A “unique and arresting” memoir of seafaring adventures from the small boat sailor and author of Ice! and The Incredible Voyage (Motorboat & Yachting). Tristan Jones was one of the most acclaimed sea-faring storytellers ever. The combative Welshman was born at sea on a ship off Tristan da Cunha. He dropped out of school at 14 to work on sailing barges, and then spent the rest of his life at sea—-first in the Royal Navy, then as a delivery skipper, then as a daring adventurer. SAGA OF A WAYWARD SAILOR tells the tale of one of his most exciting adventures. Jones sails through treacherous waters aboard the Cresswell, a lifeboat converted into a sailboat, struggling to survive against impossible odds. He makes it through violent storms, arrest by the Soviet Navy, and other extraordinary experiences. Join Tristan Jones and a host of other lively and intriguing characters, as this salty and humorous tale unfolds.

From the acclaimed teller of such classic yarns as A STEADY TRADE, THE INCREDIBLE VOYAGE, and HEART OF OAK, ENCOUNTERS OF A WAYWARD SAILOR is wonderful collection of true stories from one of the great storytellers of the sea. Drawing on experiences from a lifetime at sea, Tristan Jones uses his acute powers of observation and his gift with for telling tales to transport us aboard boats struggling through savage gales, sweltering through parched calms, and sliding down the trade winds through beautiful, phosphorescent seas. With a special poignancy and his unique, wry sense of humor, Jones brings back to life people--like sailing adventurer Bill Tilman, long-distance voyager Bernard Moitessier, and pioneering woman sailor Clare Francis--as well as the places and boats lost to time. He recalls his favorite ports, his treasured cities, and his most memorable voyages.

"His real name was Arthur Jones. He was born in Liverpool in 1929, the illegitimate son of a working-class Lancashire girl, and he grew up in orphanages with little education. Too young to see action in the World War II naval battles he would later write about so movingly, he joined the Royal Navy in 1946 and served fourteen unremarkable years." "Arthur Jones then bought an old sailboat and tried his hand at smuggling whiskey cross-Channel. In his early thirties he sailed into a Mediterranean limbo, scraping a living from charters by day and haunting the bars of Ibiza by night. When he was drunk, which was often, he could be loud and obnoxious and had the scars to prove it. He had no family, no attachments, no accomplishments." "Then came a midlife sea change. Arthur Jones looked into his future, imagined greatness, and began to claw his way to it. Having taught himself to sail, he taught himself to write. He was a natural at both. As Tristan Jones, in his midforties, he sailed out of Brazil's Mato Grosso and into a Greenwich Village apartment to write six books in three years and reinvent his past." "The Tristan Jones of his books was born in a storm at sea in 1924 on his father's tramp steamer; was torpedoed three times in epic World War II engagements; completed the first circumnavigation of Iceland; traveled farther north and farther up the Amazon River than any sailor before him; and sailed more than 400,000 miles, 180,000 of them solo. Readers loved his books and crowded his lectures and signings. He had a bard's voice and a street performer's delivery. He had more reknown than he could have dreamed." "Having invented a life, Tristan Jones tried to live it. After the amputation of his left leg in 1982 he sailed more than halfway around the world. He lost his right leg in 1991 yet still returned briefly to sea. But as his body failed him, so too did his spirits. It was as if the life from which he'd bodily lifted himself were pulling him down again. He died a bitter man."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Emerging from the South American wilderness after adventures related in The Incredible Voyage, Tristan Jones finally makes it home to Britain to find his vessel, the tiny, nearly indestructible Sea Dart, impounded by customs officials because he cannot pay the import tax. In his quest for the means to liberate his boat, he takes any work he can get: stoking the boilers at Harrod's, regaling TV talk show viewers with wild stories, and in New York skippering one-day around the lighthouse cruises

In 1983 Tristan Jones, well known as one of the finest sailing adventure writers of our time, had his left leg amputated. Refusing to become landbound after a lifetime at sea, he acquired a specially designed, virtually untippable 38-foot trimaran and began to sail around the world. Outward Leg is the tale of his intrepid voyage from San Diego to London. The Improbable Voyage chronicles his heroic journey along an unusual and hazardous route from the North Sea, through the rivers of Central Europe, to the Black Sea. In Somewheres East of Suez, the final installment of this extraordinary saga, Tristan sails eight thousand miles from Istanbul to Thailand. From the tourist- and terrorist-dominated ports of the eastern Mediterranean to African outposts peopled with famine refugees, Tristan maintains the unique perspective of a man who has had minimal contact with society's restraints, using his acerbic wit to spare no fools and offer biting social commentary. After barely escaping with his life in South Yemen, he sets off for the Far East, determined to win out against the difficulties of his disability, whether battling a tropical cyclone or surviving on a dwindling ration of fresh water in the vast windless expanse of the Indian Ocean.

Ancient Chinese legends tell of heroic attempts to navigate the waterways of the Kra peninsula which divides the Andaman Sea from the Gulf of Thailand. Yet despite efforts over the last century by expeditions from several Western navies, there was no record of a successful crossing—none, that is, until renowned sailor Tristan Jones took on the challenge. To Venture Further is the inspiring story of this memorable exploit by one of the finest sailing adventure writers of our time. Accompanied by his German mate, Thomas, and three disabled Thai youths, Jones makes the short but exceedingly difficult passage across the Kra in a small seagoing fishing boat. Facing floating debris, homemade dams, mechanical failure, and precariously low funds, Jones—whose left leg was amputated several years before—remains determined to win out against all obstacles, no matter how insurmountable they seem. With characteristically acerbic wit, Jones offers shrewd commentary on the Westernization of modern Thailand, bemoaning the destruction of a once-idyllic land. And whether confronting a band of raucous teenage monks, outwitting pirates in the Gulf of Thailand, or cruising a dry riverbed by hitching his boat onto an elephant, he continues to exhibit the awesome stubbornness and implacable courage of a man willing to sacrifice all comforts for the unknown and seemingly impossible.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Son, we’re going to Hell." The navigator of the USS Houston confided these prophetic words to a young officer as he and his captain charted a course into U.S. naval legend. Renowned as FDR’s favorite warship, the cruiser USS Houston was a prize target trapped in the far Pacific after Pearl Harbor. Without hope of reinforcement, her crew faced a superior Japanese force ruthlessly committed to total conquest. It wasn’t a fair fight, but the men of the Houston would wage it to the death. Hornfischer brings to life the awesome terror of nighttime naval battles that turned decks into strobe-lit slaughterhouses, the deadly rain of fire from Japanese bombers, and the almost superhuman effort of the crew as they miraculously escaped disaster again and again–until their luck ran out during a daring action in Sunda Strait. There, hopelessly outnumbered, the Houston was finally sunk and its survivors taken prisoner. For more than three years their fate would be a mystery to families waiting at home. In the brutal privation of jungle POW camps dubiously immortalized in such films as The Bridge on the River Kwai, the war continued for the men of the Houston—a life-and-death struggle to survive forced labor, starvation, disease, and psychological torture. Here is the gritty, unvarnished story of the infamous Burma–Thailand Death Railway glamorized by Hollywood, but which in reality mercilessly reduced men to little more than animals, who fought back against their dehumanization with dignity, ingenuity, sabotage, will–power—and the undying faith that their country would prevail. Using journals and letters, rare historical documents, including testimony from postwar Japanese war crimes tribunals, and the eyewitness accounts of Houston’s survivors, James Hornfischer has crafted an account of human valor so riveting and awe-inspiring, it’s easy to forget that every single word is true. BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from James D. Hornfischer's Neptune's Inferno.

A lot of people know something about transsexualism, but not much. And a lot of what they do know is incorrect. This book was written for those who are not sure about their gender or sexuality; the family members of those who are not sure of their gender or sexuality; the professional counsellors for those who are not sure of their gender or sexuality; and for those who have absolutely no question about their gender or sexuality, but will eventually interact with those who do.

A kingdom hangs in the balance as a young acolyte shoulders a knight’s errand to rescue the King. Tested in more ways than one, Quentin must face life outside of the temple as he is swept up in the political uncertainty of the court and ventures out on an Arthurian quest across the lands in hopes of reaching the King before it’s too late. This crossover YA political fantasy features religious undertones. Quentin had always thought his calling was to be an acolyte at the temple and live a simple life far from adventure or service to the crown – until a waylaid knight with a mortal wound implores the priests to finish his errand to the castle. Unsure but convicted, Quentin offers to finish the quest not knowing the fate of the kingdom rest on his shoulders. In Arthurian fashion, Quentin is thrown headfirst into the political scheming of the court where Prince Jaspin is trying to usurp the throne for himself while the King has mysteriously disappeared. As Quentin sets out to find the King, he learns that the balance of good and evil are weighing on the scales and time is running out. Tangle in a new destiny, Quentin must rely on his friends and companions as they journey towards an uncertain future filled with ancient secrets and unimaginable obstacles. In The Hall of the Dragon King readers will find: Christian allegory and themes A sweeping Arthurian styled epic fantasy about hope, destiny, and purpose Crossover appeal for young adult and adult readers A coming of age story with religious undertones In this first book of the Dragon King Trilogy, Stephen R. Lawhead has deftly woven a timeless epic of war, adventure, fantasy, and political intrigue perfect for fans of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series, Megan Whalen Turner’s The Queen’s Thief series, and Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle.