Never Leave
on a Friday

Shirley J. Shepherd

About the Author

Shirley J. Shepherd has lived in Maine almost 50 years. Though never a farmer at heart she raised, at various times in her life, thousands of chickens to be broiled, collected thousands of eggs from overly possessive hens, lived on a dairy farm, baled hay, canned endless garden vegetables, and still found time to raise five sons and later two grandchildren.

After her first marriage ended, she spent summers sailing the coastal waters of Maine with her future husband. Eventually, they, along with her youngest son, sailed for a year from Maine to the Caribbean and on to South America. This trip was journaled, diaried, documented in scribbled notes, and became the subject of Never Leave on a Friday.

In later years, accompanied by her husband and grandchildren, she spent time in Puerto Rico and Costa Rica and then lived for a year in Honduras, taking Spanish classes. Despite that, her Spanish, along with a handful of partial manuscripts, remains a work in progress.

About the Author

East Boothbay, Maine, 1987

About the Book

East Boothbay, Maine, 1987

About the Book

Never Leave On a Friday recounts the author’s off-shore sailing trip in a 32-foot, leaky sailboat that had been used primarily for day sails around Maine’s coves and islands. Together with her partner and her teenage son, she spent an often thrilling, sometimes terror-packed, frequently very wet yet always fun-filled year traveling from Maine to Bermuda, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and onward to the Windward Islands and Venezuela. Defying the sailing superstition never to leave port on a Friday, this book takes you on the crew’s rollercoaster ride of near-death experiences, hilarious mishaps, close encounters with pirates and smugglers, with a bit of voodoo sprinkled in…a little something for everybody.

To come along and share the adventure, click to read an excerpt of Never Leave On a Friday

Reviews

I was privileged to read an early copy of this, and I loved every moment! From the first pages I could tell the story would be told in a wry, "can you believe what we got into, then out of" style, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The author tells many stories in a self-deprecating way. There is no ego or pretense whatsoever. That alone makes this a pleasurable read; however, the danger interspersed with comedy and adventure, makes this a great vacation read. I highly recommend Never Leave on a Friday to all comers. While the backdrop is about a sailing trip, this book is so much more than that. It's about family, friendship, overcoming incredible odds, finding a way to get out of corners that the sailors sometimes painted themselves into. It's about seeing an opportunity in life...then leaping for it.

The author takes us on an adventure on the seas that is both real and believable, and at times almost unbelievable that they survived. The first few pages set the stage for the what was to come and then I had to tighten my seat belt. Spent many hours way past my bedtime trying to keep up with the crew. I'm waiting for the next book.

Never Leave on a Friday was a fantastic book to read. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for an adventure in reading. I could not put it down. This Book was well written by the Author who actually experienced the life threatening adventures of off shore sailing she writes about and lived to tell the tale. Left me wanting for more.

Never Leave on a Friday is one of the best nonfiction books that I have ever read. This talented author from Maine's quirky sense of humor and masterful story telling made me feel as if I was there, living alongside the crew of the Fandango as they started their sailing trip naive but ready for adventure and then grew to be seasoned capable sailors through the course of their sailing trips and misadventures. This book is also about the awesome beauty, danger, trials, and uncertainty that go along with sailing on the open ocean, and also meeting fascinating people and experiencing unique cultures in unfamiliar countries. I highly recommend this book and can hardly wait until she publishes her next book!

Excerpts

Hi! If you are reading this, thank you for scrolling or clicking to get here. I’m offering excerpts–samples of the book to see if you will like it. I intend to switch out the excerpts from time to time.
I am using the term “excerpt” loosely. Included here are also anecdotes that didn’t make the cut–they were in the original manuscript, but at over 500 pages, some stories had to go. I indicate which ones are in the book and which ones are wanna-be’s.
Most of the sketches that you find here are not in the book. I’m not a cartoonist. I’m not even an artist. But when an image comes to mind, I can’t seem to stifle.
If you read any of the stories you find here, I welcome any comments you want to share.