Exotic ports of call, snorkeling and scuba diving, halcyon islands, exhilarating high seas – who wouldn’t want to go sailing through paradise?  John and Jean Silverwood dreamed of just such a picture-perfect adventure they could share with their four children on their catamaran the Emerald Jane.  They soon realized, however, that their once-in-a-lifetime adventure was at once mundane with all the normal problems of family life transplanted onto a “very small, ever-bobbing house with an ever-changing neighborhood” while also being filled with unexpected problems.

Marital discord, John’s struggles as a recovering alcoholic, the kids longing to go home, debilitating sea sickness, dangerous gales, the very real threat of piracy, expensive and time consuming boat repairs – this was sailing through paradise?  The storm-tossed seas were finally calming down both literally and metaphorically when their beloved Emerald Jane struck treacherous coral and began to sink.  The Silverwoods would now face the biggest challenge of their journey: would all of them survive unscathed from this terrifying disaster?  Black Wave, by John and Jean Silverwood, is a thrilling account of an ordinary family’s not-so-ordinary sailing trip and the disaster that brought them together.