Book Freedom for a Time Long-distance Sailing, Circumnavigation, Adventure and Lifelong Dream

Every circumnavigation is a love story. Told of men and seas, of women and freedom. And of the realization of long-held dreams. Be warned of these stories. They can trigger acute wanderlust and cause travel fever, even the urgent desire to drop everything right now, get on a boat, and sail away. The only temporary antidote is used boat ads and placing check marks on the globe.

This book traces twelve voyages of German circumnavigators, based on twelve interviews with couples, solo sailors, and one family. Twelve dreams, twelve decisions to let go, twelve instances of complete freedom. But also: storms, capsizing, lack of sleep, empty coffers, and bureaucracy.

All these circumnavigations were undertaken by people just like you and me: no professional sailors, no record-breakers, no super-rich. No bearded salt-humpbacks, no adrenaline junkies. They all share the passion for long-distance sailing, without necessarily having grown up by the sea, let alone been sailors from an early age. And they all demonstrated that a hell of a lot is possible if you just want it.

The approaches could hardly be more different: Some joined a rally around the globe, planning the trip from start to finish and quickly completing it. Others couldn't get enough of sailing and immediately added a second round to their first big tour – only returning to their home port after more than two decades.

And the sailors themselves? Some are young, just twenty, hungry for adventure. Others, a little older, set out with small children or, in the last third of their lives, moved their careers entirely to the water. The ships and routes are just as diverse as the skippers: the range extends from the Barefoot Route to Cape Horn.

The best tips and most interesting anecdotes are shared by the sailors in an interview at the end of each chapter. This, along with the engaging stories, is what makes this book so special. It's a hymn to the spirit of adventure, with the experience of half a million nautical miles under their belts and a hundred years at sea flowing between the lines.