Workaholics Adrift

Workaholics Adrift is a true adventure conveyed with honesty and emotional depth. Upon the sudden death of a 42-year-old contemporary, Judy McCandless abandons a stressful corporate career in midlife to cross the Pacific Ocean in a sailboat with her husband, John, seeking freedom and a more meaningful life. On their initial cruise offshore, she braves a frightful storm alone and returns home to an alcohol rehab lockup. They re-launch enjoying the fraternity of other "yachties"; but with shaky sobriety, Judy endures a 28-day Pacific crossing beside a menacing crewman. Midnight in mid-Pacific, they evade collision with a ghost ship. The author describes nature's glory and fury as she experiences marital, medical, and cultural clashes in remote areas. Expats and Pacific Islanders teach her compassion. In Fiji she saves a man's life. Sober time and adaptability grow. After surviving a typhoon in Guam, the couple returns stateside vowing a more balanced life; however, retirement brings a crisis that requires all the strength Judy gained and more.

Judy McCandless grew up four blocks from the sea in Marblehead, Mass. with a passion for travel. At age 24 she drove to California for adventure and stayed to marry, complete a B.S. in business and advance to corporate positions in contract negotiation, the last one with Westinghouse, Sunnyvale, CA. She lived aboard a sailboat for seven years, sailed 20,000 miles of open ocean and has achieved thirty years of sobriety. She is currently retired from business and still travels widely.