Writer pens book about her adventures

UMBILO’s Sharon Jordan has a keen sense for adventure and is now sharing her adventurous spirit and experiences with others through her book, One Woman’s Journey.

Sharon and her former husband started their married life with a dream to sail the world. The couple moved to Canada and while working began building their own boat. It took the two-and-a-half years to finish their boat, but once it was done they set sail for Vancouver and Hawaii and eventually ventured to the South Pacific.

“We heard about a small island called Palmyra, which no one went to. We had heard about a tragedy where a couple had arrived on the island and later gone missing. Their boat unexpectedly turned up in Hawaii with a different couple on board, but Navy divers couldn’t come up with anything. The couple were arrested and tried for theft. He got 12 years in prison and she two, but he eventually escaped!” With their curiousity piqued and a lust for adventure, Sharon said they set sail for the island.

“It was difficult to find, and we had to travel through a narrow channel before we got to the lagoon, which was like paradise.”

“The story of the couple played on my mind and I found old clippings on the island about the incident. I’m a great explorer and decided I had to try find some evidence! We stayed on the island for a while and lived off the land. I explored a lot. I went out one day when there was a Spring tide and searched part of the island I had never been to before. It was while she was exploring that Sharon’s eye was caught by something glinting in the sun. “On closer inspection I discovered it was a skull lying upside down!” As fate would have it, the skull turned out to be the remains of one of the missing people. An aluminium box nearby also revealed a number of bones. “I was so lucky to have found them!” she said.

Sharon and her husband radiod the coast guard in Hawaii and this was the beginning of a long saga ïnvolving court cases and communication with lawyers.

“There were many books written about the missing couple, as well as a movie called And the sea will tell, which I saw on TV when I was at home in Umbilo! There was such a public outcry about the incident that I felt like a celebrity!” she said, amazed at how reporters even wrote about what she had worn to court.

Besides her island adventure, Sharon has enjoyed many more, from climbing mountains, to riding motorbikes to Tanzania and through South Africa, Namibia, Swaziland, Mozambique and Malawi. She has ridden the De Beers mining route along the coast and has also sailed a great deal, as well as snorkelled incredible reefs. She takes time off from living in Umbilo to crew on small yachts, and has worked in Malaysia, Mexico and the Central US Coast.

The idea to put her wonderful adventures down on paper for others to share was brought to life at a braai Sharon attended and met a lecturer from the university who was intrigued by her stories and urged her to write a book.

“I had considered doing this before and had chapters prepared. I had letters which I’d written to my mother which I could use so I started writing two years ago. It was fantastic and inspirational to get it down on paper. Despite the books written on the murder saga, no one had heard my opinion on the story, but this is now down in my own words,” she said.

If you are interested in reading the book, contact Gail on 083 549 1940 or email gailforce@telkomsa.net or Sharon on wildcoast.s@gmail.com

The book is also available on Amazon kindle.