Days of Déjà vu [Kindle Edition]

Jonathan Reid (Author)

Book Description

Born land-locked six hundred miles from the nearest ocean, this is an autobiography of an ordinary man with an extraordinary dream of building a sea going yacht and sailing the world.

Opening on the threshold of wild transition in South Africa in the 1970s, the author and his American wife struggle to build a sailing vessel on the outskirts of Johannesburg, whose skyline soon erupts in black clouds of fire and revolution.

Through all the struggles of personal relationships, exodus, poverty, sorrow, and loss, the dream of the sail remains constant. As that dream becomes reality, the story tells of an inexperienced crew battling rough seas, mind numbing calms, near death experiences, solo sailing for thousands of miles, land adventures with distant south sea tribes, and through it all, a constant wonder and appreciation of the amazing world we live in.

There are lessons to be learned from the author's homespun philosophy, honesty, and mistakes, as well as a wealth of sailing facts and accounts of the fascinating places the author and crew visit, all woven together in an amazingly vivid account of this decade long adventure through the oceans of the world.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE IS A GLOSSARY OF SAILING TERMS AT THE BACK OF THE BOOK FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE.

NOTE:

I will do free Google+ Hangouts for any readers or book clubs that are interested in purchasing and reading my book - look me up on Google+ and we can schedule a time to talk about sailing, travel, and anything else in the book!
https://plus.google.com/u/0/100048269998848647909/about

Product Details

• File Size: 7889 KB
• Print Length: 787 pages
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0070F2TL6
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #90,093 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #49 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Sports > Water Sports > Sailing
  • #69 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Travel > Specialty Travel > Adventure

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Time machine January 23, 2012

By Titus Bontea

Format:Kindle Edition

First, the "legal" disclosure. I am myself a old salt and as such a sucker and bias towards any sea story. As such, there are a lot of details I was able to read between the lines which may escape to the uninitiated. The book, probably intentionally, is not heavy on technical details, yet there is enough to satisfy the likes of me. I named the review, time machine, because in fast changing contemporary settings, the story take place in seemingly much distanced past. Many of us experienced a different world, sadly now rapidly disappearing. When I left the ocean as a career, I did so mainly because the "romance of the sea" has been replaced by the commercial "necessities" of the shipping business. The book, in that respect is a "walk on memory lane" book. Like in good play, the settings and the props (the ocean the boat and the crew) helps but is the script is what really,really pulls it through. It is above all, a candid human story of pursuing one's dream and pulling it through. In that respect, is inspirational. I am not a literary critic, but the flow of the book makes it hard to put it down and unlike fiction, this is a real and thus so much more compelling story.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Nautical Conquests May 15, 2012

By muzza

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I am enjoying Jons tales of the high seas a great deal, particularly as he gives some great descriptions of places, people, and especially the challenges of sailing short handed in a small boat. My personal Round the World sailing dream , which began in the mid 70s when I built my first cruiser at age 21, might have ended in a similar book. Although I have never managed to make the dream a reality, I have sailed extensively and still own a sturdy sextant and a pocket cruiser.

With regard to another reviewers comments on the " romantic " aspects; yes I agree. Perhaps Jon might have been better served by leaving those out of the mainstream of the story. Indeed if there was another Jon Reid book on those " other " conquests, I would be very happy to not read it, and this might better enable me to enjoy the real sailing story without having to mumble " here we go again " and put the Kindle in fast forward every ten pages.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Almost gave up on this book May 6, 2012

By scc

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I managed to read this book in its entirety, but came close to giving it up several times. While I admire the author for his courage and determination, it was hard to read through lurid stories about how he, in his early thirties, slept with countless women as young as twenty, including married women and those with absent boyfriends. He also appears a little misogynistic at times, describing one young woman he met as a trollop (he slept with her anyway). Like the reviewer who pointed out the inconsistencies with his trip to Australia, I wonder how much of this is the wishful thinking of a man whose wife left him because of his carousing and drinking. I ended up finishing it because I am a sailor and was interested in reading about the little Pacific islands he and his brother visited, and the vivid accounts of his long passages, where one cannot escape windless and sometimes stormy conditions.

More About the Author

An Aquarian with a twin brother. From the outset I was the shy introverted one, spending a lot of my time alone. I developed skills at writing, playing guitar and working with my hands, fashioning little sailing boats from scraps of wood gleaned from relatives with work shops.

My whole life has been an expansion on these artistic, creative traits that I inherited...