The perennial bestseller from the man behind Latitudes & Attitudes is now available in paperback! This is an exciting and hilarious account of Bob Bitchin’s extraordinary adventures with his wife, Jody, as they circumnavigate the globe aboard a magnificent staysail ketch. Along the way, everything that can go wrong does, but throughout it all Bitchin’s irreverence and humor persevere, as does his passion for the sailing lifestyle.
Chapter (partial):
It was 1978 and I was sitting on the edge of my bunk on my Cal 28, which I lived aboard, in my slip in Port Royal. I couldn’t sleep because I was so excited! The tall ship Stonewitch was due in sometime during the day, and when it arrived I would be moving aboard the 70’ square rigged tops’l schooner for my first long distance cruise.
I had a dream that had been implanted in my feeble mind from reading “Landfalls in Paradise” by Earl Hinz: landing in tropical locales, anchoring in beautiful harbors and living a true adventure. That was my dream, and it was about to come true.
But the time passed slower than molasses in January! Each second ticked by and seemed like an hour. The three hours that passed took at least a week.
But Stonewitch did arrive. I did move aboard, and we did sail south. The adventure was even more exciting than I had dreamed it. I recall standing watch as the tops’l filled with air in the early morning hours and then going below and pouring a cup of strong coffee from the old battered coffee pot that sat on the alcohol stove. I think the dream realization hit me first while sitting at the nav station entering my position, course and bearing along with notes on my watch.
I was truly living my dream.
