Sea Over Bow

by Linda Kenyon

I’ll fly away O glory

  I’ll fly away in the morning

  When I die, Hallelujah, by and by

  I’ll fly away…

  I squeeze Brenda’s hand. We’ll fly back to Portugal, Chris and I, as soon as we can, and pick up where we left off. But this is home for now, and this moment feels as heavy and sweet as a ripe fig.

  Acknowledgements

  I am deeply indebted to Alice Munro for showing me — and the world — that the lives of girls and women matter. Her work makes my story possible.

  Writing this book was a journey no less fraught with peril for me than crossing the ocean, and I thank the people who were brave enough to accompany me. Mick and Jenny Cooper and my sister Sandy Kenyon read each chapter as I completed it and looked forward to the next. Dejan Ristic walked the beach on Toronto Island with me each morning, our dogs trotting along behind, and listened to me complain about how hard writing is, then sent me back to my computer.

  Ann Vanderhoof provided me with invaluable advice on my first draft (what do you mean, narrative arc?) and encouraged me to work with Allyson Latta, whose coaching helped shape this book.

  In a literary world drowning in memoir, I am grateful to Karen Haughian of Signature Editions for her enthusiastic response to my manuscript and for believing that there was enough sea room out there for one more little boat.

  This book would not have been possible without Judith Miller’s unfailing belief in this project and the constant support of Charlene Diehl, my friend, my lifeline. My sister Brenda Kenyon read every draft and pushed me to dig deeper. Without her, this book would have been just another tale of adventure on the high seas.

  My deepest debt is to Chris Hatton, my love, my life, my constant companion, on this and every journey, big and small. Thank you for taking me out there. And for bringing me back in one piece.

  About the author

  Linda Kenyon is a Canadian writer who lives year-round with her husband Chris Hatton on one boat or another — either their forty-three-foot steel sailboat, currently in the Bahamas, or the boat they built in a meadow on their farm south of Owen Sound, Ontario.

  Stories about their sailing adventures appear regularly in magazines and Linda has had many short stories published in Canadian literary journals. She has written two books of flash fiction, You Are Here, published by Trout Lily Press, and This is a love song, sort of, published by Stonegarden Studios, as well as a book of nonfiction, Rainforest Bird Rescue: Changing the future for endangered wildlife, published by Firefly Books, which won a Science in Society Journalism Award from the Canadian Science Writers Association.

  Visit her at lindakenyon.ca.