The Improbable Voyage [Paperback]

Tristan Jones (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 25, 1998

"The Improbable Voyage" is the astonishing account of master sailor and storyteller Tristan Jones' 2,307-mile voyage across Europe in an oceangoing trimaran, Outward Leg. Continuing his round-the-world journey, Tristan traveled from the North Sea to the Black Sea via the rivers Rhine and Danube. Tristan welcomed each difficulty-including a Bulgarian gunboat-as a challenge to be met and overcome. Battling ice and cold, life-threatening rapids and narrow defiles, German bureaucrats and Romanian frontier police, the indomitable Tristan made his way through eight countries and emerged triumphant, if battered, bruised and penniless, at the Black Sea. This voyage provides a memorable addition to the travel accounts of Central Europe. Tristan gives us a vivid glimpse of the quality of life along Europe's oldest water routes and behind the Iron Curtain. Flying the Red Ensign, the Stars and Stripes, and the Red Dragon of Wales, and playing bagpipe music at full volume, Tristan announced his passage in every town, city, and country. He became legendary along the Danube.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This is the astonishing tale of Tristan Jones' 2,307 mile voyage across Europe in an ocean-going trimaran. This book continues where his book Outward Leg left off, and the legendary sailor and storyteller doesn't let his readers down. Riveting and spellbinding from start to finish. --Latitudes & Attitudes

With characteristic wit and inimitable style, the legendary sailor and master storyteller continues this tale of his round-the-world voyage begun in his book Outward Leg. --Sailing Inland & Offshore

About the Author

Tristan Jones is one of the best-known authors of sailing stories. A Welshman, he left school at age 14 to work on sailing barges and spent the rest of his life at sea.

Product Details

• Paperback: 332 pages
• Publisher: Sheridan House; 1st Pbk. Ed edition (October 25, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1574090623
• ISBN-13: 978-1574090628
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,091,104 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Navigating the Iron Curtain, September 15, 2000

By 

CPT Michael S. Humphreys (US Army, Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Improbable Voyage (Paperback)

What Tristan Jones lacks in great writing skills he makes up for with great story telling and sheer guts. In 1985, as the Soviet Union was quickly approaching its high water, mark he threw caution to the wind and began a tumultuous journey that would take him through the badlands of the Iron Curtain. Plunging up the freezing Rhine in his ocean going tri-hulled yacht, wintering in Germany, and losing his American crew of two to homesickness and better job opportunities were bad enough for this one legged sailor, but Jones had an objective that he wouldn't put aside lightly. He took on a fresh crew of one, a young German boy, and set off to conquer the Danube and Eastern Europe as the first person to transnavigate Europe in an ocean going tri-hull. The Improbable Voyage is a thought provoking perspective of Central and Eastern Europe at the height of the cold war. It highlights Europe's divisiveness during this time from one of Europe's major arteries, the Danube. It is realism at its best from the heart of a spirited traveler.

4.0 out of 5 stars TRISTAN JONES, June 1, 2009

By 

WILLIAM E HARRIS - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Improbable Voyage (Paperback)

Tristan's stories are sometimes a stretch of the imagination to visualize for some modern day river adventurers. Perhaps that is because of his disdain for commercialization of the freedom available from living on the water, but he was certainly a direct person and capable of putting forth his always fair views. This story inspires one to take the same path on the Rhein/Danube voyage which is no longer quite so improbable because of the finished canal between the rivers, and the governments are not so harsh as they were in Tristan's time. This is a refreshing change from the historical/cultural books about central and eastern Europe, which are usually written by literary academics traveling under more probable circumstances, i.e. someone else tends to the details that Jones was forced to handle without large disposable funds.