When COVID-19 struck the UK, the government advised the over-70s to "shield" while the country went into lockdown. One old man went sailing instead. Single-handed and self-isolated, retired journalist John Passmore used the pandemic to achieve an ambition that had eluded him for 60 years. For 3,629 miles, he disappeared into a world of perfect solitude, adventure, and adversity, arriving back 42 days later, short of water and with shredded sails, to find himself celebrated on national radio as the embodiment of everybody’s lockdown dream. This is his story.

If Tully Mars had known what he was getting himself into when he agreed to help find the lost lens belonging to the lighthouse on Cayo Loco, well, he might never have agreed to help in the first place. Then again, maybe he simply would have taken a slightly longer nap before setting off on his wild adventure. And it isn't just Tully, whom Buffett fans will remember well from Jimmy's best-selling Tales from Margaritaville, on the madcap quest.

After a fire destroyed everything they owned, the couple decided to build their own classic sailing yacht and live aboard in the wilds of Scotland - up creeks, in rocky pools, in lovely desolate places whose descriptions would make any armchair traveler ache to go there. They started their new life by felling trees for the timber they needed to build their boat, the first unusual step in their unique story. With a wonderful turn of phrase, Justin's humorous narrative will engage those who dream of living a similar lifestyle.

Imagine a tiny island far out in the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Scotland. On some days, you can hardly see where the sea ends and the land begins, just a blue-grey mist of sea spray and wind-blown sand. There is nothing but ocean between there and America. And about 65 kilometres out to sea, one last remote outcrop of islands and sea stacks, with the highest sea cliffs anywhere in the UK - St Kilda - the islands at the edge of the world. 

Following the breakdown of her marriage, 50-year-old Jacqui Furneaux set off on a seven-year, round-the-world adventure on a 500cc Royal Enfield Bullet. She traveled both solo and with company, covering 42,000 miles and 20 countries. This awe-inspiring and moving book about one woman’s motorcycle adventures is for anyone still holding back from taking a risk and pursuing their dreams.

Erik and Emily skillfully reveal that it is possible to live big on a shoestring budget while giving their family an astonishing education in adventure, creativity, purpose, and grit. Told alternately by Erik and Emily, Seven at Sea is a portrait of a captivating and resilient family and a celebration of the courage it takes to head for something over the horizon.

"The tale of Carl Wake and the hurricane that was waiting for him goes straight to the heart of the greatest sea stories: they are not about man against the sea, but man against himself. John Kretschmer's audiobook is as perfectly shaped and flawlessly written as such a story can be. In addition to being the best depiction I have ever listened to of what it is like to be inside a hurricane at sea, At the Mercy of the Sea is as moving a story of a man's failure and redemption as can be found anywhere in the literature of the sea. This audiobook is surely destined to become a classic."

When a flood destroys Gavin Weald's home, tearing apart his family and his way of life, he doesn't know how to continue. A year later, he returns to his rebuilt home and tries to start again. But when the new rainy season arrives, so do his daughter's nightmares about the torrents, and life there become unbearable. So father and daughter - and their dog - embark upon a voyage to make peace with the waters. Their journey will take them far from their Caribbean island home, into other unknown harbours, and across an ocean.

Legendary account of the author's voyage around Cape Horn in a 32-foot sailboat, sailing east to west (thus the Horn is to starboard, or on the right). This is a notoriously difficult and dangerous passage, especially in a boat this size.

Do you have a dream you must pursue, but everyone says it's unrealistic? Or that you're not qualified? Too old, too out of shape? Or you don't have the "right experience?" Glenn Damato was a 41-year-old software instructor who sought to exceed the bounds of his comfortable but humdrum existence. He embarked on an adventure for which he was miserably unprepared. Why did he do this? How did he answer the ancient human question: how do we jump-start growth in our lives? We become something we were not.

Broome, Australia, 1893. It's the wild and passionate heyday of the pearling industry, and when young English bride Olivia Hennessy meets the dashing pearling master, Captain Tyndall, their lives are destined to be linked by the mysterious power of the pearl. Sydney, Australia, 1995. Lily Barton embarks on a search for her family roots which leads her to Broome. But her quest for identity reveals more than she could have ever imagined.

In 1945, two brothers die in the icy Barents Sea and a book is all that survives of them. More than 60 years later, Donny and his mother set out for Suffolk to meet his mysterious great aunt. There is an accident and Donny is taken into care. But are the officials all that they seem and why won't they believe Donny's story? Soon he discovers that his life has been built on a lie.

Cezair-Thompson conjures the tragic glamour of golden age Hollywood against the backdrop of lusty, turbulent Jamaica in her dual generational coming-of-age saga. Ida Joseph is 13 years old when Errol Flynn is nearly shipwrecked off the coast of her hometown of Port Antonio in 1946. Flynn instantly loves Jamaica and, eager to find a refuge from stateside scandal, purchases an island across from the port. Navy Island becomes the setting for his glittering parties, movie projects

Beginning in 1962 with a shocking loss, Shining Sea quickly pulls us into the lives of 43-year-old Michael Gannon's widow and offspring. Brilliantly described and utterly alive, the Gannon clan find themselves charting paths they never anticipated for decades to come.

The Backward Ark is an absorbing insight into the reality of living the tropical cruising dream. Featuring real pirates of the Caribbean, Hurricane Ivan, a stoned Rastafarian Santa, and plenty more besides. With drama, humour, and lashings of tropical spice, this book will appeal to anyone who has ever looked out of the office window on a cold, grey day, wishing they could escape. As you'll discover, a surprising number of people already have.