Sailing There

Book excerpt: Looking for a new adventure, Patricia Vellinga and her husband buy a boat-a big boat that turns out to be more a yacht kit than a yacht. Their simple plan is to cruise Europe and the Mediterranean for one year. Their journey, however, is far from routine. As Pat and Ray motor through the canals of Holland, Belgium, and France, then sail to Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Spain, they find beauty and danger, towering locks, salty characters, peaceful anchorages, treacherous winds-and even a forest fire. Forced at gunpoint to cast off into the raging Sane River, they struggle to safety. Even so, they get hooked on a cruising lifestyle that takes them well beyond their one-year plan. Sailing There, Cruising Across Europe and the Mediterranean is a rich and entertaining tale of a couple's lively voyage with the wind through ancient ports and history."