Island People: Deep Water Dreams - Softcover

Danielson, Henry R.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1719585598 ISBN 13: 9781719585590

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2018

Synopsis

Two retired schoolteachers, former Peace Corps Volunteers, have finished their careers in Western New York public schools, and after having explored the Great Lakes and Eastern Seaboard, they have sailed to the Caribbean. It is in the British Virgin Islands, at Nanny Cay, where they are challenged with the idea of a crossing. Their boat, Tapestry is a nine year old Nauticat from Finland, they had bought used and had fixed up to meet surveyor’s demands for insurance. In Florida they added dinghy davits and did what they could. They contacted Herb for help with weather and made the plunge, not the Gentleman’s Passage, but right off shore from Staniel Cay in the Bahamas, bound for Saint John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is here in the Virgin Islands that our story begins. “A sequel?” I hear you ask. It is really. Island People: Finding Our Way is the title of the first book. Island People: Deep Water Dreams picks up with Hank and Julie as they, after sailing briefly in the Caribbean, prepare their boat for an Atlantic crossing with the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, or ARC. What would they need? Who would go with them? Would they do it by themselves? Was their boat adequate? Was it ready? Were they ready? What if the GPS failed? They had a sextant, but could they use it at sea on a rolling boat? These were all very real questions upon which their lives would depend.Imagine a marina with a bar at the end of the dock, where these two intrepid Americans would try to install a generator and water maker as curious patrons looked on. Imagine finding capable help, people who knew electricity and plumbing, in this land of sweltering heat, this place where most folks came to relax. Suppose on the shake down cruise, things didn’t quite seem up to par. What then? Whom could they trust? If repairs were inadequate, they might die. Suppose those they chose to do the work didn’t speak English well? The Rally, actually a race, begins in Antigua. Picture a perfect night at sea, the constant lookout for ships, three hour watches, routing, checking, cooking and eating. See beautiful Bermuda! Imagine sailing for Eight hours in winds approaching 50 knots, then come The Azores, and finally, after crossing the Continental Shelf, destination England! With the boat ‘on the hard’ in Rota, Spain, back in the U.S., Julie is diagnosed for a second time with Breast Cancer. Surgery, discomfort, but courage is here. Could they? Back on board, Gibraltar and Morocco in Northern Africa are calling. The Costa del Sol is followed by the Balearic Islands. Stunning beauty, raging wildfires, screaming winds embrace them in Sardinia, and, unlike Homer, they went way in to the harbor on Corsica, much to their peril. Rome, Siena, Florence, Venice come before returning to Tapestry, year three. The south of Italy calls with volcanos and the Isle of Sicily offers magical Taormina, Siracusa and Etna, the one eyed monster that hurled rocks at Odysseus. Bounce off the boot to Greece; island hop, the Corinth Canal, Delphi, lovely ancient and not so ancient islands. Sail on to Turkey; Marmaris, a medieval city, a modern marina, powerboat races; tasteful restaurants, reasonable prices. Myriad islands and coves. Magical Istanbul, and home. Year four is the Eastern Mediterranean Yacht Rally, a tour of the middle east, but wait. Health issues call again. Ambulance, sirens, hospital, surgery. A hospital deep in Alanya, Turkey. Is this a dream or a nightmare? Read this memoir and experience those from our world as they deal with these two retired Americans.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

So there you were in the British Virgin Islands.  Someone challenged you to make the plunge, sail your boat across the ocean!  Where would you start?  How would you prepare? Whom could you trust?   Imagine the thrill of setting out on a 35 foot sailboat to cross the sea.  For a month you would ply the waters of the Atlantic, landing only in Bermuda and the Azores.  You would glide over, but not see sunken ships, downed aircraft, sharks, whales and every fish imaginable.  You would ply the majestic waters of the Atlantic, understanding all the while that should the mast fail, an engine catch fire or not run, there was no 911 to call.  It was you and your crew, the wind and the sea.  There would be a group, The Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, with whom you would communicate, but no rescue boat should things go wrong.  You might talk with rally leaders in England, and with each other, through single side band radio, but, quite literally you would be "out there." Imagine Europe: England, Spain, Portugal, Italy, France and Greece.  Anchor off a small town in your boat.  How would you be treated?  Morocco, would you be welcome?  Suppose you were hospitalized in Turkey; would you expect to recover? The answers to these and other equally daunting questions are in your hand.

About the Author:

Hank Danielson was born in Western New York near the shores of Late Chautauqua at the end of World War II.  As a boy he loved the water.  He was at home swimming, fishing and boating.  At ten his parents gave him an 8 foot sailboat for his birthday.  He and his father built a seventeen foot outboard cruiser in the family garage while he was in his early teens.  He attended Grove City College where he graduated as an English major.  Shortly after graduation, he married his high school sweetheart, Julie.  
The couple joined the Peace Corps in 1967 and taught adolescent Africans for two years on a remote island in Malawi, Central Africa.
Afterward, they returned to Western New York where he taught English and she Chemistry in area schools.  During summers, they pursued their passion for sailing.  They raced, but mostly they cruised.  By retirement they had sailed all five Great Lakes.  They sailed The Saint Lawrence Seaway and explored the Maritime Provinces of Canada, returning to Western New York via the Hudson River and Erie Canal.  On their 25th Anniversary they sailed to Bermuda and back.  Julie was afflicted with breast cancer at 48, but recovered.
In retirement, they sailed south, explored Florida, the Bahamas, and eventually the Caribbean.  A larger boat carried them trans-Atlantic to England, Spain, Portugal, the Mediterranean to the Middle East, and even the Black Sea.  There were more bouts with cancer, but Julie prevailed.  Today, bicycling, has added  zest to their lifestyle.  Hank and Julie still sail and teach sailing on Lake Erie in Western New York in summer.  Winters find them sailing their Rhodes 19, and cycling with the Coastal Cruiser's Bicycle Club in Florida, were he is  currently club president.

November 2018

About this edition

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1719585598
• ISBN 13: 9781719585590
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400
• Illustrator: Danielson Julie C.