Sailing Solo: Pat Henry’s 8 Year Odyssey on The Open Sea

It’s not everyday that you get to meet someone who has taken on a severe and potentially dangerous challenge.

Pat Henry has lived such a challenge and is alive to share about it with us. She is the author of the book, “By The Grace of The Sea, A Woman’s Solo Odyssey Around the World” (published in 2002). It’s her memoir chronicling her eight-year solo sailing journey that made her the first American woman—and the oldest woman at the time—to circumnavigate the globe alone. She set out in 1989 at age 48 aboard her 31-foot sailboat, Southern Cross, covering 27,000 miles across 40 countries, and completed the voyage in 1997 by anchoring in Acapulco Harbor.

She sailed from the U.S. through Polynesia and the Coral Sea, across the Indian Ocean via the Malacca Straits, and navigated numerous other regions, facing uncharted reefs, equipment breakdowns, near-collisions with ships, and severe storms. She experienced encounters with diverse cultures, wildlife, and ports, while enduring weeks of isolation at sea.

Beyond physical perils like harsh weather and mechanical failures, she grappled with profound loneliness and emotional “demons.” She funded parts of the trip by painting and selling watercolors in ports, turning her artistic skills into a means of survival and self-expression.

We will be asking Pat many questions, about how the experience shaped her views on life today and what has unfolded since her memoir was published. Don’t miss this rare interview.

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