An Inexplicable Attraction

Sailing well into his eighties, Captain Eric Forsyth shows in his book, An Inexplicable Attraction: My Fifty Years of Ocean Sailing, that age need not be a barrier to an adventurous retirement. His love of ocean sailing was ignited in 1964 when he crossed the Atlantic with his wife, Edith, crewing aboard a friend's 46-foot boat. For more than fifty years, mostly aboard his sturdy cutter Fiona, Forsyth has cruised the oceans of the world, making voyages that included two circumnavigations of the globe, cruises through the Northwest Passage and to the Baltic, and several excursions to both the Arctic and Antarctic. His stories will appeal to all sailors, whether active or armchair, and to travel buffs with a penchant for remote places and their histories. On a more serious side, Forsyth has seen many countries that he visited over the decades change from languorous oligarchies to developing democracies with a thriving middle class. Like the U.S., they have a profligate appetite for fossil fuel, which is not a sustainable resource in the long run. He suggests ways of bringing attention to this global problem. Captain Forsyth has been honored by fellow sailors with the Seven Seas Award from the Seven Seas Cruising Association, and the Blue Water Medal, given annually by the Cruising Club of America to a single amateur sailor worldwide.