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

by Charles J. Doane

Overview

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 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. 

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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. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781957607085
Publisher:	Latah Books
Publication date:	10/25/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	314
Sales rank:	537,388
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Charles J. Doane is an active bluewater sailor who has worked as a yachting journalist since 1986. He has logged nearly 100,000 miles sailing offshore, including seven transatlantic passages and a number of singlehanded passages between the West Indies and New England. He has cruised extensively on the U.S. East Coast, in the West Indies, in Spain and Portugal, and in West Africa. His racing credits include runs in the Newport-Bermuda Race, the Fastnet Race, and the Sydney-Hobart Race.Besides having worked on staff at top U.S. sailing magazines, he is the author of two previous books -- The Modern Cruising Sailboat, a reference work, and The Sea Is Not Full, a memoir. His freelance work has appeared in The New York Times and in top international sailing magazines. In previous existences he was an attorney and a daily newspaper reporter.

Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter 1. In His Father's Wake

Chapter 2. Aftermath

Chapter 3. A Child of the Sea

Chapter 4. In New Terrain

Chapter 5. Education Consummated

Chapter 6. Afloat Again

Chapter 7. A Voyage of His Own

Chapter 8. Down the Rabbit Hole

Chapter 9. A Family Man

Chapter 10. Escape from Babylon

Chapter 11. In a Fake Country

Chapter 12. A Prince in His Realm

Acknowledgements

Editorial Reviews

11/04/2022

Yachting journalist Doane, who is also an active, long-term, open sea cruiser, or bluewater sailor, as it's called, does a fine job of piloting both sailors and wannabes into the world of Thomas Thor Tangvald, who disappeared with his boat off French Guiana in 2014. Born to an iconoclastic and uncompromising sailor father aboard the hand-built sailboat that housed the family for many years, young Thomas lived by the virtues of independent and minimalist living, both at sea and on land. Tangvald had difficulty, however, managing any philosophies or lifestyles not consonant with his own, and he sabotaged, with addictive and combative behavior, his many close relationships and his own mental and physical health. Non-sailors may find the less charming aspects of Tangvald's personality and behavior insufficiently offset by the purity of his sailing ambitions, and indeed, sailors themselves may grow impatient with the needless land-bound obstacles Tangvald put in front of his bluewater life. VERDICT Both sets of readers, however, will enjoy this narrative, rich with the joys and dangers of offshore seafaring, along with the tales of many who pursue that life so passionately.—Dorian Gossy

Library Journal