Both American-born Batham and her British husband grew up aboard boats and are experienced and accomplished seafarers. After several years of sailing the South Pacific Islands, they settled temporarily in Japan in the mid- 1990s. Two-and-a-half years later, in 1997, they set sail again, on a 14-month, 10,000 mile journey back to their home in New Zealand, accompanied by a young, independent Japanese woman escaping an arranged marriage. Batham describes their adventures as they journey from Japan's Southern Archipelago, then to Hong Kong, and Macau, the Philippines, Micronesia, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and across the Tasman Sea. Illustrated with color photographs. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR