Captain Skip Rowland - No Return Ticket -- Leg One: Outward Bound - California to Australia (Volume 1)

2016, 2017 by Skip Rowland

Second Printing

Published by:

Adventure Island Publishing

Box 1194

Northport, WA 99157

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews, without prior written permission of the publisher.

Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure the accuracy and completeness of information contained in this book, we assume no responsibility for errors, inaccuracies, omissions, or any inconsistency herein.

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN Paperback: 978-0-9991836-2-5

ISBN eBook: 978-0-9991836-3-2

Cover artwork: Bogdan Maksimovic

Cover and interior design: Ghislain Viau

PRAISES FOR NO RETURN TICKET

Skip Rowlands, No Return Ticket, is a rollicking adventure story on one hand and a thought provoking examination of why we go to sea on the other. His voyage from California to Australia includes encounters with thieving mechanics that would have derailed a less determined sailor, ferocious storms that will spook the heartiest sailors, and even a south Pacific coup. Rowland writes honestly and openly about his relationship with his son, girlfriend, and various shipmates, using dialog to create a sense of intimacy. He cant seem to get enough of the stars, gazing into the heavens he never loses sight of his place in the universe. Its a nice read indeed.

John Kretschmer,

Sailing A Serious Ocean At the Mercy of the Sea

Flirting With Mermaids Cape Horn to Starboard

Encountering jaw-dropping beauty, exotic beaches, storms, thieves and equipment failures, the author takes his readers across the Pacific in a story which is never less than engaging, exciting and intriguing. A great read for both the experienced yachtsman and armchair reader alike.

Philip Matyszak,

Author of The Gold of Tolosa

and other adventure books

Captain Rowlands scenes on deck, especially in heavy weather, are exquisitely rendered and will give even landlubbers a keen sense of the power, beauty, and dangers of the sea. But whats most compelling about this riveting sea memoir are the sailors aboard Endymion, especially Captain Rowland. Their fateful voyage repeatedly tests them, both physically and emotionally. Courage, love, faith, bravado, and endurance all come into play in this compelling tale about the valueand costof resurrecting old dreams and living them out despite the risks.

Tom Peek,

author of the award-winning Hawaii novel

Daughters of Fire

Rowlands debut epic tells the tale of an ordinary salesman who decided to chuck it all, and sail across the Pacific while he was old enough to afford it, but young enough to enjoy it. From the moment his custom-made sailboat was stolen and put to the torch by thieveswho were subsequently captured in Mexico at the business end of Rowlands revolverto his attempt to marry off a crewman to a south seas native lady Rowland offers a fast- paced behind-the-sails peek at what happens when the romance of the seas meets the reality of the journey.

No Return Ticket artfully balances the many dimensions of a complex sea voyageharnessing a crew, dealing with bureaucracies and natives, maintaining the vessel, and all the various weather, navigation, health and financial worrieswhile letting us share in the joy of membership in the seagoing fraternity. Rowland makes the journey at once vast and intimate, relaxing and terrifying, so both the layperson and the old salt can feel both the excitement and the joy.

Not at all a cautionary tale for those contemplating the journey, No Return Ticket is a hopeful reminder of why we step away from shore.

Jeff Josephson,

Marketing Guru and Casual Sailer

Voyaging belongs to the seamen and to the wanderers of the world who cannot will not or refuse to fit in.

Sterling Haydon 19061986

he Ancient Mariner is crowded, as it should be on a Friday night. I look out of place. Dressed in paint-stained work shorts and a faded yacht club T-shirt, I take a seat at the slick mahogany bar to watch the action.

Beyond massive windows facing the harbor are the restaurants private docks, where my new forty-three foot ketch Endymion is being fitted to fulfill my dream of drifting and blending in destinations yet unknown.

Across the bar, waitresses in short, snug uniforms tend to thirsty patrons. Outside, attendants sharply clad in crisp white uniforms race to park incoming luxury cars. Mercedes, BMWs, and Porsches get the first two rows. Exotic collector autos, a Stingray and a lime-green Thunderbird share prime positions directly in front of the restaurants ornate nautical door. If you happened to arrive in a late model Cadillac, youre probably hoofing it across Pacific Coast Highway from some dimly lit spot behind RadioShack.

Its 1986before the Internet and sex-inducing spiked drinks. The night is awash with fine-looking ladies dripping in jewelry.

Newport Beach is a granola bowl of Californias top achievers and certified whackos, so Im not surprised when a suit sitting beside me hails a passing waitress, hands her a c-note and coos, Honey, fetch me some cigarette change?

In that moment, in a bar full of boozed-up, barley-soaked, high rollers, I confirm that dropping out of this racy lifestyle to become a nobody, sailing my boat wherever I want to go, is a smart career changeand what I truly want to do. I dont know it yet, but Ill never regret this decision.

Well, Id better get outta here. Ill pay up and climb aboard Endymion. Care to join me? Im about to spin a fascinating yarn, as sailors have done through the agesexcept this one is true.

CHAPTER 1

wo prisoners, handcuffed and ankles manacled, sat in Judge Mallory Joness California courtroomon trial for stealing my yacht and setting it ablaze off the Mexican coast. (See cover)

The trial was in brief recess for what the District Attorney described as A more pressing mattertestimony from a recent liquor store robbery where the manager chased the accused from the single malt scotch section and sent a bullet into his butt. The prosecution wants the bulletfor evidence. The perp refuses to give it up, causing the D.A. to request a search warrant. Meanwhile, my stolen yacht case is delayed while the court determines if this is the right bullet, in the right ass-hole.