HUNTER-BASED sailor and death doula Ruth Boydell has released a memoir, “Rocking the Boat: A Life in Three Voyages”, outlining global ocean adventures in the days before GPS and chartplotters.
Ruth’s story begins at the age of 17, when she joined a thirty-something Englishman who was single-handing a sailboat around the world.
The adventures came thick and fast for the teenager, including sailing from Papua New Guinea to northern Brazil.
After returning home to Australia, Ruth purchased her own small boat and voyaged for another seven years, following roughly in the tracks of the previous journey.
Joined by various crew members, her little steel schooner crossed the Indian and Atlantic oceans, before the intrepid Ruth spent time in the Caribbean as a charter boat skipper.
Later in life she embarked on a third major sailing voyage, this time alongside her paramedic husband, Dave.
While “Rocking the Boat” centres around a life of daring escapades, it also delves deep into issues such as loneliness, mental health and mortality.
In particular it covers Ruth’s experience of Transient Global Amnesia, a sudden and extreme temporary loss of memory.
The ordeal prompted intense thoughts about death and existence for Ruth.
“I have no memory of this experience but did have the felt sense that death is not the end and, moreover, it could be a blissful experience,” Ruth told NOTA.
She has since worked for the past nine years as a death doula, a trained, non-medical professional who provides emotional, spiritual, and practical support to individuals nearing the end of life and their families.
Ruth said she wrote the book to inspire people to live life to the full.
“I have lived a particularly lucky and unusual life,” she said.
“I have not only had opportunities to explore and adventure but I have taken them.
“We are here on this planet for a finite time. We might as well make it a good time, and a time for good.”
Ruth said the experience of putting her own story to paper has at times “felt a bit like pulling teeth”.
“Some of the stories which emerged as I reread letters and spoke to friends of the day, made me understand how memories wander from the lived experience.
“I have tried to write about the conflicts I had with others in a more compassionate and understanding way.
“As time passes I reflect from a more mature perspective.
“In some ways this book is no longer my story, but the story of a young and courageous and sometimes foolish young woman. Someone other than me.”
Ruth is offering three signed copies of her book to NOTA readers.
To receive a copy, be one of the first three to email doug@newsofthearea.com.au with the subject line ‘Rocking the Boat’.
Ruth’s memoir is available at most major online outlets.
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