Sea Change: Alone Across the Atlantic in a Wooden Boat - Softcover

Nichols, Peter

4.17

256 ratings by Goodreads

9780140264135: Sea Change: Alone Across the Atlantic in a Wooden Boat

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140264132 ISBN 13: 9780140264135

Publisher: Penguin Books, 1998

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In a meditation on sailing, the sea, and the mysteries of love, the author chronicles his and his wife's voyage aboard a wooden boat across the Atlantic from the Caribbean to England, where his marriage foundered, and his return solo odyssey, which also became a journey of self-discovery. Reprint.

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Review:

When your marriage fails and life in England gives no solace, the solution, thought Peter Nichols, is to take his beloved boat Toad and sail across the Atlantic to Maine. Nichols, who has spent years sailing small boats but who is far from a wealthy yachtsman, had lovingly restored his 27-foot boat with his former wife. At sea, he reflects upon the busted marriage and upon the odd turns his life has taken. He also engages in some fascinating thoughts detailing the rigors of sailing single-handedly across an ocean. This book is very well written, and as Nichols slowly realizes that Toad has a flaw below the waterline making her less than seaworthy, it turns into a poignant battle for survival on the open ocean.

From the Back Cover:

Many people go down to the sea in ships, but few write as movingly of the experience as Peter Nichols does in this enthralling meditation on the wonders of sailing, the mystery of the sea, and the ebb and flow of love.With only a sextant, his instincts as a seasoned sailor, and a boat filled with memories of his floundering marriage, Nichols sets out alone from England headed toward Maine, where he plans to sell his beloved, twenty-seven-foot, engineless boat, Toad. Halfway across the ocean, his boat springs a leak and his voyage becomes a desperate struggle to survive. Filled with clear, luminous prose, Sea Change is a classic tale of a man struggling to come to terms with his reckless spirit, his highest hopes, and his broken dreams.

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