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Flirting With Mermaids: The Unpredictable Life of a Sailboat Delivery Skipper
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About Flirting With Mermaids: The Unpredictable Life Of A
Product Description In fifteen years of making landfalls, the author has had numerous sailing adventures including a voyage around Cape Horn, a winter crossing of the North Atlantic with Force 13 winds, and an unusual research voyage in the Caribbean. Review "I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the idea of bluewater sailing." -- Good Old Boat, May/June 2000 "Kretschmer's breezy, self-deprecating and genuinely warm style is perfectly suited..." -- Living Aboard, February 2000 For anyone not smitten by long-distance sailing, the fascination with this grueling, sometimes dangerous labor is difficult to fathom. Yet reading about Kretschmer's extreme adventures from the safety of land is both exhilarating and absorbing. -- Sun-Sentinel, May 3, 1999 I have a very simple yardstick for determining the quality of a book. I ask myself, "Do I wish I'd written it?" Oftentimes the answer is, "No, thank heavens!" In this case, however, there's no question that I wish I'd authored this book. Kretschmer is far more than just an extremely experienced sailor--he's also a poet, a philosopher, a romantic, and like most sailors, an optimist. The book is filled with a myriad of sea stories--all eminently readable--as well as a salting of practical information about sailboats and the sea, all delivered with a wry and self-deprecating sense of humor. Kretschmer once doubled Cape Horn in a tiny boat, and the fame from that venture launched him on his career as a delivery skipper, which he tells with both humor and a sense of adventure. There were times when I couldn't put the book down, and times when I found myself laughing out loud. . .From a bizarre research expedition with a group of Swedes hunting for the ancient Mayan navy to a rough mid-winter crossing of the North Atlantic, Kretschmer's tale unfolds like a comfortably worn chart. I'd be surprised if you don't enjoy Flirting With Mermaids, and like me, hope that John Kretschmer writes again soon. -- Sailing Magazine, September 1999 From the Back Cover "As a professional delivery captain, John Kretschmer has done more offshore passagemaking in his first 40 years than most serious sailors do in a lifetime. Part romantic, part poet, part philosopher and 100% optimist, Kretschmer shows his uncanny ability to deliver the wrong yacht in the wrong direction across the wrong ocean at the wrong time of year time and time again, yet end every delivery with the boat safely in port, a smile on his face, good friends at his side, and a few dollars in his pocket. A great story of adventure well-told with warm humor and affection." - Milt Baker, Bluewater Books & Charts "John Kretschmer is a superb seaman, a master story teller, and a delivery skipper of vast experience. His tales of tropical passages and Atlantic gales, of near sinkings and quirky owners will appeal to anyone who dreams of far horizons and tropical beaches. He has written a book of rollicking humor and abundant common sense that any sailor will find hard to put down." - Brian Fagan, author, archaeologist, and sailor "Not only has John Kretschmer lived a life wildly festooned with adventure, romance and outrageous characters - his reality outstrapping our most Walter Mittyesque sea fantasies - now he has gone and turned it all into a collection of yarns that incite yet more envy among those of us stuck behind landbound computers. "Not only can the sailor sail - through hurricanes and civil wars - but the sailor can write. It's a hell of a read. It's just not fair." - Fred Grimm, Miami Herald columnist "Flirting with Mermaids follows John as he delivers a variety of boats around the world, from aging hulks with a fondness for the bottom to luxury yachts owned by would-be circumnavigators. While he's doing this, with a conscripted crew of friends, relatives, his wife, and total strangers found holding empty glasses at beach bars, he's also learning about navigating the uncharted territory of his heart. "Th
