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Voyage of the Maiatla with the Naked Canadian

by Andrew W. Gunson

286 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); illustrated; catalogue #04-0622; ISBN 1-4120-2794-2; US$25.72, C$29.58, EUR21.13, £14.79

The true-life adventures of a family of four that sets forth to circumnavigate the world. A compelling voyage of discovery and often-humorous misadventure. Candidly chronicled.

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About the Book

About the Author

Excerpts

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About the Book

Imagine swimming, surrounded by hundreds of giant Manta Rays in the Sea of Cortez, or riding the tail of a hurricane towards Hawaii while a second storm threatens to overtake your small sailboat from behind.

The Voyage of the Maiatla with the Naked Canadian, candidly chronicles the true-life adventures of a family of four that set forth on a 52 foot sailboat to circumnavigate the world. The life-long dream of the head of the household seizes the family's imagination and together they sail off on a voyage of discovery and often humorous misadventure, allowing the reader to experience what it is truly like on a daily basis to live the life of a 'Sea Gypsy' with a pair of precocious children and an initially apprehensive spouse as crew. The book covers the first year of the voyage, traversing the coast from Canada to Mexico; including being anchored in San Francisco during the assault on the World Trade Center -- experiencing the Golden Gate City gripped in fear, as well as tales of scuba diving the 'Great White Shark' infested waters of the Farallon Islands off the coast of California.

Life on the water includes cruiser's music festivals, exploring tropical desert islands, and a road trip through the Baja desert, which entails staring down the barrel of a loaded machine gun on more than one occasion. Despite our apparent carefree existence, the tragic destruction of several vessels and the loss of some friends, soberly remind us of the potentially dangerous life we were leading upon the sea. The other crazy cruisers that we meet along the way; the rich and famous, the poets, paupers and musicians whose own stories and lust for life, often bordering on the bizarre, unexpectedly injected spice and color into our lives as we wander under sail.

The author is a storyteller with the heart of an adventurer; he has the ability to infect others with his zeal for life and his love of the sea.

Written with the Spirit of Tristan Jones lurking in the shadows. Th e Voyage of the Maiatla with the Naked Canadian effectively captures the day to day essences of contemporary cruising. Th e author is a vivid story teller who lures the reader into joining his family to share their daily experiences as they rediscover the world on their own terms from the deck of a 52 foot sail boat. Good family fun and High Seas adventure. Full of laughs, fears and heart felt honesty. For armchair sailors or anyone dreaming of sailing over the horizon, a must read.

Commander J.P. Lawson. RNR. RD (Retired)

From Hurricanes to the placid sea of Cortez, from gun toting Mexicans to swimming with Giant Manta Rays and the bitter loss of fellow cruisers, there is never a dull moment for this Canadian sailing family as they endeavour to live out their cruising dreams. Th e Voyage of the Maiatla with the Naked Canadian is full of memorable characters not the least of which is the Author whose obvious disdain for clothing is celebrated in song, written by a San Franciscan musician. A refreshing look at a lifestyle that most fantasize about but few dare to attempt.

Bay Cruisers Association of San Francisco

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About the Author

Andrew Gunson grew up in and around boats on the Great Lakes and always dreamed of following the paths of such intrepid sailors as Sir Francis Drake, Joshua Slocum and more recently, Eric and Susan Hiscock. A hearty sailor and a Canadian National sailing champion at the young age of fourteen, he went on to race aboard some of the fastest yachts then afloat, competing against the very best at the World Championship level. At the age of eighteen, he moved to the West Coast of Canada and discovered a completely new world of sailing; leaving the hi-tech racing yachts behind, he began to follow his dream of becoming a 'cruiser'. Together with his father, he purchased his first cruising sailboat, a Columbia 36' and never looked back.

Although a fourth generation mason trained by his Father, Andrew's adventurous spirit led him to attended The College of Oceaneering in Wilmington, California, where he graduated at age twenty. By age twenty-one, he was a Commercial Bell Diver working on oil-drilling ships in the Beaufort Sea; eventually becoming a co-pilot in the submersible program aboard a Norwegian drill ship engaged in exploratory drilling beneath the frigid waters of the Davis' Straight, between Labrador and Greenland. Shortly before his thirtieth birthday, he retired from commercial diving to focus on raising his young family.

With the goal of a better life and their dreams in mind, together with his wife Janet, they purchased and for three years operated a convenience store. After selling the store, Andrew obtained his securities license and became a personal financial analyst and tax consultant.

Andrew's love affair with the sea continued as he and his family explored the West Coast of British Columbia, all the while voraciously reading the stories of all the great and sometimes infamous world cruisers that came before him. He continued to dream, just waiting for his own chance to sail off.

After surviving a brush with deadly skin cancer, a pair of automobile accidents, one of which almost claimed Andrew's life, not to mention being accidentally shot while bear hunting, the couple decided it was time to stop dreaming and start planning their escape. Hence, The Voyage of the Maiatla and the Naked Canadian began.

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Excerpts

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Catalogue Information

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