My Rite of Passage During the Summer of ‘76 by H. Downing Lane

 Please welcome H. Downing Lane  author of My Rite of Passage During the Summer of ‘76

H. Downing Lane will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

My Rite of Passage During the Summer of ‘76

by H. Downing Lane  

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

GENRE: Memoir

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

BLURB:

 

MY RITE OF PASSAGE DURING THE SUMMER OF ’76 is a riveting coming-of-age memoir about adventure on the high seas with philosophical musings that add a resonant layer of depth.

 

In this memoir, H. Downing Lane recalls the 25-day transatlantic sailing trip he took in 1976 as a young man, the details of the journey around Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and other locales, and reflects on its significance as a coming-of-age learning experience.

 

H. Downing Lane was 26 years old in 1976 when he decided to sign up for a transatlantic sailing trip into the Arctic with an accomplished captain named E. Newbold Smith. In this vivid, often exhilarating memoir, Lane draws from journal entries written during his time at sea to share an account of the remarkable voyage.

 

The Atlantic crossing was a 25-day affair, from Chesapeake Bay, around Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and the coast of Norway. It was undertaken at a point in Lane’s life when he was feeling particularly vulnerable, as he was recovering from an accident in which he had lost an eye. He wished to “prove [his] mettle,” not to the other men aboard the boat, but to himself. As it turned out, Captain Smith was something of a kindred spirit, as he too had survived a devastating accident many years earlier. Lane provides the reader with a realistic vision of what life aboard a sailing vessel is like, from the often freezing temperatures above and below deck, to the many challenges presented by simple bodily necessities. He describes various technical aspects of working on the boat, but his language never devolves into jargon; his account is always perfectly clear and accessible.

 

Lane seasons the text with literary and philosophical quotes that frequently allow him to consider the greater meaning of his experience, and even of life itself. There are also numerous stunning photographs included of the boat and the various stops along the way.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

EXCERPTS:

 

 

For a time during the third gale no one manned our deck. No one was steering Reindeer. No one was on watch. No one was navigating.  No one was cooking. No one during that seven hours stretch could see an approaching iceberg, ship, log or shore. As far as we knew there weren’t any. Ignoring all floating obstacles in our path and trusting we sailed towards our destination, we sailed sideways 50 miles. With all navigational instruments turned off. No Lorraine. No radar or radio. No ship or shore. No warning if we hit something. This night was like no other. No one was steering. We had lashed our wheel to one side. We had trimmed our sails accordingly. We were hove-to.

 

We had our companionway closed and locked. All hatches were shut tight.  We had sealed ourselves off from the gale roaring outside. We were sailing blind without any lookout.  Not that we could see anything as it was.  We not only trusted our Reindeer to take us northeastward, but we also had to trust a night watch without one. After almost a week of rough weather, Newbold decided sleep was most vital to our voyage. We had sighted nothing since our departure from St. John, Newfoundland. He said he could sense our exhaustion and he knew we could make mistakes if we were too tired. So rather be concerned about something that did not exist on our radar or within sight, he chose to send all of us to our soggy bunks. I remember feeling the odd sensation of sailing without any control. Maybe it kept me a wake for a minute or two. When I considered a hove-to I suddenly turned religious. This godsend message became a gift from above.  No one questioned its wisdom. All were too tired to realize what it meant. All were too stunned to do anything but be obedient and dutiful. Within moments after the aftershock of this announcement, all eight of us lay horizontal. Too chilled and disoriented we all followed orders with barely an utterance. We all were soon sleeping soundly. Likely dreaming while holding on to bunk with hope. With the stale stench of seasickness trapped below, we all rested in our sleeping bag cocoons. 

 

Before he got any shuteye, our weather radio reported icebergs south of us, but we never saw or dodged any during our 10 days sailing from Newfoundland to Iceland. We also never had dodged the weather, wind or waves, We were, however, unable to dodge exhaustion.  Ironies floated around us all the time. Here we were sailing blindly towards a destination we could not see except in the daytime. Of course, there was no difference in light, as the storms did not abate in those 9 days. Overcast skies, I could barely notice the difference in gales. All seemed like one big storm to me. The wind came and went, but the only differences were velocity and size of waves. The waves only seemed to grow with the intense gusts.

 

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

H. Downing Lane is a retired educator, tutoring business owner, English teacher, coach and administrator who sails in his spare time. Presently he is writing a series of books that chronicle his sailing adventures.

 

Born and raised on the eastern shore of Maryland, he has returned home after 40 years to write. Henry taught sailing for eight years on Long Island Sound and sailed competitively on the Chesapeake Bay, crewed transatlantic to Iceland and Norway, been a crew member of a number of Annapolis – Newport and Newport – Bermuda races and sailed much of the Caribbean and Bahamas.

 

In 1978, he sailed the SORC around Florida.  In 2008, he purchased Mystique, a 40′ leopard catamaran, and in 2013, he sailed it to Santo Domingo, the Turks and Cacaos and eventually to Florida.

 

In 2016, he sailed solo for 51 days through the Exumas. On another adventure he and Lainie Wrightson had a calamitous time together – losing both rudders – the basis of his second book, Bluewater Mystique. 

 

He has chartered boats to sail the Dalmatian Coast, Belize, Abacos, Eleuthera and the Maine coast. While maintaining his blog www.bluewatermystique.com, he has written numerous blogs about life and sailing.

 

He is a dedicated learner and loves sharing his experiences and stories.

 

Social Links

 

Website https://hdowninglane.com/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/HenryDLane

Twitter https://twitter.com/hlane4200

 

Buy Links

Amazon https://amazon.com/dp/0228813638

Indigo https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/my-rite-of-passage-during/9780228813651-item.html

Barnes & Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/my-rite-of-passage-during-the-summer-of-76-h-downing-lane/1136878784;jsessionid=95301DEE645C56E3F36E9185A65C64A5.prodny_store01-va02

Kobo https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/my-rite-of-passage-during-the-summer-of-76

Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1015994

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

 

H. Downing Lane will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

 

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f3641