Return to the Sea

Renowned sailor and author Webb Chiles, whose adventures were previously chronicled in A Single Wave, returns with a beautifully written account of his fourth circumnavigation. Chiles departs with his wife, Carol, leaving the bleak winter of Boston Harbor and his despair over the near-fatal loss of his previous vessel, RESURGAM. His joy in being at sea again makes this a joyous and inspiring story. Chiles tempts his readers to make the voyage too, observing some of the great harbors of the world with a true sailor's eye, exploring the Atlantic ports of Portugal, Africa, and Brazil, crossing the Southern Ocean, and finally arriving in Australia. On board THE HAWKE OF TUONELA, he writes lyrically about time and memory at sea, the appeal of lying at anchor off a small village, his hardest passage in a quarter century, and his unique philosophical view of life under sail. Webb Chiles may be sailing's worst lunatic and its best living writer. John Riise, Latitude 38