Slow Boat to the Bahamas

“Boredom drove me to boating.  There was little else to do…the heat was oppressive . . . the water provided the best relief from the July swelter at 17 degrees north latitude.” Linus Wilson, During a vacation to Antigua

Linus and his then-pregnant wife, Janna, took sailing lessons in Antigua during one of their last vacations before the birth of their daughter. At the time, they did it out boredom and for relief from the heat, but in their quest to cool down and find something to do, they were hooked. And so the story begins.

Once they returned home, Linus and Janna took more lessons in New Orleans. Next, the search was on for a sailboat of their own, which in itself was another adventure. They purchased Penelope, a 1969 30-foot Hinterhoeller, for $4600. The first time out sailing, Janna was steering and crashed into the dock. Three gaping holes were the result and they were truly christened — they were sailors!

In Slow Boat to the Bahamas, Wilson covers everything new sailors experience in a light and sometimes comical way — from learning to sail, to getting to know a boat, to the joys of costly repairs and maintenance, to anything and everything that can go wrong during cruising. He takes readers through an all-inclusive narrative of the planning and charting of his voyage, and chronicles the cruise itself, including the people he meets along the way, the lessons learned, and advice for would-be future cruisers.

Though Linus Wilson never considered sailing, once he took hold of the tiller, he was hooked. He chronicles, in a finely detailed logbook fashion, his journey from sailing lessons to finding the right boat, repairing (costly) and refitting his vessel, and finally, sailing to the Bahamas. Seasoned cruisers and armchair sailors alike will find Slow Boat to the Bahamas a valuable addition to their boating book collection.

Slow Boat to the Bahamas by Linus Wilson (Oxriver Publishing, 2015, 350 pages)