Maria Coffey has had five books published and her articles have appeared in numerous newspapers and magazines including The New York Times, The Guardian, The Globe and Mail, Sea Kayaker Magazine, Action Asia and Outdoors Illustrated. She is married to Dag Goering, a veterinarian and photographer. Dag's photographs illustrate Maria's work.

Click one of the following or scroll down.

• SAILING BACK IN TIME- A large format illustrated book about a nostalgic voyage by wooden sailboat on Canada's West Coast.

• THREE MOONS IN VIETNAM- The account of  haphazard three-month journey through Vietnam.

• A BOAT IN OUR BAGGAGE - A book featuring a year-long kayaking expedition that took Maria and her partner Dag around the world.

• FRAGILE EDGE - The story of Maria's healing journey after the tragic death of her partner, Joe Tasker, on Mount Everest.

• A CAT IN A KAYAK - A children's book based on the adventures of Teelo, a real live cat.

• VISIONS OF THE WILD - A Voyage by Kayak around Vancouver Island. This large format illustrated book is due for publication in the year 2000. Dag and Maria will be embarking on this expedition summer of 1999.

• A SEAL IN THE FAMILY - A sequel to A CAT IN A KAYAK featuring another real life animal: Lucille the seal. Due to be published in the fall of 1999.

• SOUTH SEAS KAYAKING ADVENTURE (working title) - A photographic book for young adults about Dag and Maria's exciting expedition in the Solomon Islands. To be published by the end of 1999 by Annick Press. Click for the corresponding multi-media presentation.

Sailing Back in Time
A Nostalgic Voyage on Canada's West Coast

Renowned travel writer Maria Coffey and her husband, photographer Dag Goering, begin a three-month journey by wooden boat along Canada's spectacular western shores. Leading the way are legendary boat builders and sailors Allen and Sharie Farrell, on their last voyage aboard China Cloud. Powered only by sail and sculling oar, they take Coffey and Goering to their old haunts along the coast, places where they homesteaded, fished and built boats. And they share with them their remarkably simple lifestyle, closely connected to the sea and the land. Years roll away during this nostalgic voyage, as the Farrells recount decades of memories with passion, insight and humour. Sailing Back In Time weaves the fascinating account of a unique voyage with an intimate look at eighty years of coastal history, seen through the eyes of these two remarkable people. From the quiet waters of the Gulf Islands to the snowcapped mountains of Desolation Sound, the majestic scenery of the coast provides the backdrop for an unforgettable adventure. This panoramic trip comes to life with Dag Goering's evocative photographs, while Allen Farrell's boat sketches and beautifully textured oil paintings reveal a bygone era.

• 11 x 11, hardcover, 168 pages, 65 colour photos and paintings, plus black and white photos, sketches and boat lines.
• ISBN 1-55110-487-3
• Published by Whitecap Books, 351 Lynn Avenue, North Vancouver, BC V7J 2C4
• Distributed in the U.S by Graphic Arts Center Publishing Co. P.O Box 10306, Portland, OR 97210, USA
• CAN$39.95

'There was an air of expectancy and excitement: everyone was waiting for the moon. Heralded by a halo of soft light , it appeared, huge, yellow and majestic, rising above the palm trees. 'Chi Hang' - Sister Moon -was greeted with cries of delight, with offerings tossed into the water, with fire crackers and clapping."

Three full moons rose over Vietnam while Maria Coffey and her husband Dag explored the country's spectacular coast from the great Mekong Delta in the south to Halong Bay in the north. Determined to see the 'real' Vietnam, they travelled aboard leaky fishing boats, in tiny sampans and coracles, on rickety bicycles and battered buses.Straying far off the tourist routes, they were dogged by petty officials, hid in small boats to avoid arrest, and encountered wandering spirits and snakes in bottles. Their tough, exhilarating journey carried them through a country in flux between doctrinaire socialism and a free market economy; where ancient traditions continue alongside terrible memories of the 'American War' and where people survive with dignity and humour.Coffey chronicles this haphazard adventure in a frank, engaging and often hilarious style. She movingly portrays an unexpected encounter of the heart, and the forming of an emotional bond which will last for many moons to come.

• 6x9 hardcover, 291 pages
• 16 colour plates, black and white sketches.
• ISBN 0-316-87813-8
• Published by Little, Brown, in the UK and Canada, Ragged Mountain Press in the USA and Frederking und Thaler in Germany
• CAN$29.95, UK pounds 18.99

 As globe-trotting transport, it may have seemed like a curious choice: a folding kayak, seaworthy but not exactly luxurious, which could be dismantled and stored in a canvas bag.But in the course of their travels, the kayak would serve Maria Coffey and her husband Dag well, as they transported it by everything from jumbo jet to buffalo cart, adn paddled it thousands of miles into remote corners of the world.In shark-infested waters around the Solomon Islands, negotiating bandits and floating bodies along the River Ganges, or dodging irate hippos and government spies on Lake Malawi, this is travel writing at its most intrepid.

• 5x8 softcover, 280 pages
• 8 colour plates
• ISBN 0-349-10631-2
• Published by Abacus (Little, Brown) in the UK, Canada and Australia
• CAN$12.99, AUST$ 14.95, UK pounds 18.99
• In the US, published in softcover by Ragged Mountain Press (McGraw Hill)
• ISBN 0-07-0115478
• US$13.95
• In Germany, published as Ein Kajak Im Gepack, in hardcover with 16 colour plates, by Frederking & Thaler. ISBN 3-89405-345-3; DM 49.80

Find out about private expeditions around the globe led by Dag Goering and Maria Coffey.

• 183 pages, four black and white plates.
• Published in hardback in 1989 by Chatto and Windus (UK), and in paperback in 1990 by Hodder and Stoughton (UK) and Random House of Canada. Presently out of print.
• US rights held by author.

A children's story about Teelo the cat, who is given a home by Victor the friendly vet. However, Victor is so kind hearted that he also brings many other needy creatures home. This eventually becomes too much for Teelo who longs for a quiet place and he hatches a plan...
This children's story is based on a real live cat, Teelo, who lives with Maria and her husband Dag and occasionally likes to go kayaking.

• 10 x 8.5 inches, 32 pages, color illustrations
• ISBN 1-55037-508-3
• Published by Annick Press Ltd. Toronto-New York,
• Distributed in USA and Canada by Firefly Books Ltd.
• Hardcover CAN $ 16.95, Softcover CAN $ 6.95

The sequel to this story, A SEAL IN THE FAMILY, featuring another real-life animal: Lucille the seal, is due to be published in the fall of 1999 by Annick Press.