66 Days Adrift: A True Story of Disaster and Survival on the Open Sea

by William Butler, Simonne Butler, William A. Butler, et al.

Book Overview

A Powerful Account of Struggle and Survival at Sea

The lure of paradise was unmistakable, and Bill Butler was on a quest to find it with his wife Simonne--riding the Pacific currents on their sloop Siboney, with a world of possibilities ahead. But, twelve hundred miles from land, the alluring ocean showed its deadly side when, without warning, a pod of pilot whales attacked their sailboat, battering it until it sank beneath the...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0071438742
• ISBN13: 9780071438742
• Release Date: February 2005
• Publisher: International Marine Publishing
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Only needs three chapters.

Although this is a thrilling account of survival, it could have been summed up in 3 chapters. The sinking, the drifting, the rescue. I found myself resorting to reading a sentence every few pages to see if anything changed. You can only tell about cramped quarters, shark bumps, and storms so many times before it’s just repetitive.

From One Author to Another

William Butler has done a superb job putting the reader right on liferaft with him and his wife. A compelling and terrifying read. --- Michael Tougias author of Ten Hours Until Dawn

Angels were surely with you

A wonderful, thrilling account of survival. I doubt too many people could have held up like Bill and Simone. Obviously they were meant to survive, considering all they were tested with during their ordeal. I find it totally amazing that Bill even bothered to document their time adrift. Some can criticize the writing and metaphors used but I doubt many could have had the skill and fortitude to battle the elements as these two did and stay sane, let alone stay alive. I found it to be a powerful story of human survival and congratulations to Bill and Simone.

A Gripping Tale

66 Days Adrift is an exciting story that i read in a couple of sittings, it was hard to put down! Based on a true story, it is a most gripping tale with a bittersweet ending. Buy the book, you won't be disappointed.

I'll never sail with my dad again

I can tell you that this is a true story. My dad (Bill Butler) and his wife really did spend 66 days lost in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, adrift in a life raft after whales bashed a hole in their sailboat and caused it to sink. While the story is better told "live", the written format (book) is pretty good and offers a lot more detail than he can give out in one of his hour-long talks about his experience. (After he was rescued he visited all of my kids' elementary, middle and high schools to tell his story. The kids were really impressed when he told them he had been on the Oprah Winfrey show! They also enjoyed his stories about sharks almost sinking the life raft and turtles being good to eat without being cooked. That usually got a groan). My dad's been sailing since he was a little kid (born and raised in Havana, Cuba) and has had 5 or 6 sailboats. He has sailed all over the world, including around the tip of South America, across the Atlantic more than once, and once took the mast down and motored through the canals and rivers of Europe, ending up in Turkey and sailing back to his current home in Puerto Rico. At age 70something he still sails. Since his life raft adventure in 1989 he hasn't really slowed down one iota. His book is written in the same sort of language he uses when he talks. It's a good book and if you like sailing or survival stories you should enjoy it.

Exciting to the end

An interesting and exciting story from beginning to end. This is a true story of survival at sea by two people determined live through the most trying of circumstances. Highly recommended.