Big adventures on the high seas—from one of the greatest seafaring writers of our age
Hal Roth’s vivid, authentic tales of the sea have riveted readers around the world for forty years. Here, in one volume, are three of his classic sea stories, each one a white-knuckled, rail-down voyage into the unknown.
A hard-working San Francisco husband and wife abandon their jobs, their security, and, some would say, their sanity to sail their 35-foot sloop to Japan and back—the long way! Over the next nineteen months, they discover exotic islands, fascinating people, and a whole new way of life.
A few years later these intrepid voyagers decide to try their luck against Cape Horn, but they will need a lot more than luck to survive the vicious storms, violent seas, and perilous shores of the world’s most dangerous stretch of water.
Then nine courageous sailors accept a challenge to do what has never been done before: to race alone, in a small sailboat, around the world—nonstop. Only one will complete the race; seven will be forced to withdraw, and one will simply disappear.
“Roth writes with grace, humor, and poetic insight about the vastness and beauty of the ocean.”—Library Journal
“By all means read all of Hal Roth you can find.”—Practical Sailor
“Roth’s books about his life at sea, including Two on a Big Ocean and Two Against Cape Horn, are universally listed among the most influential sailing books ever published.”—SpinSheet
“Roth can charm you out of your armchair.”—Kirkus
Hal Roth left his career as a journalist and editor more than thirty-five years ago and, with his wife, Margaret, went sailing. Since then, they have crossed all the oceans of the world and sailed to a thousand foreign ports and anchorages. Hal also raced twice around the world singlehanded, in the BOC Challenges of 1986-87 and 1990-91. He has accumulated 200,000 voyaging miles and has sailed to the Aleutian Islands, Japan, the North American West Coast, throughout the South Pacific, around South America, the Caribbean, the U.S. East Coast, Newfoundland, Labrador, and the Indian Ocean, Red Sea, and Mediterranean. He has crossed the Pacific five times and the Atlantic eleven times and has rounded Cape Horn three times. A graceful writer and accomplished photographer, Hal has written eight books about his adventures and one how-to book, After 50,000 Miles, which has sold more than 60,000 copies in its various editions. Two Against Cape Horn, Two on a Big Ocean, and Always a Distant Anchorage rank among the true classics of voyaging literature. He is one of the worlds half dozen most accomplished sailing writers. HOMETOWN: St. Michaels, MD
