Desperate Voyage: A Novice Sails Alone from America to Australia

It's the end of WWII, the author is stranded in the United States, and he wants to return to his wife in Australia. So he buys a 27 foot cutter and sets sail across the Pacific. He survives 8,500 miles of variable seas, reefs, tropic islands, crossing the equator, languishing in the doldrums, and thrashing through hurricane seas - all single-handed. A charming (and terrifying) book.