Boating Adventure

From the New York Times bestselling author of First Man comes a sweeping saga involving two extraordinary—and extraordinarily different—adventurers who have only one thing in common: the ambition to cross the Atlantic in a rowboat . . . alone. With gripping and insightful prose, James R. Hansen brings to life John Fairfax and Tom McClean's expeditions, from their battle with the elements to their own inner demons. Completely Mad is a nail-biting, epic tale of endurance, and listeners will be gripped until the end to find out who won.

In 1976, after graduating from Harvard College, Mike Jacker embarked on a year-long voyage aboard Rhiannon with two friends named Louis and Clark. The three Midwestern boys had never experienced ocean sailing. Mike's captivating narrative takes you along on his remarkable adventures at sea and on land.

The story is told beginning with the vision and desire to sail on the ocean, through the training and education, buying a boat, gaining experience, and finally embarking on a 1000nm journey to bring the boat home, singlehanded. An immersive nonfiction adventure story, Becoming a Sailor captures the scene as one would experience it. Becoming a Sailor also goes into technical detail about the repairs and additions to Sobrius, a 1972 Dufour Arpege, as well as the techniques the author had to learn in order to sail singlehanded on multiday passages.

Imagine spending 24 hours a day with your spouse in 31 not-so-square feet for years, crossing the Pacific Ocean on two gallons of fuel, and tossing spaghetti marinara around your living room then cleaning it up while bouncing like ice in a martini shaker. Tightwads on the Loose tells the story of Wendy and Garth, lured to sea by the promise of adventure. They buy a 31-foot boat that fits their budget better than it fits Garth's large frame and set sail on an open-ended voyage, never imagining they'd be gone seven years or cover 34,000 miles at the pace of a fast walk.

The king is very ill and in a hurry to hand over his power to a new generation when rumors begin to circulate through the kingdom. It appears the king is unaware of the queen's sinister plot against the 13-year-old orphans, as she wants to ensure her child becomes rightful heir to the throne. Avery weighs the pros and cons of seeking an audience with the king while the castle is dealt a heavy blow; but Avery decides the risk is worth taking.

Florida's government is building a bridge to North Captiva Island, which will ultimately result in a second bridge to Cayo Costa. Breeze takes action as only he can. He finds himself in an unlikely alliance with the governor as a result. He's given another assignment that appears to be out of his league. Can he pull it off, or will it be his downfall?

At middle age, Herb and Nancy Payson decided they needed a change. Why not give up life on shore, quit their jobs in the smoky nightclubs of Los Angeles, and take up the cruising life? In Sea Foam, their 36-foot ketch, the Paysons and their large brood of teenage children cruised the Pacific for six and a half years. They experienced a certain amount of stark terror, but their delights far outbalanced the drawbacks. This special 35th anniversary edition is enhanced with a foreword by Lin Pardey, plus Herb's reflections on how cruising affected his children and his relationship with his determined, lifelong partner/wife Nancy.

There’s a killer on the loose on the Titanic  -  and the only people who know are four kids. Within both the luxury of the cabins and the dark underbelly of the engine rooms, Paddy, Sophie, Juliana, and Alfie have found themselves tangled in a maze of mysteries, each one deadlier than the next.

Long John has a whole crew of wild pirates in tow, and - for one boy and his sister - he's about to transform a perfectly ordinary evening into a riotous adventure beneath a pirate moon. It's time to make some pirate stew.

Disaster has struck, and the Titanic is going down. What started as a thrilling voyage has turned into a fight for survival. For Paddy, Sophie, Juliana, and Alfie, every second counts in the race against death. All of their hiding and all of their seeking has come down to this: Can they save the people they love? Can they even save themselves? One cold, horrifying night will decide all of their fates.

Raging Tiger A Long Short Story In early 1998 Alex the Pirate and Diego are running contraband into Vietnam in fleets of tongkang boats, using the gunboat Tiger for defense against other pirates. When they least suspect it, they are attacked by their arch-enemy, the Frenchman. How dare he attack Alex’s shipments? The Frenchman raids their village at Kampung Bharu, destroying boats and killing many. What can Alex do? He vows to have revenge and leads the coastal smugglers in a convoy for retribution. The Modern Pirate Series features Alex the Pirate, Diego his business partner, and a savvy...

DREAMING OF SAILING OFF INTO THE SUNSET? Lots of people have this dream but very few actually do it. Here is a couple that, having had enough of the Rat Race, did chuck everything and sailed off into the sunset. They returned to the U.S. after 19 amazing years and visiting more than 40 countries on their small sailboats making (almost) a circumnavigation. This first small volume, of a 4-part series, lays out what it takes for such a voyage: The attitude and temperament required Planning tips The type of sailboat boat and equipment to choose Necessary safety precautions. A few anecdotes ...

Playing games up and down the river, something no self-respecting tugboat would do, makes Little Toot an object of scorn - until he alone rescues an ocean liner in trouble.

In the late 1990s, John Pollack was working as a Washington speechwriter when, frustrated by the cynicism and hypocrisy on Capitol Hill, he quit his job to pursue a boyhood dream: to build a boat made entirely of wine corks and take it on an epic journey. Cork Boat tells the story of Pollack's improbable quest. Overcoming one obstacle after another, he convinces skeptical bartenders to save their corks, corrals a brilliant but disorganized partner, and eventually cajoles more than one hundred volunteers who help build the boat until their fingers bleed.

Eight-year-old Owen may not be able to speak, but he has a voice in ways no one expects. Born with cerebral palsy, he dreams of building a toy boat from the wood of a tree struck by lightning, believing it will carry a special kind of magic. With the help of his family and friends, he creates a small but mighty vessel—one destined for adventure. As the boat, named O, begins its journey down the river, something incredible happens: O can think, speak, and share his thoughts with Owen through a magical telepathic bond.

It is late August 1892, and Sophia Tims is coming home from a foreign Age, having risked her life in search of her missing parents. Now she is aboard a ship, with a hard-earned, cryptic map that may help her find them at long last. But her homecoming is anything but peaceful. Threatening clouds hang over the New Orleans harbor. Sinkholes have been opening in Boston, swallowing parts of the city whole. Rogue weirwinds tear up the Baldlands.

Sally Jones is not only a loyal friend, she's an extraordinary individual. In overalls or in a maharaja's turban, this unique gorilla moves among humans without speaking but understanding everything. She and the Chief are devoted comrades who operate a cargo boat. A job they are offered pays big bucks, but the deal ends badly, and the Chief is falsely convicted of murder.

While vacationing in an old New England town, the Aldens learn of a ship that was lost at sea years ago.

Tourists visit popular islands of the Caribbean by the planeload. What they don't see from their resort hotels are the hundreds of out-of-the-way, uninhabited islands sprinkled along the West Indies, from Florida to South America. This alluring archipelago, strung with beaches accessible only by boat but spaced temptingly close together, led Mississippi adventurer Scott B. Williams to embark upon an open-ended quest to see how far south he could go in a 17-foot sea kayak.

Have you ever dreamed of sailing around the world? If so, it probably wasn’t like this... ‘Big pressure on you,’ yelled hoarsely. Then more urgently, ‘Big gust!’ A curse. ‘Thirty-eight knots, still building. Big pressure, look at the goddam speed! You wanna blow it!’ ‘No, I’ve got it! I’ve got it. Ease! Ease!’ The winch drum howled. The boat had shaken herself at a frequency that shouldn’t have been physically possible for something that size, and then taken off. The note of the whole boat changed, the pitch of the vibration clattering pencils and dividers out of the...