The Years Thunder by

Book excerpt: An exhilarating story of one man's solo sailing adventure from England to Australia by small boat, Nick Jaffe's very personal account of his journey is by turns thrilling, melancholic, funny, and philosophical. The book invites readers to contemplate the questions a vast ocean might pose to us - not merely what it might mean to exist, but what we might risk by not risking everything.Part memoir, part travelogue, part adventure, part searching for the meaning of life, 'The Years Thunder by' chronicles a voyage across two oceans, a continent, and the very lengths one would go to fulfill a dream - from learning how to sail, living on a shoestring, encountering tremendous generosity and navigating the emotions and complexities of facing oneself against the mirror of the sea. From England across the North sea to Holland and south along the west coast of Europe - the Canary Islands to the Caribbean and north to New York, across the continent to San Francisco and beyond to Hawaii, Palmyra Atoll and the South Pacific, Nick Jaffe takes us on a voyage spanning four years aboard his 26ft boat named Constellation.