A Sailing Odyssey-Malaysia to the Mediterranean

Ever had a secret dream to sail away from the ordinariness of everyday life and plunge yourself into a vastly different world ... to see and do new things and meet new people? This true story is about a sailing odyssey from Malaysia to the Mediterranean. It's about how an ordinary guy initially knowing almost nothing about blue-water ocean sailing, ended up taking his 10 metre catamaran Déjà vu III, 34,000 miles from Australia, through to the Mediterranean. On retirement in 2004 Lloyd had bought a Seawind 1000 catamaran in Sydney, Australia. Sailing Sydney Harbour was a giant learning curve and Lloyd contends that any novice who sails there for six weeks without hitting another vessel, rock, pier, wharf, pontoon or the Manley Ferry will have succeeded in passing a significant lesson in a deep-blue-water apprenticeship. Lloyd first started international sailing in 2007 ... from Australia through Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. This trip only served to whet his appetite for more adventure and he readied for the voyage to the Mediterranean, the focus of this book. To any other long distant cruising hopefuls, Lloyd's advice is - "Sail as many miles as you can, get the experience, then `give the long distant stuff a go' ... just add a little common-sense!" Lloyd finds it hard to explain why, at the age of 73, he's wintering on-board Déjà vu III in Sicily, Italy, awaiting the new sailing season ... maybe it's contentment?