The author fully expects the title of this book to lead the reader to anticipate an account of the goings-on between a man and his mistress, and in a sense, that is what it is. Sylvia is a large ex-Baltic trading yacht who made outrageous demands on her lover's heart and pocket. For three years Mike Hoare and his family made her their home, sailing round the western Mediterranean in Sylvia and visiting many ports in Spain, France and North Africa, seeking and finding romance and adventure, strange places and great people. Three Years with Sylvia is written in a lively style, and interspersed in the narrative are many anecdotes of the sea and sailors and of earlier voyages undertaken by Hoare. Scattered here and there are also golden nuggets of truth about sailing and life. AUTHOR: Mike Hoare is one of the 20th century's most famous adventurers, and clearly one of its most talented scribes. Hoare was born in India to Irish parents and educated in England. He emigrated to Africa in 1948 and fell in love with the land and its people. Though he is best known as a mercenary leader in the Congo and the Seychelles, his two new books describe his non-military adventures on land and sea; Mike Hoare's Adventures in Africa and Three Years with Sylvia. SELLING POINTS: A wonderful account of a family and their adventures on a yacht named Sylvia ILLUSTRATIONS Photos throughout
