This is just to announce again the book signing get-together for Eric Stiller"s new book, Keep Australia on Your Left" In Manhattan at Pier 63 Maritime which is on the Hudson River and about 23rd Street. Time and date: 6 pm-9 pm Tuesday, August 29th. I have not read the book yet but I do know the story intimately. I followed Eric's trip almost as a Perils of Pauline episodal report in Folding Kayaker back when his voyage and my newsletter both got started. I never took it personally that Eric was eager to leave town just as my publication was launched. :-) I did several articles in the newsletter on the preparation and gear selection. Then some interim reports of his and Tony Brown's progress in their double Klepper. Finally, I finished up with an issue almost entirely devoted to a postmortem of what went right and what went wrong plus lessons learned. I offer back issues to new subscribers and invariably those issues revolving around Eric and Tony's voyage are high on the request list. The title of Eric's book comes from a self-effacing Eric moment that showed the differences in personalities between Eric and Tony. Eric arrived in Sydney to team up with Tony, an Australian who he had befriended back in New York where the whole adventure was cooked up. (An aside: Tony had wondered into the Klepper shop one day where Eric was a manager and said something about needing a boat to circumnavigate his country. Eric was thinking maybe the Channel Islands or some place, never Australia!). Well Eric gets to Australia with dozens of charts, guide books, etc., all he could dig up in his research efforts back home. Tony looked at the tall pile that Eric was anxious to go over, and said "Hey, mate, all we need to do is keep Australia on our left!" The pair never made it all the way around; they got about a third of the way. Only Paul Caffyn, the intrepid, perennial circumnavigator of everything in sight, has paddled the entire 10,000 miles or so of Australia's coastline (about the only thing not rounded by Paul is the isle of Manhattan!). But their lack of success in meeting their goal should not be considered a failure. I am confident that the book should be a good read. Should be an interesting evening. See ya there. ralph diaz p.s. the book is published by Forge Hardcover Book, $24.95, and available on Amazon.com. -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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