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The reader sets sail aboard a Feeling 1040 alongside Isa and Ben. Sea voyages, nights at anchor, harbor maneuvers, and unpredictable weather follow one after another. But while the book promises to teach readers about sailing and offer a gradual introduction to life on board, the narrative often remains superficial.
The book discusses many situations that novice boaters encounter: leaving a harbor, finding an anchorage, preparing for a voyage, and dealing with the unexpected. However, these experiences are rarely explored in depth. Practical guidance remains limited, and the episodes described sometimes take on an adventurous tone that may surprise sailors already familiar with the Mediterranean coastline. Picking up a chest in Porquerolles or spending a night at anchor are thus presented as major challenges.
This is all the more regrettable given that the subject matter is genuinely compelling. This couple clearly loves life on board and fully embraces their choice to live differently. Throughout these pages, you can sense a sincere desire to share the day-to-day reality of a life shaped by the weather, port calls, and the boat?s limitations. But the repetitions and certain redundancies eventually slow down the reading experience, without always offering new insights.
Ultimately, the book's appeal lies elsewhere.
Very discreetly, yet without beating around the bush, Isabelle Colleau discusses her illness. This disability, which complicates her daily life and adds an extra challenge to life on board, emerges as the book?s central theme. This is likely where the true value of freedom lies?not in the anchorages or the crossings, but in the determination of a woman who refuses to give up on her plans.
As the pages turn, it is this strength of character that leaves the deepest impression. It often shines through between the lines, sometimes even more so than the sailing stories themselves. We would have liked this aspect to take center stage, as it adds so much depth to the account.
*The Price of Freedom* thus leaves a mixed impression. As a sailing story, it struggles to turn its many experiences into genuine lessons for boaters. As a personal account, however, it reveals a remarkable determination to live according to one?s own choices despite the constraints imposed by illness.
And that is undoubtedly why we close the book with a sense of warmth, hoping that its author will continue on her journey under sail for many years to come.
The Price of Freedom - Isabelle Colleau
- Jets d'encre Publishing
- 14 x 21 cm
- 196 pages
- ?19.30
