Download The Boy Who Fell to Shore: The Extraordinary Life and Mysterious Disappearance of Thomas Thor Tangvald

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The Boy Who Fell to Shore The Extraordinary Life
and
Mysterious
Disappearance
of
Thomas
Thor
Tangvald
Description
Born at sea aboard his father's hand-built
sailboat and raised barefoot on her wood decks,
Thomas Thor Tangvald's oceanic childhood was full
of beauty and wonder-but was also scarred by
horrific tragedies that left him an orphan. Cast
ashore into regular
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contact with human society for the first time at
age 15, this intellectually gifted and uniquely
educated young man at first reveled in his new
environment but ultimately was led by his trauma
into spirals of addiction and broken
relationships. Thomas hasn't been seen since he
sailed away from French Guiana in 2014, and some
believe he must still be alive.THE BOY WHO FELL
TO SHORE is an insider's account of the Tangvald
legend. Charles J. Doane--an accomplished
bluewater sailor and longtime sailing
journalist--tracks Thomas and his father Peter (a
renowned but controversial sailor and author)
across thousands of ocean miles through intimate
interviews, personal correspondence, documentary
research, and first-hand experience of the
tropical anchorages and passage routes they
frequented. This biography is by turns inspiring,
terrifying, beautiful, and infuriating as Doane
deftly explores the great cost of living freely
at the whim of wind and water.Praise for The Boy
Who Fell to ShorequotHisseafaring birth, life,
and death was so unorthodox, Thomas Tangvald
might as well have been a different species.
Talented and tormented, he struggled to find love
and fulfillment in a world with which he was
wholly out of step. Doane has written an
engrossing account of this remarkable and
ultimately doomed young man, and in the process
has given us a sprawling portrait of a remarkable
community of bluewater sailors, a tribe of humans
who prefer ocean to land.quot--Mark Bowden,
bestselling author of Black Hawk Down A Story of
Modern War and other titlesquotAvery
thought-provoking read. Thomas was so at home on
the sea that shipwrecked his youth, literally and
figuratively, that his life on shore became a
train wreck, in spite of all his good qualities.
His old-school sailing parentage and pedigree was
cool, but not cool enough to make Thomas whole,
or his story any less heart- breaking.quot--Tania
Aebi, author of the bestselling memoir Maiden
VoyagequotInThe Boy Who Fell to Shore Charles
Doane dissects the freedom one finds at sea and
in any life close to nature, a powerful siren
call even to those who will never venture there.
In an era when the term 8220Fredom8221is
bandied about by many who8217venever known it
and have no idea of its real meaning and
implications, this book asks serious questions.
What are freedom8217scosts and compromises? How
does personal freedom without equal
responsibility bear upon and limit the lives of
others? Does it ultimately devolve into anarchy
and disaster? Just how do each of us, sailor or
dirt-dweller, strike a balance between a life
with too many rules and none at all--between the
benefits of civilization and a life devoid of
them?quot--Steve Callahan,
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bestselling author of Adrift Seventy-Six Days
Lost at SeaquotAfascinating chronicle of the
life and voyages of a damaged yet brilliant
iconoclast, and a gripping exploration of the
dark tensions between minimalism and seamanship,
between individualism and egocentricity, and
between a storied, demanding father and an
ambitious, orphaned son.quot--Tim Zimmerman,
contributing editor at Outside Magazine,
associate producer and co- writer of the
documentary film Blackfish, author of The
RacequotThetragic life of Thomas Tangvald is
like none other. Doane has teased out the tale
with skill and tact. He recounts it for us in the
raw in this well-researched book.quot--Tom
Cunliffe, BBC broadcaster, yachting journalist
and author of In the Wake of Heroes