There was the night that Phyllis Nansen sat in the dark with her cat on her lap watching as two whales swam along side the boat with their black bodies briefly highlighted in the moonlight.

There was the one legged Blue Footed Booby bird who hitched a ride for several days before Phyllis shooed it away.

“The birds make a mess,” she said.

There was a four month period where Phyllis and her husband Ralph avoided the cyclone season by docking near a seven-mile-long island called Kanton.

“It was my favorite place,” said Ralph about the island, which was a U.S. Air Force Base during WWII. The Nansens could see the remnants of the old movie theater and houses soldiers once lived in.

“When we were there only the animals lived in those houses,” said Ralph.

These stories and more inspired the book “Stone Boat Odyssey,” which chronicles the Nansens on a 14 year journey of not only having, but fulfilling a dream to take to the seas in a sailboat. The Nansens are presenting their book and a slide show of their adventures on Saturday, Sept. 10, 7:30 p.m. at Woodman Hall.

After purchasing their first sailboat in 1968, they both started dreaming about taking it into the open ocean, but how and when? They soon realized the first step would be to buy a bigger boat. There were trials and tribulations, including buying a 46 foot catch that needed seven years of repair work.

“While we were building we had lots of doubts of the wisdom of taking on such a big task,” said Phyllis.

When the year they had planned to sail off arrived, Phyllis was diagnosed with breast cancer. So the Nansens continued improving the boat and fine-tuning their sailing skills as Phyllis battled cancer. That year, they circumnavigated Vancouver Island, while Phyllis was undergoing chemotherapy treatments.

“It was hard for Phyllis,” said Ralph. “But it gave us confidence in our sailing skills.”

The Nansens finally departed for their first ocean voyage in 1987, on Ralph’s 56 birthday.

They originally planned on sailing around the world, but after traveling for six years around the Pacific Islands and landing in Australia they flew back to the U.S., so that Ralph could finish his book “Sun Power,” about solar powered satellites.

After the book was published the Hansen’s flew back to Australia in order to sail their boat back home.

Then they spent 12 years sailing around the Pacific Northwest.

During all their years of sailing more than 26,000 ocean miles and even during a two week stint in open water, the Hansens say they never got cabin fever and more specifically they say they never, not once, wanted to throw the other person overboard.

“We were already so used to each other, and so used to living on the boat,” said Phyllis. “It was our home.”

The Hansens also have a unique relationship. They had known each other since they were toddlers.

“We played together in grade school, dated in high school and got married in college,” said Phyllis. “We knew each other’s strong points and weaknesses and made adjustments.”

To pass the time on those long voyages, they read thousands of books and listened to music on tapes and records. Phyllis, who is a musician, said she “sang all the time. When the wind was blowing I would get behind the wheel and sing Neil Diamond at the top of my lungs.”

The couple moved to Lopez in 2001, but they still traveled on cruises all over the world.

“We’ve been to all the continents,” said Ralph. “But we’re pretty happy on Lopez, it’s pretty special.”

Their dreams had been fulfilled.

“It was sad when it was over,” said Phyllis. “We had worked so hard and then it was just… finished.”

Now they are content to be back with family watching their grandchildren grow up. They have two grandchildren on Lopez. Phyllis is 78 and Ralph is 80, but they are bright-eyed and filled with a sort of youthful joy when they talk about their adventures.

“They say that every year you sail adds a year to your life,” said Phyllis.

Some sayings, it turns out, are true.