Unlikely Passages

by Reese Palley, Susan LeVan (Illustrator)

Unlikely Passage is a sailor's manifesto. Palley gave up a successfull career as an art dealer while in his late 50s and embraced retirement with a vengeance. He sailed away in his ship Unlikely and circled the globe. In doing so, he created his own universe-a small boat in a large ocean. Through a series of humorous anecdotes and illustrations, insightful observations, and practical information, Palley expounds his unique sailing philosophy.

169 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

Reviews

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The current trend of social media has painted a picture of sailing life as a playground for the young and beautiful, influencers with big followings that make sailing look like a romantic, permanent vacation. Reese is one of the experienced sailers I’ve read — John Kretschmer, Christian Williams, Bernard Moitesseri — that tells it like it is, with irreverent charm. Life experience and a realistic passion for sailing makes Unlikely Passages an entertaining read.

[Premal Vora · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mish-mash of sailing ideas and sailing routes. I started reading this while I was about 80% through Call of the Ancient Mariner. The latter book carries many of his ideas on sailing from the former, but those ideas have crystallized a lot more and he's much more focused. Also, there are no digressions on sailing routes in the latter. Skip this one and read the latter (which I will review separately later).

[Sam O'H]

Entertaining read that I flew through very quickly. Some sage advice mixed into a whole lot of humor.

I was particularly found of Chapter 15, which is titled, "Children Afloat" and reads in its entirety, "It's a damn sight better than having them aboard."

[Ted Swenson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny. For sailors

[Mr. Wakiki · Rating 3 out of 5]

seems the same as Call of the Ancient Mariner