All Hands on Deck: A Modern-Day High Seas Adventure to the Far Side of the World

In the late 1990s, Patrick O’Brian’s multimillion copy selling historical novel series—the Aubrey–Maturin series, which was set during the Napoleonic Wars—seemed destined for film.

With Russell Crowe as Jack Aubrey and Paul Bettany as Stephen Maturin, the production only needed a ship that could stand in for Lucky Jack’s HMS Surprise, with historical accuracy paramount. The filmmakers found the Rose, a replica of an 18th-century ship that would work perfectly. Only there was one problem: the Rose was in Newport, Rhode Island, not in Southern California, where they would be filming. Enter a ragtag crew of thirty oddballs who stepped up for the task, including Will Sofrin, at the time a 21-year-old wooden boat builder and yacht racer, who joined as the ship’s carpenter.

All Hands on Deck is Sofrin’s account of this unforgettable voyage. It’s a story of reinvention, of hard work on the high seas, of love, and of survival. The crew of the Rose effectively went back in time, brought to life the old ways of a forgotten world, and barely lived to tell the tale. All Hands on Deck is a gripping story and a must-read for fans of O’Brian’s novels and the Academy Award–winning film adaptation.

Author : Will Sofrin

Hardback : 253 Pages

SKU: P0162

“Thrilling . . . this is an adventure story of the highest order.” —Nathaniel Philbrick, author of the National Book Award–winning In the Heart of the Sea and Travels with George