4B - Thursday, September 26, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 45 - Thursday, September 26, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Each week we take shots at the biggest developments in the entertainment world. Here's what hit (and missed) this week. AMC takes cue from "Breaking Bad," splits final "Mad Men" season into two seven-episode installments Rapper deems h No. 1 Rockstar on in BBC rad( NBC ordered' chronicling "Cor Ken Jeong's lift a a 4 in- by t'ick Cruz a UFE BOAT Exploring the world for seven years v t Uni Hinm footag misse admin Faceb these( sailinj husba fors Hin adven in My the L Odyss view c "W we d didn't check of her Aft Unive in eco Washi her fi follow they her ow trade. had a Vendy Hinman grown up sailing with her family and her husband sailed around alks new book, the world with his as a teenager. Without the funds necessary for life at sea such an excursion, they settled into the daily grind of work on ByKATIE BURKE land. DailyArts Writer Within a few years of working odd hours to keep up with the iversity alum Wendy international markets - Hinman an has seen very little said she slept with a fax machine ge of the Sept. 11 attacks. She under her bed - she and her d the majority of the Bush husband decided it was time to iistration and the advent of get serious about setting sail. ook. Insteadofexperiencing "We kind of had this unspoken events on land, Hinman was thing of, 'Someday, let's go on an g the Pacific Ocean with her adventure,' "she said. nd in a 31-feet-long sailboat The two began to save up seven years. for a boat, eventually finding iman chronicled the one within their price range. ture in her book - published Though her husband could not ay 2012 - "Tightwads on stand upright in the cabin, it was oose: A Seven Year Pacific declared sturdy enough for the ey,"giving readers an inside voyage ahead. if her life at sea. The next step was to make the e didn't have refrigeration, transition from life on land to life lidn't have Internet, we at sea. Hinman and her husband have phones, we really just sold or stored what they couldn't ed out for a while," she said take with them and took a few journey. trial runs in the new boat. After er graduating from the paring their life down to the rsity in 1986 with a degree essentials, and whatever books inomics, Hinman moved to could fit in the space left over, the ington D.C., where she met two said their farewells and set uture husband, Garth. She off, with nonset destination or trip 'ed him to Seattle, where duration in mind. married and then started In Hinman's book, she provides en company in international snapshots into their day-to-day But the sailing adventure life. By using an anecdotal style, lways been at the back of she's able to depict the trials and minds, as Hinman had joys of a seven-year voyage in about 400 pages. Hinman kept a blog and wrote periodic emails to her family and friends during the journey, giving her a seven-year record to work with. "I wrote the book out of order, with scenes as I was inspired to write them," Hinman said. The two experienced near brushes with total shipwreck, days on end with no wind and everything in between. Hinman wrote about these incidences but also added compelling descriptions of their natural surroundings. "We just had time to notice stuff," Hinman said. "Nature puts on this beautiful, spectacular show every day, and we just have to take time to notice." The two took continuous three- to four-hour shifts while sailing, one sleeping and the other keeping watch and maintaining the course. Books were the prime source of entertainment, and Hinman and her husband would see little of each other until they made it to port. By the time they reached the other side of the Pacific, Hinman and her husband had experienced a complete voltage meltdown and were without any radio or other electronic equipment. A sailing friend had told them about a U.S. military base named Kwajalein on an island off Japan. Low on money and supplies, the two began to look for work. Hinman found a job with a website while her husband worked at building maintaining facilities - he even constructed a 0 COURTESY OF WENDY HINMAN University alum Wendy Hinman spent seven years at sea on an adventure with her husband Garth. vehicle to remove and store boats out of the water, still in use today on the island. After spending two years in Kwajalein, they returned to the ocean. Once they left Kwajalein, they explored the islands off Hong Kong and Japan. Both history aficionados, they went from one World War II site to the next, visiting some locations - including the storage site of the two atomic bombs - that have process, Hinman began speaking barely been touched since the in public about her trip. She war. Along with the tour through spoke to sailing groups and other history, Hinman and her husband interested parties - sharing also traveled to islands home to pictures, anecdotes and travel tips. populations such as the Kastom "I'm finding that the public and Lan-yu tribes, who have little speaking helps with my writing, contact with modern society. too," she said. "I'm up there with From there, they made the my pictures and stories ... and as decision that it was time to make I'm up there some stories bubble up their way back home, and set sail into my mind." toward Japan. Hinman's book broke the top "My husband was like, 'I can't 100 on Amazon in August and was stand up straight. I really don't first on the site's Adventure/Travel want to look like Quasimodo list. when I'm done with this,' " She said she continues to build Hinman said. her storytelling skills through After seven years at sea, Hinman more public presentations and was back on land and entered into participating in story slams. a much different society than the Hinman is set on starting a new one she had left. Internet was now project, writing a book about her a norm rather than brand-new husband and his family's trip and technology, everyone owned a their shipwreck in Fiji - which cellphone and a new president was made national news at the time. in office. Hinman said it wasn't Her husband is currently easy coming back, and she found working on his "dream boat" she couldn't go back to business as as the two prepare for their usual. second major adventure. Again, "Gettingback was really rough; no specific timeline has been we really changed," Hinman said. laid out, but they plan on sailing "I wasn't really ready to go back around Chile and then onto the to the 9 to 5 ... so I just started canals of Europe. writing about the experience." Hinman said her experiences at Hinman worked with friends sea and in writing have given her who had published a book while a new outlook on life and letting she was away, and week-by-week go of what can hold you back. compiled her account of the "Taking risks teaches you r voyage. She said she did not start that the things that scare you the trip with the intention to write are scary while you're cowering a book, but as she kept records from them, but as soon as you say, of their unique adventures, the 'OK, I'm going to tackle that fear,' idea of putting it all together for they just vanish," Hinman said. publishing seemed appealing. "I think failure is just giving up In addition to the writing completely." COURTESY OFWEONDY HINMAN To prepare for life at sea, Hinman sold and stored most of their belongings. 0