Customer Reviews

Seaworthy: Adrift with William Willis in the Golden Age of Rafting

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It's hard to image now, but when Thor Heyerdahl's set out "Kon-Tiki" in 1948, most people said he was crazy and was sure to die - so when he lived to tell about it, becoming a world-wide celebrity, it set off a raft of imitators in the 1950s and 60s, which Pearson calls the "Golden Age" of rafting.

The subject of the book, William Willis (b. 1897) was a working-class German immigrant blessed with physical stamina and mechanical know-how from a lifetime of working odd-jobs at sea and land, he was a man of extreme habits and strong personality - for example he lived on a bizarre diet (for the 1950s) of home-grown organic raw vegetables and grains. A greybeard in his 60s, he decided to test himself and follow Heyerdahl's example in a balsa raft, setting adrift from Peru westward, he went entirely alone. His successful expedition, global press attention and books which followed made him a household name for a brief time, but today he is largely forgotten and unknown.

The book discusses not only Willis' five separate raft trips over a 15 year period or so - Willis was well into his 70s by the end - it is a survey of other rafting expeditions from the "Golden Era" including Kon-Tiki, Tahiti Nui (I,II and III), Lehi (I,II,III,IV), and Alain Bombard. Each is a fascinating mini-account told by an accomplished novelist.

Pearson's portrayal of Willis is often unsympathetic - perhaps rightly so and for the same reasons critics in the 1950s and 60s were. Unlike Heyerdahl who set out for a scientific reason and greater purpose, Willis did it for no reason other than to see if he could personally do it. Willis often made major mistakes such as taking contaminated water, not taking a spare set of sails, not correcting a dangerous medical condition - Willis knew better and understood his risk but seemed to undermine himself for the thrill of the adventure.

I've read another Pearson book or two, and actually didn't even realize this was by him until I'd bought it. I like him a lot and this book was no exception. It is the story of several open ocean, open boat rafting voyages in the 50s and 60s, predominantly, including a little background on Kon-Tiki. Mostly the book centers on William Willis, about as eccentric a fellow as one ever runs across. He'd probably be a base jumper or some kind of adrenalin junkie were he alive today- he was ahead of his time in many ways. Extremely fit and health conscious, and most amazingly to me able to survive for weeks at a time drinking sea water and eating handfuls of grain. He didn't start rafting until he was 60, and made it to Australia from Peru when he was 63. He was also a bit of a contradiction, able to plan and be extremely disciplined, then suddenly making the most monumental decisions on a wing and a prayer, if that.

The stories might seem to tell themselves, but some tell them better than others, and Pearson tells them better than most. He has a nice turn of phrase and is able to inject humor in his observations without disparaging his subjects- unless in the case of one Mormon guy with an issue or two he really intends to. Even in that case he probably cuts the guy more slack than not.

Adventurous, humorous, informative. A quick read and very enjoyable. Highly recommend.

SEAWORTHY: ADRIFT WITH WILLIAM WILLIS IN THE GOLDEN AGE OF RAFTING tells of a sixty-year-old who set out across the pacific Ocean on a homemade balsa raft with only a parrot and cat for company - in the heart of typhoon season. He survived on very little and spent four months at sea before arriving safely in British Samoa, besting Thor Heyerdahl by two thousand miles. Ten years later he did it again, crossing from Peru to Australia - and four years later he was on the Atlantic in a boat. SEAWORTHY blends humor with adventure in recounting his journeys and any boater will thrill to his many experiences.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Thor Heyerdahl thrilled millions in 1947 when he sought to prove that inhabitants of the Americas could have colonized Polynesia. Heyerdahl sailed from South America to the islands east of Tahiti 5,000 miles away. The story is told in THE KON-TIKI EXPEDITION: By Raft Across the South Seas.

In particular, Heyerdahl inspired the hero of this fine book, William Willis. Willis has found a wonderful biographer in T.R. Pearson (A Short History of a Small Place, Blue Ridge and Cry Me a River) writing his first nonfiction book.

Willis was born in Hamburg, Germany, went to sea at 15, and lived in New York City writing unpublished novels and epic poems, holding down small jobs and following yogic instruction about breathing and chewing. His wife, Teddy, supported him.

Before his marriage, Willis rescued his landlord's son who was imprisoned in French Guiana. Pearson writes it was the sort of quest that had been foreseen by his instructors in San Francisco: "It seems the yogi who had encouraged Willis to fill his upper lobes with air had also informed him, `The impossible attracts you,' which Willis saw fit to embrace as an article of faith."

By 1951, "Willis's appetite for trial, for hardship, even suffering, was going largely unsatisfied." He became a maritime union member and planned a "pilgrimage" by raft "to the shrine of my philosophy.... Willis was essentially an extreme sportsman well in advance of the phenomenon. He was either out of his proper mind or obliquely suicidal."

In 1954 he sailed on the "Seven Little Sisters", alone except for his parrot named "Eekie" and his cat named "Meekie." His trip from South America to American Samoa was 6700 miles long, 2200 miles further than Heyerdahl on Kon-Tiki.

Ten years later, he rafted 11,000 miles from South America to Australia. Later, he tried unsuccessfully three times to cross the North Atlantic, dying at 74 in a small sailboat during his last attempt.

This extract describing the beginning of the last journey is a good example of Pearson's style:

"He carried by way of provisions only olive oil and flour, honey and lemon juice, garlic and evaporated milk. Since he intended to drink from the sea, a personal practice of long standing, he'd dispensed with the bother of stowing so much as the first ounce of fresh water. His radar reflector was a scrap of planking wrapped in aluminum foil, his chronometer a balky pocket watch, his distress flag a scarlet sweater. He'd shipped no proper radio, had but a sextant for his bearings, sailing directions to guide him into the English Channel past Bishop Rock. Among his papers was a letter of introduction to the mayor of Plymouth, England, from the Honorable John V. Lindsay, the mayor of New York City. It read, in part, 'If the bearer delivers this letter to you in person, he will have completed a trans-Atlantic voyage of great merit.'" [See first Comment for an insight into the styles of Willis and Pearson.]

Pearson based his book on Willis's own books and articles. Nonetheless, he has written a fascinating book about a very unusual person. I enjoyed every moment.

Robert C. Ross 2008

This book is an outstanding read; wonderfully written saga of man and nature; descriptive, interesting, I couldn't put it down until it was completed; started great, ended a bit down, but it's on my recommended reading list for almost everyone.

Pearson's stark writing style and excellent storytelling makes this book an excellent read. If you like a facinating story told simply, you'll like this book.

Anyone familiar with the works of T.R. Pearson will recognize Pearson's distinctive voice in what is, in many respects, not much of a departure from his usual idiom. The only element missing here is dialogue; the storytelling is as compelling, eccentric, and tender as any in his fiction. Clearly Pearson understands that Willis was, shall we say, a man of many demons and compulsions, but never do we get the sense that Pearson really judges the man poorly. Interwoven into Willis's tale is a cast of marginal characters who provide shape and form to a state of mind most of us can only imagine--in our nightmares. No one succeeds at peeling away and gently exposing the foibles of humanity with the same thoughtful precision as T.R. Pearson. One can just never get enough.

T. R. Pearson normally writes novels full of eccentric characters. Here he has found a real person just as amusingly odd as any of his fictional ones.

Willis seems to revel in the pointless and impossible, and Pearson lovingly chronicles each new absurdity, artfully displaying it for our amusement.

An amazing man, an amusing book.

It's a great true adventure book. The thing that sets this one apart is that the hero is not only brave but also eccentric and overly frugal. It propels the story and it makes for a very human hero.

This book was great! One of those you couldn't put down. I read it in like 2 nights. The attention to details are incredible. What drives a man to such an extreme odyssey?