Second Voyage: An Atlantic-Mediterranean Circuit 1987-1991

by Bruce Macdonald

Revised Edition (2020)!Do you have dreams of sailing your own boat across the Atlantic, cruising the sunny Mediterranean, meandering through the Greek Islands?  Or are you just looking to experience that vicariously? This tell-it-like-it-is account gives a realistic picture of what it's like. Sure, because the voyage took place 30 years ago, it's not quite the same as it would be it was made without GPS and with few of the electronics or other conveniences that sailors now take for granted, and there have undoubtedly been shoreside changes too. But much remains the same. As MacDonald says, "The conditions you encounter in port or on passage are not that different today—they still have the capacity to annoy, delight, frighten, or frustrate as they always have." Bruce and Liz MacDonald had already made a circumnavigation of the world in the 1970s in a previous boat (as described in MacDonald's compelling book, First Voyage) when they set out in 1987 in their new 35-foot steel boat, home-built from a bare hull. This second, four-year voyage took them first to Central America, then across the Atlantic, into the Mediterranean, and as far east as Turkey before returning across the Atlantic to the Caribbean. The route is conventional, one that many sailors are familiar with, but MacDonald's observations on conditions in the areas they visited, both at sea and in port, are often illuminating, sometimes funny, and always interesting.

As in the previous book, this is no sugar-coated travelogue but a candid, realistic picture of life at sea in a small boat with a two-person crew, the physical and psychological challenges involved, and all the doubts, fears, and anxieties that entails, even for experienced sailors. But there are plenty of adventures ashore too, including a harrowing bus ride in Guatemala, climbing the nearly 8000-foot Pico in the Azores, a delightful winter with an eclectic group of other cruising sailors in a harbor just south of Barcelona, searching for traces of Odysseus on his home island of Ithaca, hiking the Samaria Gorge in Crete, and many others.

Sailing without their son Jeff, who'd been with them on the circumnavigation but was now in college and only visited sporadically, the MacDonalds found the experience significantly different with just the two of them on board, and they faced additional challenges as they often reacted quite differently to the circumstances they found themselves in. How that affected the voyage is also part of the story.

Articulate and engaging, the story is of particular interest to sailors, especially to those contemplating similar voyages, but the personal and psychological emphasis, unusual in cruising narratives, should ensure a broader non-sailors will find plenty of interest here as well.

258 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 1, 2018

Reviews

[Jamie Wheir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect pandemic read

I'm a sailor that's always dreamed of extended cruising in protected waters. Pandemic has us locked down, goals change rapidly, relationships are strained and strengthened. Bureaucratic nonsense dashes plans and increases anxiety. The travels of the McDonald's highlighted the strength we have to survive, the importance of attitude, and the rewards of a true partnership. I've read many sailing books, but few have shared this degree of emotional growth. Thank you!

[James v white · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tells it like it ws

Bruce nd his wife kept wuite good personal logs which im sure heloed him to reinact the experience. He didnt try to sugarcoat their experiences which was appreciated. Heath issues caaaan really effect the enjoyment.

[Ron Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

great sailing story

I enjoyed this book very much,easy read well thought out .
Lots of interesting and informative things that happen on a cruise