Prayed On Lonely Trip

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30811, 24 July 1965, Page 2

Prayed On Lonely Trip

HONOLULU, July 23. The Californian yachtswoman, Mrs Sharon Sites, who described herself as “not a re- . ligious woman,” said she frequently turned to prayer during her lone, 40-day crossing of the Pacific to Hawaii in a 25foot sailboat, the Associated Press reported. “Six days and six nights of 65 m.p.h. winds was the worst part of the trip,” the petite 34-year-old blonde from Los Angeles told a news conference in Honolulu. . There were many times when she thought perhaps she would not complete the 2300mile sea journey from Los Angeles, she admitted, but the boat held up and there was no breakage. Mrs Sites—probably the first woman to sail alone from the West Coast to Hawaii—appeared fresh after her first good night’s sleep in more than a month. Her right arm was in a sling and was first reported to be fractured. “1 sprained my wrist firing a Very pistol,” she said. “I

was negligent in loading it. I didn’t do it as 1 was taught . . . and thfe was the result." She declined to discuss details of the accident, calling it “too embarrassing to talk about.” Mrs Sites said she lost 20

to 25 pounds during the first three weeks of her lone voyage, but gained 10 to 12 pounds back again. The Los Angeles widow admitted she was lonely during her trip. She said she was sorry she hadn’t taken any books to read but added she spent her time writing an extensive log. “No, I didn’t talk to myself much . . . rather I talked to the boat. I talked to the boat a lot,” she said.