that escaping the rigors of the disease through a restorative day spent on the water provides healing for the soul and spirit and encourages hope.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not what you expect from the title,
By SV Delphinus "Terri" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Manning Up In Alaska, An Astounding Tale of Overcoming Cancer, Sailing 2600 Miles to Alaska and Finding New Direction (Paperback)
The magnificent cover shot, and the somewhat "macho" title might lead you to think that this is some kind of wild and woolie Shackleton-like tale of epic sailing adventures. Okay, some of the sailing adventures are a bit epic, but.....that isn't the point of this book at all.
This is much more of a book about a man, and his voyage through the weather that life threw at him --- from mainstream calm and business success, to the whack in the head that the curveball of major cancer diagnosis threw at him, to shaking off that bad pitch and staying in the box, swinging to connect with base hit after base hit, staying in the game and running up a good score when most folks would have headed for the dugout to recover for the rest of the game. The tone of this book, for me, is a lot like Miles Clark's "High Endeavours" about Miles and Beryl Smeeton. While you could tell by the writing that it was Mile's first book, the story was so compelling, and his love of the characters (his uncle and aunt) so apparent, that the book carries into being an all time classic. There might be places where you know that this is Dick's first book -- but the story, the enthusiasm, the message takes you right through those places and sweeps you along with the bigger story. All stories have many messages --- and what I like about this book is the message to keep plugging along, to make things happen even when it ain't easy. No, Dick isn't your "average" sailor by any stretch -- but he and Sharon's adventures, misadventures, and "doing maintenance in many ports" is just the way of life of any of us who decide to journey and live on boats, no matter what the size or complexity. What is important here is that he DOES it, doesn't just talk about wanting to do it --- and no matter what your perception of rich or poor, we are all encouraged to get up and give life our all, rather than stay at home and wish it were different, or wish we had made something happen. Lastly -- I love the boat name they chose, reading about the voyages of "Last Resort." Way too many ways to play on that name, and the wry, dark, and willing-to-look-it-in the-eye-humor that picked that as a name speaks worlds about who Dick and Sharon Drechsler are. In cruising sailing, we always talk about "living the dream" -- and here, a guy has taken a nightmare and made the dream happen where few could imagine. This book uses his sailing as a metaphor and a tonic for that condition that afflicts us all --- complacency and the belief that we are all going to live past 90 in our happy little life plans. What would you do if you were told that you only had 6 months to live? Why aren't you doing it? This is the thought that this book provokes in me. It reminds me to get on with dreams, and to keep with it when it gets hard. And lastly -- this is a book whose proceeds benefit a Cancer Foundation. What is not to like? Terri Watson Executive Director, Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association Cruising Sailor, S/V Delphinus
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Manning Up in Alaska,
By
This review is from: Manning Up In Alaska, An Astounding Tale of Overcoming Cancer, Sailing 2600 Miles to Alaska and Finding New Direction (Paperback)
Congratulations to the author on a excellent book. I would highly recommend it for sailors and non-sailors alike. I read the book from cover to cover as soon as I received it. As a sailor myself I found that I could not put it down. The story of the personal challenges and achievements, the sailing achievements and the adventures enjoyed by the author and his wife are terrific. What a great journey they made and how enjoyable it is to be able to read about it. Interesting, too, to know the story behind the name of boat, Last Resort, and the basis for the title of the book. I very much enjoyed the writing style and I would hope to see a sequel as the sailing adventure continues.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Manning Up In Alaska,
By
This review is from: Manning Up In Alaska, An Astounding Tale of Overcoming Cancer, Sailing 2600 Miles to Alaska and Finding New Direction (Paperback)
"Manning Up In Alaska" is a unusual story of survival in more ways than one. I guess it's not `just' a survival story, but one important aspect to this book. It describes not only Dick Drechsler's battle with cancer, but the risk and cruising challenges as he and his wife Sharon embark upon seldom-visited locations as they rediscover themselves.
It takes a certain amount of sacrifice to live the dream and break free of being landlubbers, but Dick and Sharon have broken the tie that binds. They bring to you; the reader, an inspiring and informative book that is so real one can almost smell the sea air and feel the cold from the Alaskan glaciers. It is easy to picture Dick's white-kunckled hands tightly gripped on the wheel of the Last Resort with Sharon on the bow, guiding them through the treacherous, ice-filled waters. One mistake and, what had been a dream come true, could become a life-threating disaster. The descriptions alone of the crystal clear waters, mountains with ribbons of waterfalls and heart-stopping sea life, as well as the beautiful blue color of icebergs, make this book worth reading. This is a truly remarkable story by a couple that has made many friends along the way. I hope someday to meet them in person when I too break free and live the dream they have made real. Cliff Johnson Author: Wrong Side of the River
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