A charming memoir of midlife by the bestselling author of Mayflower and In the Hurricane's Eye, recounting his attempt to recapture a national sailing championship he'd won at twenty-two.
“There had been something elemental and all consuming about a Sunfish. Nothing could compare to the exhilaration of a close race in a real blow—the wind howling and spray flying as my Sunfish and I punched through the waves...

Riding the Wild Ocean is a compilation of author Paul Krantz's wildest adventures over the years, which takes us from coastal New England to the Dry Tortugas -- all in small boats under twenty-feet in length. Beyond the sheer thrill of adventure, Riding the Wild Ocean is a how-to manual for the serious sailor contemplating trying his or her hand at such open ocean adventuring in small boats, including how to select and equip a boat for all-weather,...

World War II helped to define Tristan Jones as an adventurous Welsh youth. After losing his parents, he spent much of his life working on sailing barges and so he is no stranger to the seas when he's called to fight for Britain during the Blitz in 1940. Tristan Jones is not only caught in the middle of arduous battles on board, but also the tragic battles he must fight in his heart. When the British Royal Navy commissions him to embark on transatlantic...

Flying Cloud is the riveting and thoroughly researched tale of a truly unforgettable sea voyage during the days of the California gold rush. In 1851, navigator Eleanor Creesy set sail on the maiden voyage of the clipper ship Flying Cloud, traveling from New York to San Francisco in only 89 days. This swift passage set a world record that went unbroken for more than a century. Upon arrival in San Francisco, Flying Cloud became an enduring symbol of...

On a windy morning in April 2005, two friends set out to go fishing near Charleston, South Carolina. The teenagers paddled their small 15-foot (5.6 m) boat into the choppy Atlantic Ocean. They planned to stay close to shore and fish. Suddenly, their boat became caught in a powerful rip current. It began to sweep the small vessel away from shore. The frightened teenagers tried paddling back to land with all their might, but the current was too strong....

With entries overviewing groups such as the Amazons, women in the Spanish Civil War, and Native American women and entries profiling over 300 women, tells their stories, focusing particularly on women who fought. With a focus on those who fought, this two-volume reference for scholars and general readers contains alphabetically arranged entries on some 300 military women from antiquity to the present. The entries are also listed by geographic region,...

Like countless Gloucester fishermen before and since, Howard Blackburn and Tom Welch were trawling for halibut on the Newfoundland banks in an open dory in 1883 when a sudden blizzard separated them from their mother ship. Alone on the empty North Atlantic, they battled towering waves and frozen spray to stay afloat. Welch soon succumbed to exposure, and Blackburn did the only thing he could: He rowed for shore. He rowed five days without food or...

Biography of John Paul Jones, sea captain in the American Revolution.