Triumphs and Tragedies
Twenty-Five Aspects of the Life of a Liverpool Sailor
by
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" The following morning when I went on watch at 4 am., the ship was laboring heavily in a mountainous northwesterly swell. The cold front was close at hand and the wind had increased to hurrican force. With a barometer reading of 920 mb and falling, which set my haert racing, I knew we were in for a humdinger........................................... "Steer northwest, quartermaster, and reduce the rpm to fifty-five" "Aye Aye" they replied as one. "What are you gong to do about that lot?" the captain asked jerking his thumb in the direction of the foredeck where hundreds of rums filled with acetate had broke adrift leaving ragged pools of glue. "Keep her like this, sir, and I'll take the bosun and one AB to see what we can do."
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About the Book
For ten years, little Peter Wright lived to please his alcoholic sea captain father who, despite his son’s silent pleas for affection, repeatedly turned away and focused his attention on the bottle. When his father’s ship collided with another ship off the coast of Holland, he drowned in the cold grey waters of the North Sea, leaving his family bankrupt and Peter feebly struggling to establish his identity and self-worth. Beginning with his birth in Liverpool, England, Wright chronologically details his journey through life as he grew up in an intensely divided family, grappled through the loss of his father, attended Catholic boarding school on the wishes of his mother—who hoped he would become the first English pope—and spent twenty-three years sailing the oceans of the world for a steamship company. After deserting his wife and five children, Wright describes how he traveled to America where he finally had to face the truth about his own alcoholism, revealing a compelling path to redemption as he eventually found a new beginning through recovery. Triumphs and Tragedies shares the poignant story of one man’s journey from confusion to clarity as he comes full circle in life and reflects on the fragility of his place in the world.
About the Author
Peter J. Wright was born near Liverpool, England, attended Catholic boarding school, and joined the Merchant Navy. After sailing to Africa, he acquired his master’s certificate, and immigrated to the United States. Now retired as a marine investigator, the father of seven lives in Northern California where he enjoys building model ships.