Fifty years of the Spirit of Adventure captured through the eyes of those who sailed

A Spirit Companion

Celebrating the first 50 years of the Spirit of Adventure Trust

Roger McDonald

Sweeping stories of the sea and personal growth from those who have sailed the iconic Spirit of Adventure

‘All a trainee needed to feel — could not help feeling — was that their feet were on the decks of something pretty big, and change was happening all around them just by the motion that happened when the wind blew.’

 

In A Spirit Companion, distinguished writer Roger McDonald relays stories from some of the tens of thousands whose lives have been touched by ‘the Spirit’. Through their eyes we share the unique experiences fostered over 50 years aboard Spirit of Adventure and Spirit of New Zealand Te Waka Herenga Tangata ō Aotearoa.

The voices speak in these pages — teenagers who had never sailed and were now atop a mast; Lou Fisher, who set up the Spirit of Adventure Trust, and son Stephen who has guided it for 46 years; crew and captains who piloted the Spirit ships; volunteers who give back, many after completing their own ten-day training voyage. 

As Roger writes, his book embraces ‘a mix of past and present episodes, about seventy in total, based on recorded interviews, a few dips into the archive, and a dash of sailing experience. It’s not a history. It’s reportage. It’s not chronological …’

This highly original volume, illustrated with line drawings, forms part of the 50-year celebrations of the Spirit of Adventure Trust in November and December this year. 

The author

Roger McDonald is an acclaimed Australian novelist and non-fiction writer. Among his ten novels are The Ballad of Desmond Kale, winner of the Miles Franklin Award, Mr Darwin’s Shooter and A Sea-Chase. Linked to the Spirit of Adventure Trust by family, Roger divides his time between Waiheke Island and rural New South Wales, and is a keen sailor.

Publication: 14 November 2023 | ISBN: 978-1-99-0042 | RRP $60.00

 Hardback, 220 x 170 mm portrait, 344 pages, 2 colour