Outbound: Finding a Man, Sailing an Ocean

I bought this book because I was blown away by Storandt's first fictional novel, "The Summer They Came." However, as a straight male who does not know the first thing about sailing, I did not know what to expect from this work. My enjoyment of Storandt's effort is all the more impressive, given my lack of knowledge about the subject matter. Like all master story tellers, Storandt lets the reader enter his world by describing the situation in detail, with references to more familiar subject matter. For instance, when explaining why he cannot get out of bed during a severe storm, Storandt says that he can no more get out of bed than a potato worm can unfold in your hand ... brilliant! Storandt has 2 running stories in this book. In the foreground is his gripping account of his sailing adventure to Scotland (the homeplace of his life partner) across the Atlantic. In the background, is a discussion of his and his life partner's lives up until the time of the trip, with particular focus on how they came to realize they were gay. I highly recommend this book to even the most staunchly conservative "straights," and to the landlubbers most prone to sea-sickness!

Sometimes a friend will surprise you. You know there's a memoir in the works, that it is to be published. Good for him. You'll have to read it. Reading it, you are impressed, knocked out, amazed. This is what happened to me with Bill Storandt's book, Outbound. The two stories, interwoven in alternating chapters, will satisfy both those seeking the taste of wind-driven mid-Atlantic salt spray and those who seek to better understand a gay man and witness his success in finding a life partner. There are wonderful side trips to Julliard, the Vermont woods, the Caribbean, the Scottish coast, and married life.The book also satisfies a larger audience, however, and it does so with the simplest and most difficult device: honesty. Bill gracefully and without pretense shares his difficulties and successes, both maritime and personal. It is no accident that his boat is named Clarity. Because he has taken the risk to be so honest with us, an unusual bond develops between author and reader. The authenticity of his voice causes us to care about his perception of the world and to examine how it compares with our own. This happens rarely and it is a privilege and an adventure. We are in good hands with Bill, whose gentle and persistent humor, thoughtful consideration, and respect for all parties make the voyages we take with him away from and back to safe harbors both illuminating and very enjoyable. I literally couldn't put the book down.

William Storandt wanted to sail across the Atlantic. And he was afraid he wanted to love a man. In this sometimes harrowing story of the ocean and the heart, Storandt tells us how he finally managed both. His journeys take him from Julliard to a hippie dome in the Vermont woods to a 30-foot sloop in a life-threatening gale off the coast of Ireland. His parallel course leads him from a youthful marriage to a live-in girlfriend to his first gay bar. And then to Brian Forsyth, a Scottish-born pediatrian at Yale. Storandt's clean prose and eye for fine Homeric detail make for an exciting yarn about an unusual life. You won't have to be gay or nautical to enjoy it.

"Outbound" is a wonderful book, among the best I've read recently in either the gay or sailing genres, but transcending each. I've lived in Vermont, with my lover, since 1976, but sail mostly in Maine waters on my gaff-rigged coastal schooner. So, while the book hooked me with its literary quality, my own experience mirrors -- to a some degree -- the author's. And I tell you: It rings true, with a beautiful, clean tone.

This is an very well written book; although I've never sailedand am female, I was really drawn in by the descriptions of therhythms of life on an ocean voyage and the storms - emotionaland atmospheric. Honesty and candor allowed me to feel connected to the participants in this adventure.