About the Book

One hot November day in the Cayman Islands, Robin falls in love with a newly-confiscated drug boat offered for sale by the government. Maggi suggests he submit a bid, never believing that he would be successful. It is a bitter-sweet surprise to her when they become the owners of a 55-foot ferro-cement yacht. Now she must learn to sail, as Robin intends to go cruising.

Months of hard work, fun and mishaps follow while they refurbish the newly-christened yacht, Orca, move on board and take her on sea trials in preparation for a Pacific Ocean crossing. Reality sets in when Maggi finds herself alone on night-watch for the first time. They settle into an uneasy routine for the 36-day passage from Panama to the Marquesas, tackling each adventure and adversity as it arises. En route to Australia, idyllic days are spent on South Pacific islands where they encounter some hilarious and entertaining characters. This is the year when the SE Trade Winds refuse to blow. Sailing seems all about too little or too much wind: they roll in the doldrums and battle one of many squalls to avoid being run down by a Korean factory-fishing vessel.

After several months in Australia, Robin and Maggi prepare the boat for the journey round the North Pacific to Canada via the Solomon Islands, Japan, Korea, Russia and Alaska. Two days outside the Great Barrier Reef in the Coral Sea, Orca is overtaken by an unforeseen cyclone which refuses to move. They struggle to set a parachute-anchor‹their last line of defence in untenable conditions. Orca is knocked down and the adventure peaks in the powerful telling of an incredible air-to-sea rescue at dusk, when Orca is abandoned just 8 miles from the reef where she will founder before morning.

The rescue crew received many commendations and bravery awards, including the Bronze Cross; an award endorsed by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and the Golden Hour Award for the most outstanding helicopter rescue world-wide for 1997.

Reviews

When the Wind Blows is about Maggi and Robin Ansell's incredible voyage in a boat with a chequered past. It will take you by sail from the Caribbean, and Panama, through Polynesia and the South Pacific to Australia. From passion on a Tongan beach to terror in the Coral Sea.

This superbly told story will welcome you aboard and make you part of an adventure that most of us could only ever dream of. Set some time aside: once you cast off you won't want to come ashore until the journey is over!
-Bob Collins, Author, Out Standing in Their Field and Dance with the One That Brung Ya

I read it spellbound in two sittings, I couldn't put it down! It was like reading something written by Robert Louis Stevenson. Adventure on the high seas… time suspended on remote tropical islands… and a cyclone to make it all so very real. Have they had a rich and exciting life or WHAT!
-Victor Shane, Author, Book of Life

It's funny, tragic and romantic, it has it all — I can't speak highly enough of it.
-Jan Glende

Poignant and spellbinding. Better than The Da Vinci Code!
-Peter Pejunis

I had to stay up until 3:00 am to finish it, I couldn't put it down. I just had to know the outcome!
-Julie Huot

"The charm of this book lies in the narrative. Maggi Ansell's account of their adventure brims over with enthusiasm, which is infectious even for people who have read many "sell up and sail" books. Her story starts in the Cayman Islands where her husband bids for a seized drug boat. This 50 ft ferro-cement ketch eventually becomes their home before they sever land ties altogether. Their adventures take them round the Caribbean through the Panama Canal and into the Pacific. Their joys and tribulations are told with warmth and the wonder that comes from experiencing the marvellous for the first time.

Their dramatic rescue in a cyclone off the Great Barrier Reef has an appropriate place in the book. It neither dominates, nor is the enormity of the danger played down. Fears are honestly expressed as they are swept towards a reef whilst laying to a sea anchor... a compulsive page turner and an all round good read."
- Cruising Association, UK

Here is a spellbinding story of a cruise on a vessel with a chequered past that will keep you interested from the start to the finish. Take a trip with the author from the Caribbean, through the Panama Canal and into the world of Polynesia. This South Pacific Paradise turns to terror in the Coral Seas, and will kept you riveted as you keep turning pages to see how the voyage will end. A good book to read while on watch, but not late at night!
- Latitudes and Attitudes, USA

"A 'must read' for the would-be cruiser! If you are thinking of sailing to distant lands you should read this book. This is a wonderful tale of two people determined to live out the dream of sailing the oceans in a yacht restored with a labour of love from a derelict hull. The author has done a splendid job of blending the romance of sailing with some harsh realities!"
- Cayman Islands

From Iceland: "I finished the book; it kept me awake all last night. First you are superb writer and I also like the way you could read your husband thoughts as not many women have that skill. That again kind of tickles me as from experience, as mechanically minded, we are often submerged in different kinds of thoughts than what we call normal people. I mean also Robin's skill of keeping all in order in case of emergency when some people can be carefree and not even think that neglect will pile up and pay back at different situations.

I can see now that this has been a tremendous experience there the last day, not forgetting that the trip in all must have been a wonderful experience.

I am glad you wrote that book as it can help others in often hopeless situation and that there is always hope and therefore to try not to panic. It also emphasizes that sailing is continuously team work and engineering skills are a must and good common sense brains.

I want to recommend the book for translation here in Iceland and advertise it at the local boat club. I have contacts in Norway in the boating industry that I will recommend the book to."
- James Valdimar, Iceland

The perfect adventure story, "sea faring" with a modern day twist.

For the regular reader who knows nothing of sailing, I loved getting a first hand view of what a very difficult experience sailing is. We are talking hard work! This before the boat even hits the water. This Canadian couple shows remarkable fortitude in their courageous adventure with a yacht named Orca. Their reward for this labour of love is to breathe in the essence of so many exotic, exciting places in the South Pacific.

This true life adventure lets the reader be part of their experience. From the Cayman Islands to Australia, from exiled to exhilarated, this book keeps up a quick pace and is packed with humour, honour, and honesty.

For those of us with little sailing experience, Maggi provides a "glossary of terms" to help the novice sailor. A must read for anyone who wants to sail the seven seas and an enjoyable read for anyone who loves a great adventure.

As I read this book I felt I was with Maggi and Robin Ansell on "Orca" and I think this is the greatest attribute of the book.

Spellbinding, a fabulous read and a great first book by this author.
- M V, BC, Canada

About the Author

Maggi Ansell, is published in Reader's Digest in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and in Sail Magazine, USA, Yachting World, UK, and Cruising Helmsman, Australia. She has written for the heavy-weather sailing 'bible' — K Adlard Cole's Heavy Weather Sailing by Peter Bruce, 5th edition, UK; and for the Drag Device Data Base, Para-Anchors International, USA.

Travelling with Robin, her engineer husband, she has lived and worked in the UK, Canada, Libya, Cayman Islands, Philippines and Australia. She gained a B.Sc. degree with High Distinction when she was 42, from the University of Toronto, majoring in Psychology.

Maggi has been a barmaid in South Wales, UK; a teacher in Bristol, England; a scuba diving instructor in Libya, North Africa; a writer and editor in Manila, Philippines and worked for a publishing company in the Cayman Islands. She holds a private pilot's licence, and has sold organic foods at her local Farmers' Market for the past seven years.

Married for 39 years, Maggi and Robin live on Vancouver Island, BC, on a tiny organic farm tucked under the Beaufort Mountains with their dogs, cat and other farm animals.

Maggi's maxims are: "If an opportunity arises, take it. Don't spend your life regretting the things you never attempted. If you fall on your feet – good; if you fall on your face, don't stay there!"

You can contact the author at her website www.maggi-ansell.com or email wtwb@shaw.ca. Please put "Book" in the subject line.

Excerpts