The Log of Lone Eagle: The Two Year, 14,000 Mile Epic Voyage of Lone Eagle

Book Synopsis: Featured in Cruising Helmsman May 2020 and Nautilus Marine June 2020. What if the stars were both above and below you? What if behind you stretched an iridescent green trail through the cosmos? And what if you weren’t in space but had just crossed the equator at midnight, and the Galapagos Islands lay thirty miles ahead? This is the story of an epic seafaring journey spanning 14,000 nautical miles, fifteen countries, dozens of islands, and hundreds of anchorages aboard the 36’ sailboat Lone Eagle that began in Washington, DC, a month after an up-close and personal encounter with 911 and concluded two years later in Australia. I’m Rob, and yes, it is a story about idyllic tropical paradises, gin-clear water, storm-tossed nights, and all the things that are part of the cruising lifestyle. But what it’s really about is passage making – long-distance passage making to remote, idyllic places where few cruisers venture. You will be right in the cockpit with me, for the joy, the excitement, the terror, the discovery, and the majesty of the world’s oceans. Few do it, and even fewer tell how it’s done, but come aboard Lone Eagle, and you will be transported, and be a witness to all of the challenges I faced in climbing the wind. This story is also about how life happened to me when I was making other plans and had reached a point where I simply had nothing left to lose. It’s about how I seized that moment with all of my being and began my pursuit of freedom, independence, self-reliance, and a life with limitless choices. I wanted it to be tempered only by the seas, the weather, and the distance to the next port of refuge. But I knew that it came at a cost, and I soon came to understand its many facets, all of which stood between me going off cruising or continuing a land-based existence subservient to the dictates and contrived expectations of our land-based society. And it’s a story about the people that I met along the way. The other intrepid cruisers that were out there with me, the enchanting locals and all of their antics, their benevolence, and their kindnesses shown to me as the visitor from a far off land. It’s my story about the world’s people as I found them along the way and my realization that they are more like us than society would lead us or want us to believe. If after reading it, and when you next gaze out over an angry ocean, and you’ve spared a thought for those out there that are battling its fury, then I will have done my job to have taken you out there with them. In the Appendix, you will find dozens of tricks and trips that will save you time, money, blood, and maybe even your life. This book might just be the best boat purchase you’ll ever make.