Overview

In Hear the Ocean Sing, the final volume of Jan Mitchell's cruising memoirs, she takes the reader to sea with her and husband Ian. Despite experiencing a dismasting, they also wonder at the beauties of the ocean, its creatures and the pristine wildernesses they visit. They sail to remote places most people will never visit, like Bathurst Harbour in Tasmania and Stewart Island in southern New Zealand, showing what can be achieved by ordinary people who have the determination and persistence to follow their dreams. Jan also documents her observations of changes in the oceans over the past forty years. She notes the decline in fish numbers and seabird populations as well as changes in ocean currents, leading to increases in water temperature - all effects of climate change.

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9780648497608

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Reviews

Hear the Ocean Sing' begins in 2000 with the purchase of the steel Libelle and the sale of Realitas. The forty-foot Libelle proved too big for their short-handed crew. It, too, was sold and in 2004, they purchased a Baker-built Brolga 33, Osprey A. No longer having the responsibilities of children, Ian and Jan were looking towards some more trans-ocean voyages. Jan shows what can be achieved by ordinary people who have the determination and persistence to follow their dreams. She takes us to remote places most people will never visit like Bathurst Harbour in Tasmania and Stewart Island in southern New Zealand. Jan writes in a straightforward easy to read manner, yet the imagery she creates with her words transports you with her and closing your eyes you can even feel the motion as Osprey A moves with the wind and waves. Personally, I found Jan and Ian's sailing chronicle immensely interesting and like all the best books, hard to put down. Bruce Walker. (Sailor and book reviewer for Cruising Helmsman.)

Hear the Ocean Sing' begins in 2000 with the purchase of the steel Libelle and the sale of Realitas. The forty-foot Libelle proved too big for their short-handed crew. It, too, was sold and in 2004, they purchased a Baker-built Brolga 33, Osprey A. No longer having the responsibilities of children, Ian and Jan were looking towards some more trans-ocean voyages. Jan shows what can be achieved by ordinary people who have the determination and persistence to follow their dreams. She takes us to remote places most people will never visit like Bathurst Harbour in Tasmania and Stewart Island in southern New Zealand. Jan writes in a straightforward easy to read manner, yet the imagery she creates with her words transports you with her and closing your eyes you can even feel the motion as Osprey A moves with the wind and waves. Personally, I found Jan and Ian's sailing chronicle immensely interesting and like all the best books, hard to put down. Bruce Walker. (Sailor and book reviewer for Cruising Helmsman.)

Author Information

Jan Mitchell was born in New Zealand where she trained as an English teacher and moved to Australia in 1970 to pursue post-graduate study. She married Ian Mitchell in 1971. They circumnavigated the world between 1974 and 1977, stopping for a year and a half in South Africa to replenish their coffers. Their first-born son, Jamie, was born in Durban. David, just over two years later, was born in Hornsby in NSW Australia. The Mitchells sold their 25' boat, 'Caprice', to put a deposit on a house. They both worked full time to afford a 32' cruising yacht, 'Realitas', in 1982. For the next fifteen years, they took their boys cruising as often as possible, sailing to Lord Howe Island, Tasmania, New Zealand and up and down the NSW coast. Both sons grew up to love sailing and bought their own yachts. This allowed Ian and Jan to buy their dream yacht, a Brolga 33 called 'Osprey A' in which they cruised around Tasmania, visiting the south-western World Heritage areas of Port Davey, Macquarie Harbour and the Gordon River. They also cruised to New Caledonia, circumnavigating the main Island of the group, Grande Terre. Later, New Zealand became their destination. They entered at Nelson, sailed through Cook Strait and down the east coast as far as forty-seven degrees south - south of Oban, the only town on this island in the Southern Ocean. The return voyage took them up the North Island's east coast to Auckland and then on around the northernmost point, Cape Reinga and across the Tasman Sea to Newcastle. Jan's final voyage on Osprey A was a family trip back to Lord Howe Island, a favourite destination while their boys were growing up. Over the past six years, Jan has written and published her three-volume sailing memoir.

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