Synopsis

This collection of stories is an attempt to portray the beauty and the pleasures, the problems and the hazards experienced by yachtsmen who sailed the Eastern Mediterranean in those bygone days, a decade ago - before tourist facilities had mushroomed alarmingly, and before the influx of boats had led to overcrowding, pollution, impatient officials and sky-high prices.

At that time, \"Tina\", a 36ft ketch, had her home on the eastern seaboard, in the ancient Port of Jaffa. Some of the stories describe facets of life along the Jaffa waterfront. Others are about experiences - adventures even - of \"Tina\" (and other boats) out there in a beautiful sailing ground. Not too much is said about the nuts and bolts of boat handling. Emphasis is upon the people who make up the crews.

The stories are based on fact, but names of boats and people have been fictionalized. Makarios Marina, Cyprus - the setting for Story No.10 - does not exist, except in the mind of the author. All the other places are real. For this reason, it is suggested that while reading the book, reference be made to a map of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.

But present day sailors should not use the Storybook as a travel guide. It describes a scene that regrettably has all but vanished.

The twenty-five story titles are:

FISHERMAN REUVEN
SATURDAY FISH MARKET
MOORED IN JAFFA
JOSHUA
BOATYARD
FISHING FOR SARDINES (AND EATING THEM)
ICE
SOLACE IN A GALE
TO PAPHOS FROM THE EAST
JOHN AND HERBERT
PUTTING INTO RHODES
THUNDER AND LIGHTNING
TINA'S MERRY CREW
FLAG
IN THE BOSOM OF NATURE
THE FISH AND I
GIFT SHOPPING IN ALANYA
DISMASTED
WINE AND WATER
MAINSAIL
OUR MAN IN ISTANBUL
OLGA
TO PAPHOS FROM THE WEST
STOWAWAY
SEX AND THE SINGLEHANDED SAILOR

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