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Name: Amazon.com: An Inexplicable Attraction: My Fifty Years of Ocean Sailing eBook : Forsyth, Eric B.: Kindle Store
Rating: 4.2 (85 reviews)

Eric B. Forsyth

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An Inexplicable Attraction: My Fifty Years of Ocean Sailing Kindle Edition

by Eric B. Forsyth (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.2 85 ratings

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Sailing well into his eighties, Captain Eric Forsyth shows in his book, An Inexplicable Attraction: My Fifty Years of Ocean Sailing, that age need not be a barrier to an adventurous retirement. His love of ocean sailing was ignited in 1964 when he crossed the Atlantic with his wife, Edith, crewing aboard a friend's 46-foot boat. For more than fifty years, mostly aboard his sturdy cutter Fiona, Forsyth has cruised the oceans of the world, making voyages that included two circumnavigations of the globe, cruises through the Northwest Passage and to the Baltic, and several excursions to both the Arctic and Antarctic. His stories will appeal to all sailors, whether active or armchair, and to travel buffs with a penchant for remote places and their histories.

On a more serious side, Forsyth has seen many countries that he visited over the decades change from languorous oligarchies to developing democracies with a thriving middle class. Like the U.S., they have a profligate appetite for fossil fuel, which is not a sustainable resource in the long run. He suggests ways of bringing attention to this global problem.

Captain Forsyth has been honored by fellow sailors with the Seven Seas Award from the Seven Seas Cruising Association, and the Blue Water Medal, given annually by the Cruising Club of America to a single amateur sailor worldwide.

Editorial Reviews

Review

KIRKUS REVIEWS. Starred Review, Selected as one of the Best 100 Memoirs of 2018: "A live-aboard sailor recalls five decades and 300,000 nautical miles at sea in this debut memoir with an environmentalist edge. Forsyth admits that he's partial to the idea of escape. ... This is a lovingly compiled work, with charts and photographs that effectively complement the narrative. It will be a joy for anyone familiar with deep-water sailing and an inspiration for those eager to try it. An intrepid, educational, and thoroughly enjoyable voyage."

OCEAN NAVIGATOR, November 2017, by Peter Stoops. If you like cruising, ocean passages or visiting exotic places, read this book. ... It's all presented in Mr. Forsyth's matter-of-fact, often tongue-in-cheek style that underscores the humor and patience one needs when voyaging. While I envy his ability to act on his love of sailing, I am also grateful that he can share his experiences with us. An Inexplicable Attraction is second best to actually being there."

WINDCHECK MAGAZINE, July 2017: "Sailing out of Weeks Yacht Yard in Patchogue, NY, Captain Eric Forsyth has logged approximately 300,000 nautical miles .... An Inexplicable Attraction is a very entertaining compilation of these adventures."

A JOURNEY ON THE SEA, by Chuck Anderson in The Long Island Advance, 6/22/17: "This book is a compendium of information for sailors who wish to follow Forsyth's voyages, as well as a fascinating read for armchair travelers.... The author also makes some timely and relevant observations about the state of the world: the melting ice caps, the inexorable depletion of fossil fuels, and the garbage fouling the oceans. Forsyth comes to some significant conclusions -- that he prefers the journey to the destination."

About the Author

Eric Forsyth grew up in Bolton, England. After obtaining a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering at Manchester University, he served as an RAF fighter pilot in the 1950s. He obtained a master's degree at Toronto University in 1960 and then worked until his retirement in 1995 at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, New York. He led the development at Brookhaven of superconducting cables suitable for very high capacity underground AC transmission systems. In 1986 he was appointed chair of the Accelerator Development Department, which was responsible for the construction and design of several particle accelerators, including preconstruction design and planning of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, now the largest nuclear physics research tool in the U.S. Forsyth is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (IEEE), and in 2007 he was presented with the Herman Halperin Award for Power Transmission and Distribution development. This is the highest distinction awarded annually by the IEEE for research in this field. Since retirement he has twice taken his sailboat around the world and sailed to both polar regions several times, including a transit of the Northwest Passage. In 2000, he was awarded the Blue Water Medal by the Cruising Club of America, an honor given annually to one amateur sailor worldwide. Eric married Edith, a physician, in 1958, and they had two children, a son, Colin, and a daughter, Brenda.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0725ZMDCQ
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Yacht Fiona; 2nd edition (March 31, 2017)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 31, 2017
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 35092 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 537 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #1,180,415 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #99 in Australia Travel
- #128 in Scotland Travel
- #292 in Sailing (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
4.2 85 ratings

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Eric B. Forsyth

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Eric B. Forsyth was born in England, and attended Bolton School and Manchester University where he joined the University Air Squadron. After graduating in Electrical Engineering he completed RAF pilot training and was posted to a fighter squadron. He was awarded the City of Manchester Flying Trophy in 1956. When Britain reduced her armed forces, he immigrated to Canada and obtained a commercial pilot’s license, rated for single and multi-engine land and sea planes. Unfortunately, good flying opportunities did not appear.

He enrolled in Toronto University Engineering Graduate School and was later hired to join the Scientific Staff of Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, New York, where he worked on applications of superconductivity and particle accelerators. He worked there for 35 years, eventually being appointed Chair of the Accelerator Development Department, which was responsible for the pre-construction planning and design of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), now the most powerful nuclear physics research tool in the United States.

Once established on Long Island, Eric enthusiastically took up sailing. His first sailboat was a 16-foot daysailer, but he soon advanced to ocean sailing. He currently sails a 42-foot cutter, Fiona, which he built himself from a bare fiberglass hull. His accomplishments with this boat, which include two circumnavigations of the globe and cruises to polar waters and through the Northwest Passage, resulted in the award of the prestigious Blue Water medal from the Cruising Club of America.

His sailing adventures are recounted in his book, "An Inexplicable Attraction: My Fifty Years of Ocean Sailing," which was included in Kirkus Review’s 100 Best Memoirs of 2018. He published his first novel, "Wings over Iraq," in 2020, inspired by stories he heard as a young man told by old-timers on his RAF squadron who had served in Iraq before WWII. His second novel, "Wings Over the Channel," follows the turbulent time in Britain before the start of WWII when the British were desperately trying to develop a radar defense system.

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4.2 out of 5

85 global ratings

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jimar

A chance meeting of an interesting man in a Pub and a Great Read!

Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2017

Verified Purchase

I've never been on more than a lake or the Great South Bay of Long Island but, Eric Forsyth is a man of the sea. An Inexplicable Attraction is about a man who loves the journey and appreciates the destination and people he meets.
I've done maintenance on equipment and vehicles at Ocean front Parks and wide open treeless field in all weather and can't imagine doing it
on the open sea with you and your crews' live depending on the repairs! Eric is a man who accepts a challenge and meets it with calm resolve,
then, speaks of it matter of factly as if he had just taken out the garbage or done the dishes.
I've heard many stories from WWII Vets on how places have changed since they were there and Eric continues in that vein in the Ports he has seen change since the 60's and the condition of our oceans.
More than a book of sailing, it's a story of a man who lives his passion and increasingly rare for today, accepts its' challenges and hardships as part of the adventure while keeping such customs as the walk to the lighthouse on each stop at Block Island, stopping at his Great Grandmothers' grave when in the Caribbean and of course, Happy Hour on the Fiona and Mount Gay Rum!

3 people found this helpful

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Nancy

Incredible man....Incredible journeys

Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2020

Verified Purchase

I bought this book for my father in law. His name is Robert Sparkman, retired President of Sparkman & Stephens Inc. Naval Architects, Yacht Brokers and Marine Insurance Brokers. This is his personal review.

This book is so good, in so many ways, it is hard to know where to start,
or stop.
The practical data and cruising detail are so comprehensive as to rival
any book ever written on cruising, with events described with such clarity
and humor that it's impossible not to chuckle aloud at Capt. Forsyth's
misadventures, and wonder at the miracles of foresight and planning
that grace his successes in dealing with the hazards and challenges of
weather, navigation, breakdowns, and crew quirks, to name a few.
Perhaps the most telling sentence in the book appears on pg. 358, where
the author states "A boat is always falling apart." The readiness this
demands at sea sums up the task(s) require to survive, much less arrive,
which Forsyth always seems to achieve. Remarkable!
Finally; I can't get the book away from my wife who picked it up to
thumb through. Enough said!!!

4 people found this helpful

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Kris

Great book!

Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2023

Verified Purchase

Interesting reading for anyone with a love for the sea and sailing adventures. I was lucky enough to meet the author, and have my copy autographed!

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Amazon Customer

Red Sky at Night, Sailors Delight!

Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2017

Verified Purchase

The first time I sailed away I was a lad aboard the HMS Bounty. I sought adventure and foreign lands. I never dreamed I could be cast away to the ocean in a small open boat to perish with other retched souls or to survive in the Pitcairn Islands and await an uncertain fate.
I have longed to relive that exciting adventure in that Bounty Trilogy and I have found it, ever so completely, in Eric's book, and more so.
The challenges and hardships of sailing the world's oceans are wonderfully described in the first person and I felt my pulse jump as the many storms ripped and shredded sails during Fiona's voyages.
Between the doldrums and the hurricanes- that's where you will find him. It truly is the journey and not the destination that's important. Thanks for taking me along. A most wonderful book!
Now, where's that half bottle of Mount Gay Rum gone to? The breeze is freshening and the tide is coming in...

One person found this helpful

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Christine H.

Easy and exciting read.

Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2019

Verified Purchase

Eric is from my home town on Long Island and his wife, Edith, was my mother's doctor, so this made reading this book more personal. A great book!

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jared cohen

Excellent read for those fond of cruising lifestyle

Reviewed in the United States on November 20, 2017

Verified Purchase

Really enjoyed Eric's documentary of his extensive journeys at sea. Very impressive accomplishments. I wish we had his time and resources for these adventures.

One person found this helpful

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P. Davis

a sailing travelogue

Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2019

Verified Purchase

A terrific read even if you are only an armchair sailor!

One person found this helpful

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Justine Balthazar