Keeping Australia on the Left: A Catamaran Odyssey Around Australia [Paperback]

Mark Stewart Darby (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1999

This is the harrowing true story of Mark Darby's two-year trek around Australia on a sixteen-foot catamaran named Tom Thumb. Accompanied by his girlfriend Sue, it is a tale of love and courage, a precarious adventure that unfolds among desolate seaports, shark-infested waters, and motley characters.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

Sailing around the largest island continent in the world was not a unique concept, but doing it on a 16' catamaran certainly was. The endless stretches of beach, unbroken towering cliffs, great sandy deserts, and tropical paradises were all part of this experience. People called us crazy to start with, but then offered congratulations and support. Fishermen and women, miners, farmers, isolated aboriginal communities, and fellow travelers hiking, biking, and sailing shared our voyage around the amazing country of Australia. I hope you enjoy sharing it, too.

About the Author

Mark Darby is an educator, project coordinator and manager. With formal qualifications in Parks and Recreation managememnt, he has coordinated outdoor education and community development programs in South and Central America and the South Pacific. He led courses for Outward Bound Australia and lectured in Leisure and Tourism Studies at the University of Technology in Sydney. He currently lives with his partner Cate and daughter Amelia in Canberra, Australia, where he serves as the executive director of the Australian-American Fulbright Comission.

Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: Hellgate Press (August 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555715087
• ISBN-13: 978-1555715083
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 7.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #969,366 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unique Sailing Adventure, January 10, 2000

By 

Elgar Starkis (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Keeping Australia on the Left: A Catamaran Odyssey Around Australia (Paperback)

Anyone who has ever sailed, or dreamt of a sailing adventure, has no choice but to read this book. Mark Darby has completed an awesome task, tantamount to a dare, by sailing a small boat through some large seas around a huge continent! His adventures have been well crafted with vivid word pictures and a descriptive action style which put me in the boat with him and Sue. I can still clearly see the beautiful Australian coastline, the memorable people they met and the first reading has left me with a sweet salt water taste in my mouth and wanting more.

This is, I believe, a unique sea saga which would encourage any would be adventurer, with personal challenges and emotions spilling out onto every page. Nine out of 10!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Unique book, April 6, 2008

By 

B. Willis (Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Keeping Australia on the Left: A Catamaran Odyssey Around Australia (Paperback)

The most appealing thing about this book is the journey Mark made - I have always wondered what it would be like to circumnavigate Australia. I also felt I learned alot about Australia from his description of the different regions. The journey itself was fine but not a life or death adventure. It's a good story.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good book, not quite Paul Caffyn, though..., April 21, 2006

By 

Laptantidel Latuda (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Keeping Australia on the Left: A Catamaran Odyssey Around Australia (Paperback)

This is a nice book about a great journey around Australia. Mark and Sue set out in 1986 on a 16' catamaran which basically consisted of two double sea kayaks rigged together. One motivation of this trip was to visit the America's cup races in Perth in 1987. Taking this rather small craft around Australia within two years is a tremendous achievement, even though they hitched a couple of rides along the way when their schedule gets tight or their boat needs repair. The book is well written and has a couple of color pictures inside that make the adventure come to life. I wished Mark had spent more of the twelve or so years between the trip and the publication of this book with an editor, because there are lots of typos and some paragraphs are in here twice. What I found particularly odd, is that there is hardly any of Sue in this book - not a single picture of her, no romance, no fighting, no other point of view. This point is pretty much completely omitted by Mark, and that even though (or maybe because?) they married later on (and then divorced even later on). I found that weird, but I did not regret buying it, because it is very inspiring to read about what some people dare to do with very small boats...