September 10, 1987

September 10, 1987 marks the Peggy Sue’s departure from England on a round-the-world voyage: a family’s answer to economic upheaval that becomes a test of seamanship, endurance, and belonging. Preserved in the ship’s log, the date stands at the threshold between preparation and the immense, unpredictable sea—and, in retrospect, at the beginning of the chain of events that leaves Michael stranded and brings him into Kensuke’s life.

Departure and the Family at Sea

The family sets sail with every nook and cranny of the Peggy Sue loaded with stores and provisions. Michael remembers the date because he is writing with the ship’s log before him. The departure is not simply his parents’ undertaking: his father has become his friend and shipmate, while his mother has mastered the books and charts through persistent study and takes command as skipper. Michael and his father rely on her and are proud of her; the three describe themselves as a team.

Grandma comes to wave them off in tears and even wants to join them on the voyage to Australia, where she hopes to see koalas in the wild. Friends gather too, including Barnacle Bill and Eddie Dodds, who arrives with his father. As the boat casts off, Eddie throws Michael a soccer ball and calls it a lucky mascot. Michael later sees that Eddie has signed his name all over it. Stella Artois barks farewell to the people on shore and to the boats in The Solent, but falls quiet as the family sails past the Isle of Wight. The change in her marks the moment when the journey ceases to be a dream and becomes real.

The Log and the Scale of the Voyage

The date opens a journey recorded through Michael’s private log, written during night watches as his own version of English homework. At school, he had struggled to find what to write; aboard the Peggy Sue, he discovers that he can speak his thoughts onto the page. The surviving notebook has crinkled, yellowed pages and faded but mostly legible handwriting. In retrospect, its short extracts preserve how the voyage appeared to an eleven-year-old, close to the events as they unfolded.

The first entries show how far the family’s ambitions exceed the practical speed of travel. They plan to cover about two hundred miles a day, roughly eight knots, but in the first week manage only about fifty miles a day. The Bay of Biscay brings Force 9 and sometimes Force 10 gales: the Peggy Sue pitches until Michael sees her bow point straight up at the moon, then is hurled down the other side of a wave. He fears the boat will sink, but it holds together and the family reaches Spain. The log makes the voyage’s route tangible while recording how weather and distance impose their own terms on it.

From Departure to Australia

On October 11, the family sights Africa while sailing down its west coast. Michael’s mother traces their intended course on the chart: south along the coast, then across the Atlantic toward South America. They must avoid the Doldrums, where the absence of wind could leave them becalmed for weeks. The log’s geography is therefore also a record of risk, with navigation and weather shaping the family’s decisions and sense of space.

By April 3, off Perth, Australia, Michael reflects on the long stretch of empty ocean since Africa. He loves the solitude of the sea with his family and the Peggy Sue, yet landfall still brings them to embrace and jump with excitement. They feel as if they have discovered Australia themselves: the crossing from England is halfway around the world, achieved on their own. The arrival also brings a more immediate concern. Michael’s mother’s stomach cramps have returned, and she promises to see a doctor in Australia.

Storm, Separation, and Retrospective Meaning

The departure’s promise of shared adventure does not protect the family from mounting strain. By July 28, the night before Michael’s twelfth birthday, storms have repeatedly driven the Peggy Sue north across the Coral Sea since leaving Sydney. The rudder cable has snapped, self-steering no longer works, and someone must remain at the wheel. Michael’s mother is too ill to navigate; she has eaten nothing and can manage only sugared water. Michael and his father try to navigate together, but no longer know where they are. His father wants to send a Mayday call, while his mother refuses to give in. Michael takes the wheel with Eddie’s soccer ball beside him, still treating the lucky mascot as a small assurance amid the danger.

That night, Michael falls overboard. The Peggy Sue’s lights disappear into darkness, and he clings to the ball because it floats, trying to conserve his strength until the family can return. The ball that began as Eddie’s parting gift now becomes essential to Michael’s chance of surviving. The chain of consequences reaches beyond the family’s voyage: Kensuke later explains that he was fishing far from his island when the wind and sea carried him out, and that he found Michael, Stella, and the ball in the dark. The departure date thus anchors a narrative whose open-sea beginning leads through separation and survival to an unexpected rescue.

The story’s later return to the family gives the voyage a second measure of time. When the Peggy Sue comes back to the island, Michael sees his mother and father aboard and runs from the trees to meet them. The log’s dated record begins with a family setting out together; the eventual reunion reveals what the voyage has cost and what it has made possible. September 10, 1987 is therefore both a precise entry in the ship’s log and the starting point of a journey whose meaning changes as the sea turns from route into danger, separation, and the possibility of home again.