John J. Paterson’s SURVIVING COINCIDENTAL HISTORY begins simply enough. In 1991, Paterson was approached by a friend to help him transport a yacht from Fremantle to Albany for its new owner. Paterson (a racing crew member at the Fremantle Sailing Club) was soon engaged in the business, and in April 1992 the pair were asked to sail a yacht from Singapore to Australia. However, during the voyage the metal-hulled boat sprang a leak along a weld and shortly sank—leaving Paterson, his workmate Robin, and the yacht’s owner (given a pseudonym here due to his difficult demeanor) with a 3-meter aluminum dinghy to use as an improvised lifeboat in the Indian Ocean.
Paterson’s writing style is informal but agreeable, though punctuation and capitalization are both a little inconsistent at times. The narrative of the crew’s time in southeast Asia is interesting, though the real intrigue begins only after the sinking of the yacht. Paterson had the good sense to bring his camera on the lifeboat, resulting in some remarkable pictures of the trio as they tried to keep the tiny boat afloat in rough swells. The story is indeed worth telling: Paterson ended up in newspapers, and the nearby Cocos Islands (from which the rescue mission that saved them was launched) even featured the incident on a set of stamps.
The work’s main drawback is that the shipwreck and its rescue take up the first 85 pages or so of the book. The remainder is competent, but of varying interest for the general reader. After the rescue, Paterson found love, did more sailing, got into scrapes and mishaps, took a sojourn to South Africa, and so on. The “coincidental history” to which Paterson refers relates to two other incidents of shipwreck in his family history: his uncle was on a ship that was torpedoed by a German U-boat during the Second World War, and he died on a lifeboat while awaiting rescue; and a different ancestor was on board the SS American when it sunk in 1880.
All of this is of interest in different ways, and to different people. SURVIVING COINCIDENTAL HISTORY attempts to weave the mélange of shipwreck story, family history, and travel narrative together into a coherent whole—and does not entirely succeed. This is not to besmirch its wide range, however, for sailing enthusiasts will discover much here that will appeal to them.
SURVIVING COINCIDENTAL HISTORY's compelling shipwreck story stands out among the anecdotes and passages relating to author John J. Paterson’s family history.
~ Craig Jones for IndieReader