My Rite of Passage During the Summer of ‘76 by H. Downing Lane – excerpt and giveaway

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 (Exclusive Excerpt):

As I help furl her mainsail in the chill of a misty, gusty June morning in 1976, Reindeer approached the harbor entrance at Heimaey Island, Iceland. The fog so thick it reminded our crew of the nearby devastating volcanic eruption a few years earlier.  Our arrival was met with barely a notice, certainly with much less attention than a spewing, smoking, fuming, angry volcano would have. How could an American sailing vessel enter a remote fishing village harbor and attract attention? We weren’t looking for any.

We entered their world sailing the Atlantic.  We were foreigners. Our entrance was nothing compared to the scope of what these Icelandic people faced.  They had survived a volcano eruption in 1973 where all 4,500 residents had been evacuated.  Their fishing community almost wiped out, their village destroyed, they had to know the volcano would blow sooner or later.  They had many hardships that they faced.  When it erupted, they faced it with resolve, and then moved back because their way of live had been challenged, their livelihood was at stake. 

And many of our crew thought our trip was somehow significant. It was to us, after all, an adventure not taken by many people. Not a venture too often embraced by people. But it was more than that. It was a venture away from our shores. Away from our country - our land. Away from our comfort zone and into a world we didn’t know – at least I didn’t know. But it was an adventure of a lifetime into a mysterious and foreign land. 

To us their mere existence was indeed miraculous. So this igneous, mysterious island fishing community south of Iceland not only held our attention, but awed our imagination. Their very survival at the mercy of this giant firecracker, their volcano, their fishing world was tenuous at best. We could not help notice how fragile their existence was compared to the security of our land. Their mainland. Their trust in their sea and surroundings had to be stronger than ours. They were living after all on top of a volcano - one that had erupted recently. They had survived and lived through the nature of their world. I had immediate respect for these people who live more by nature than many Americans. For those who give their life to feed to rest of the world at their own peril is indeed inspirational.

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
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

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