The Tahiti Syndrome Hawaiian Style is an introspective journey taken under sail into the very heart of the Great Pacific Ocean to the magnificent Hawaiian archipelago. Accompanied by his family and friends, Gunson's seven thousand mile, deep sea voyage is not only a journey across a great watery wilderness, but a personal journey where he explores his successes and failures, his life, love and family in an effort to answer the question man has been asking himself from time immemorial........... Is there meaning to my life? Candidly written and heartfelt, this sailing adventure travelogue is full of fascinating nautical titbits and astute philosophical ramblings augmented with insightful and memorable quotes from historical travel writers and adventurers of the past. If you have ever dreamed of sailing over the horizon to live the life of a cruising vagabond, join as vicarious crew, Andrew and Janet Gunson aboard the sailing vessel Maiatla for their latest Naked Canadian Adventure and voyage into Oceania.
About the Author: The author is a storyteller with the heart of an adventurer; he has the ability to infect others with his zeal for life and his love of the sea. Andrew Gunson grew up in and around boats on the Great Lakes and always dreamed of following the paths of such intrepid sailors as Joshua Slocum, and Eric and Susan Hiscock. A Canadian National sailing champion at fourteen, he raced aboard some of the fastest yachts then afloat, competing against the very best at the world championship level. At the age of eighteen, he moved to Canada's west coast and discovered a completely new world of sailing. Leaving the hi-tech racing yachts behind, he began to follow his dream of becoming a "cruiser." Together with his father, he purchased his first cruising sailboat, a Columbia 36', and never looked back. Although a fourth generation mason, Andrew's adventurous spirit led him to attend the College of Oceaneering in Wilmington, California. By age twenty-one, he was a commercial bell diver working on oil-drilling ships in the Beaufort Sea. He eventually became a co-pilot in the submersible program aboard a Norwegian drill ship and worked beneath the frigid waters of the Davis Strait, off the coast of Labrador. Before his thirtieth birthday, he retired from commercial diving to focus on raising his young family. With his wife Janet, they purchased and operated a convenience store in Vernon, BC. After selling the business, Andrew obtained his securities license and became a personal financial analyst and small business tax consultant. Andrew's love affair with the sea endured. He continued to dream, just waiting for his own chance to sail off. After a series of life-altering events, that included a brush with a deadly skin cancer, a pair of automobile accidents that almost claimed Andrew's life and being accidentally shot while bear hunting, the couple decided it time to stop dreaming. The Gunson's started planning their escape before it was too late. Hence the saga of the sailing vessel Maiatla II and the Naked Canadian began. The Gunson's preceding voyaging inspired the author to write, The Voyage of the Maiatla with the Naked Canadian, One Family's Mexican Odyssey, followed by the second book of the series, The Tahiti Syndrome, Hawaiian Style.