Becoming a Sailor

A Singlehand Sailing Adventure

By: Paul Trammell

Narrated by: Paul Trammell

From the author of Journey to the Ragged Islands, The Gold Box, Chasing the Nomadic Dream, and Sailing to Newfoundland....

A story of overcoming adversity and chasing a dream....

A blueprint for making the change from landlubber to ocean sailor....

The story is told beginning with the vision and desire to sail on the ocean, through the training and education, buying a boat, gaining experience, and finally embarking on a 1000nm journey to bring the boat home, singlehanded.

An immersive nonfiction adventure story, Becoming a Sailor captures the scene as one would experience it. Becoming a Sailor also goes into technical detail about the repairs and additions to Sobrius, a 1972 Dufour Arpege, as well as the techniques the author had to learn in order to sail singlehanded on multiday passages. The narrative moves back and forth in time, from the author's adventures leading up to the purchase of Sobrius to the final journey, singlehanded, from Tampa Bay to The Dry Tortugas, then Miami, and finally to St. Augustine.

All the unknowns of the author's first singlehanded voyage lead to a fascinating experience, which is shared with vivid description of both scene and mind in this gripping tale of adventure at sea.

Fear is there for us to face, and adventure waits on the other side.

©2017 Paul Tramnmell (P)2023 Paul Trammell

Unique Story on chasing sailing dream

It is as much of a story on looking inward and reflecting on priorities as it is how to start sailing. His philosophy of life and his past keeps it interesting.

overall good.

Its a pretty good book. Sometimes repetitive, though. I about fell over when he says he's been working hard, putting 40 hour weeks...

More like “Being a Diver and Surfer”

Paul’s accomplishments are significant personal victories, and he has interesting tales to tell, but for a book entitled “Becoming a Sailor,” I felt way too much time was spent talking about his other passions, causing his actual passages to seem uneventful and in need of filler content.

Starts off relevant, but becomes tangential

I really like the parts of the book that actually describe the authors trials and tribulations in the process of acquiring, rebuilding, and sailing his boat. I also like the references to the author's reading library, many of which I have also read. I dislike the tangents that become more and more common the farther in the book the reader dives, such as the whole section that describes the author's belief in the need for human population control, opinions on the exotic pet trade, and advocacy on attempting lucid dreaming. Quite frankly, the stories of practical sailing are enjoyable, but when the author becomes started on a self-rightous tangent, feel free to skip the next 10 minutes to get back on topic.

Inspiring

Loved every minute. Being at the beginning of my own journey, this really helped reinforce my aspirations. I’ll listen a second time soon.