Encounters of a Wayward Sailor
Tristan Jones
Here is Tristan Jones, the great teller of sea stories with a new
collection of yarns, reminiscences and adventures never before published in book form.
Drawing on experiences from a lifetime at sea, Jones uses his acute powers of
observation and his gift with the written word to transport us aboard boats struggling
through savage gales, sweltering through parched calms, and sliding down the trade winds
through beautiful phosphorescent seas.
We meet famous mountain climber and sailing adventurer Bill Tilman,
long-distance voyager and writer Bernard Moitessier, and pioneering woman sailor Clare
Francis, as well as a panoply of memorable characters who inevitably crossed Jones' path.
With a special poignancy and his wry sense of humor, Jones brings
back to life people, places, and boats now gone forever. He recalls the best
anchorages he visited, the many boats he sailed, his favorite cities, and his most
memorable voyages. And for veteran Tristan Jones readers, Encounters of a
Wayward Sailor offers a glimpse of his last years in Thailand.
Tristan Jones was one of the most prolific and
best-loved authors of sailing stories. A Welshman, he left school at age 14 to work
on sailing barges and spent the rest of his life at sea--in the Royal Navy, as a delivery
skipper, and as a daring adventurer in search of new seagoing challenges. The author
of 16 books, Jones lived in Phuket, Thailand for ten years until his death in June 1995.
