The Sea Inside - Softcover

Randall Williams

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0615259898 ISBN 13: 9780615259895

Publisher: Musafir, 2008

Synopsis

Almost thirty and recently divorced, Randall Williams began re-creating his life by selling virtually everything he owned and moving into a 20 sailboat that he bought for eight hundred dollars. His plan: sail his little floating home single-handedly from Scandinavia to North Africa, despite having practically no previous sailing experience.

About this title

About the Author

Randall Williams explodes onto the scene like a bolt of lightening. Rich Warren, Sing Out! In 2002, I graduated from the Royal Conservatory of Mons, Belgium with a degree in classical vocal performance at the head of my class. But I was already fed up with classical music I couldn t stand the division between performer and audience. And ao I returned to the world of traveling, writing songs in train stations and sleeping on couches, then singing and playing on street corners, cafés, and pubs. For a time I lived aboard a 20 sailboat that I bought for $800, teaching myself how to sail by single-handing through the Baltic and North Seas with my guitar sleeping in the berth beside him at night. I wrote a book about the trip, which begins with the story of almost getting squashed by a tanker before dawn one morning in the North Sea. Absolutely outstanding live performance. Jim Kloss, Whole Wheat Radio In January of 2008, I put out a CD called Praying For Land. It s a well-made thing, all polished and shiny in the right spots. Dave Weber produced it, and did a fantastic job. And I did several discs before that, including One Night in Louisiana, a live CD with a few international songs. More about those on the music page.

Review

Struggling with a failed marriage, self-doubt, and serious depression, Williams, who has never sailed before, buys a boat and takes off from Sweden, heading toward Morocco. The amazing part of the story is that he survived to write this. Not so surprising is that the challenges he faces on a daily basis teach him to trust himself and understand his strengths and limitations. He even ends up a pretty good sailor. A lot of waves, weather, and near misses combine with an honest running account of his psyche. A rocky ride and a good read --Review by Rita Golden Gelman Author, Tales of a Female Nomad, Living at Large in the World

Big heart, big dream, big emotional issues, big water and one small boat combine forces to create a huge metaphor for life. Once again, the lessons about ourselves, our capacity for resilience and perseverance prove themselves to be true for another young man on the healing sea, going out in search of shelter, coming back to find his home shore lies within. --Tania Aebi, author Maiden Voyage

"The Person Inside" I believe it was G. I. Gurdjieff who likened an individual to a traveling coach, pulled by horses. The coach is the body; the horses are the emotions which provide the drive; the coachman is the intellect, which must reign in and guide the emotions; but what is the true self, the reality of the person? It is the owner of the coach, fast asleep inside. Once he wakes, he can assume command of all the facets of his existence, and complete his journey of fulfillment. Let's change this a bit: instead of a coach, we have a 20-foot sailboat, driven by the wind, which perhaps can be considered the spiritual drive. Inside, in varying degrees of spiritual awakening, isRandall Williams, the author of "The Sea Inside." This fascinating book details his simultaneous journeys: the physical trek from Sweden to Morocco, and the interior quest, as the "personality" with which he negotiates the world discovers its true nature as a Person. I am a confirmed landlubber, but I willingly got on board the "Inshallah" with Williams, as he describes the sorry state of his despondent life, flirting with self-destruction, yet following some strange compelling whim to buy a boat, learn to sail, and take off solo across the Baltic and North Seas. Yes, it's a "rite of passage" sort of memoir, but an excellent example of the genre. Detailed descriptions of marine equipment and vivid scenes of conditions at sea alternate with honest appraisals of his emotional ebbs and flows, and the havoc he sometimes wreaks in, and the joy he sometimes brings to, the lives of others. "The Sea Inside" takes its place on my shelf next to Robert Pirsig's "Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance" and William Least Heat-Moon's "River-Horse." I must add that I have met Randall Williams several times, and though we hadn't a chance to talk in depth, I was as enchanted by his music as I am by this book. --birdarise, lulu.com

Edition details

• Publisher: Musafir
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0615259898
• ISBN 13: 9780615259895
• Binding: Perfect Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 232
• Editor: Musafir
• Illustrator: Kristin Joy Pratt