Somewheres East of Suez [Paperback]

In 1983 Tristan Jones had his left leg amputated. After a long and arduous lifetime at sea, it would have been understandable if he had made his way far inland carrying a pair of oars over his shoulder, until someone asked: What are those things you re carrying?' And there he would settle down.But not him. Instead, he acquired a 38 ft (11.6 m) trimaran and set out to sail around the world. This book is the third episode of an extraordinary saga. The first, Outward Leg, told of his voyage from San Diego to London; the second, The Improbable Voyage, of his journey from the North Sea, through the rivers of Central Europe, to the Black Sea; and in this final installment he sails 8,000 miles from Istanbul to Thailand.The trip is hardly what one might call pleasant. Along the way, he and his two young crew battle with life-threatening encounters with terrorists, warring nations, tropical cyclones and the vast, windless expanse of the Indian Ocean, where he and his crew fight to survive on a dwindling ration of water. Jones meets all these problems head-on with his usual mix of stubborn resourcefulness and acerbic wit. Not one to suffer fools gladly, our Tristan. A gritty, compelling read from a man who refused to accept society's restraints and who has become something of a national maritime treasure.At the end of The Improbable Voyage, the author and his German crewman Thomas were heading for Turkish waters on Outward Leg, a 38-foot trimaran. Jones here takes up his narrative in Istanbul. The first stop of the continuing voyage eastward is Israel, where a young Swede, Svante, comes aboard, and the trio sets off for the Suez Canal and the Red Sea, where Jones had sailed on Barbara 16 years earlier (The Incredible Voyage). On the 1400-mile passage of the Red Sea, they dodge ship traffic, reefs, challenges by Egyptian and North Yemeni soldiers and a terrifying storm. Because of political unrest, visits ashore were few (Port Sudan and Aden, South Yemen). They run into a monsl3Ë