Old Boat

Orphaned at five, nothing held Whidden back from embarking on sea life seven years later. Serving as an apprentice, he quickly proved his worth and earned himself a mate's position by his early 20s. Graduating to third, second, and first office, he ended his career in command of, and having part-ownership of, his own vessel. Ocean Life in the Old Sailing Ship Days records a series of real events from his childhood impressions of rough and ready seamen to his thrilling and brutal experiences of war.

When COVID-19 struck the UK, the government advised the over-70s to "shield" while the country went into lockdown. One old man went sailing instead. Single-handed and self-isolated, retired journalist John Passmore used the pandemic to achieve an ambition that had eluded him for 60 years. For 3,629 miles, he disappeared into a world of perfect solitude, adventure, and adversity, arriving back 42 days later, short of water and with shredded sails, to find himself celebrated on national radio as the embodiment of everybody’s lockdown dream. This is his story.

On May 15, 2010, after 210 days at sea and more than 22,000 nautical miles, 16-year-old Jessica Watson sailed her 33-foot boat triumphantly back to land. She had done it. She was the youngest person to sail solo, unassisted, and nonstop around the world. Jessica spent years preparing for this moment, years focused on achieving her dream. Yet only eight months before, she collided with a 63,000-ton freighter. It seemed to many that she’d failed before she’d even begun, but Jessica brushed herself off, held her head high, and kept going.

In this classic tale of true-life adventure, David and Daniel Hays, a father and son, sail 17,000 miles from Connecticut to Cape Horn and back. Together they complete this odyssey and join a select group to successfully sail the Drake Passage in a small vessel. It is also the story of conquering inner struggles as well as great distances.

The author of Bad Land realizes a lifelong dream as he navigates the waters of the Mississippi River in a spartan sixteen-foot motorboat, producing yet another masterpiece of contemporary American travel writing.

A stunningly inventive, deeply moving fiction debut: stories that take us from the slums of Colombia to the streets of Tehran; from New York City to Iowa City; from a tiny fishing village in Australia to a foundering vessel in the South China Sea, in a masterly display of literary virtuosity and feeling.

Autumn 1941 and a fierce war rages amid the treacherous waters of the Dover Strait. It is fought by the gun and torpedo boats of Britain’s Coastal Forces: fast, frail vessels that do battle against the best of Germany’s Kriegsmarine. The crews are mainly volunteers; men plucked from civilian life and new to the maelstrom of brutal combat. Each take a different route to meet such a personal challenge and prove every bit as powerful, and vulnerable, as the craft in which they serve. The gripping naval action in Hellfire Corner is set against a backdrop of war-ravaged Dover, a town reeling...

Emily Winters would do anything for her best friend Josie. Every week they meet for a catch-up at the Old Boathouse - an idyllic little café by the Thames where Josie’s boyfriend Jack works. As the summer draws on, life seems perfect. Emily’s writing career is taking off and she’s throwing herself into the dating scene. There’s just one problem: she compares all the men she meets to Jack. And none of them measure up.

In this collection on love and loss, hopes and dreams, and memory and regret, The Old Men Who Row Boats and Other Stories takes the listener on an insightful journey through Spain and Portugal. These 14 stories convey real emotion through compelling, simple language and human interaction that resonates in the authentic beauty of small moments.

They shut me away for my safety. They should have triple checked the lock. My bodyguard Jamie is my shadow. He escorts me everywhere; he plans my days. He’s so damn beautiful that maybe I wouldn’t mind, except this has already gone on too long. There’s a whole city out there. A world to explore. Music, laughter, life. That’s why I do it: dive out of the car and disappear into the crowd. Why I run off to spend my stolen hours with a gorgeous musician and the captain of a riverboat. Jamie’s always so serious. Well, it’s time to play a game. Count to ten, Jamie. Then come find me...

Captain John Whidden was an American merchant sailor who sailed all over the world. He wrote this work in 1908, partly as a memoir, but also to offer a snippet of the “old sailing ship days” before major changes occurred. It is a story of a boy from New England and his various roles on ships from the age of 12 to 37. He documents the changes in the shipping industry over the 19th and into the 20th century.

Time for Grandpa Mike to pass on his love of messing about in boats. Granddaughters Dee-Dee and Effie already live with the Norfolk Broads on their doorstep. Now he and their parents have presented them each with an Optimist sailing dinghy. There are plenty of excellent sailing courses that use this very popular little craft to teach children to sail, but Grandpa Mike adds a few twists of his own to the basic course.

She never thought she'd fall for a younger man, but with Cee, it was so easy... There aren't enough hours in the day, and struggling single mom Jes just can't make it alone. Fortunately, a fantastic nanny just became available. Stacey is the perfect candidate: Young, college educated, glowing references... Trouble is, the nanny is a manny! The last thing Jes expects is a tall, muscular, handsome stranger on her porch looking for work as a nanny. The last thing Jess wants is a new man complicating her life. But Jes needs the help and there's no one better for the job than Stacey "Cee" Cook. ...

After crossing paths with a banshee in Ireland, Samantha Moon and the gang continue their whirlwind European tour... Next stop: Loch Ness. Sam books a two-hour tour of the infamous Loch with her friends and family. And even makes a Gilligan's Island joke or two. However, fun and games end when Allison accidentally sends the boat back in time... Seventy million years back in time, when plesiosaurus ruled the Loch. However, these gentle giants don't quite rule the Loch; indeed, something bigger does. Something nasty, huge and hungry. It's going to take all of the gang's combined skills to not...

It was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime... Johnny and his new bride, Clem, have arrived in Turkey for a year's honeymoon. Young, blissfully happy but poor, they are surviving on love, luck, and a spirit of adventure. So when a boat appears, crewed by a bohemian couple, they do not think twice about stepping on board. But all is not as it seems. And when they finally open their eyes to the truth, the boat is in the middle of the vast open sea....

This sixth volume of the Hobbs series shows how a caring, inter-generational community can help everyone make the right connections. After a dark winter of loss and isolation, the summer people are returning, including forty-something Melissa Morgenstern, a trust lawyer from Boston. Melissa has been working remotely since the pandemic began. She has temporarily moved to Maine to comfort her widowed mother. Up to now, Melissa’s devotion to her tight-knit Jewish family and her legal career have made relationships difficult. Town doctor, Liz Stolz introduces her to the new assistant ...

God tells you He is going to put an end to the human race. Then you learn you are one of only eight people He plans to save. It gets worse. He wants you to build a boat to start over. How crazy is that? Does He even know how old you are? Will you obey? Read about the one man who did.

James Webb lost his son a year ago. Grief has drained all the joy from his life and left him with an all-consuming need to avenge his boy’s death. But it's not as though he can rely on the police to catch the killer... since it's not human. The first documented case of an orca killing a human in the wild has baffled local scientists; it’s not supposed to happen. However, a chaotic cell phone video shows his son's last moments while water skiing, and two things are clear: an orca dragged his son under the water, and the whale had a distinctive mark on its back. A year to the day of ...

Dayla: Even if it is just a bodily function, and I’m not saying it is, does true love exist? It’s not always easy, but we’re the ones who make it harder than it has to be. Still, why would I trust the dream? I don’t trust anyone. Except maybe her. Jillien: You can’t make someone love you, but I’ll sure give it a try. I’ve had it before and lost it. Hard. But that’s exactly why I know it’s real this time too. Plus, there’s all kinds of love. I’m just looking for the one they call a dream, though I know for a fact it can be real. Don’t I? Join the suspense, and we’re...

Trey is an actor, beautiful and bored. Every night, he beds a different man, and every morning he wakes up looking for a new one...until Jordan comes along to find Trey relaxing on a nude beach. Little does Trey know, but he'll be relaxing a lot more soon...into a deep, obedient hypnotic trance! Even this Hollywood playboy can fall in love when his suitor discovers that he has a profound desire to submit to a powerful older man. Especially when that older man has his own sailing ship...