Review: Vivien Horler

The Life and Death of a Rock ’n Roll Sailor – A true story, by Diane Coetzer (Jonathan Ball Publishers)

Yachtsman Anthony Murray and his sister-in-law Diane Coetzer planned to write a book together about his ocean voyages. But not this one.

Anthony was an experienced sailor who delivered yachts all around the of world. Diane is a freelance journalist, and the daughter of the late lamented writer Owen Coetzer, with whom I worked on the Cape Argus and Weekend Argus for years.

Diane is also the partner of Jeremy, Anthony’s younger brother, who worked in the music production business.

On February 18, 2015, during a voyage delivering a Cape Town-built Leopard 44 class catamaran to Phuket in Thailand across the Indian Ocean in cyclone season, the catamaran and its crew of three lost all contact with the world. It had been expected in Thailand later in February. Continue reading →