When Bryan M. Byrd cast off from a Florida dock, he envisioned sun-soaked days and breezy nights aboard a sailboat gliding to the Virgin Islands. But paradise isn’t always. In Surviving Paradise: the Perils and Pleasures of the Caribbean, Byrd's humor-laced narrative plunges readers into an odyssey teeming with rogue waves, unreliable companions, and unexpected romance. Under the command of a captain more confident than circumspect, and a first mate whose silence screams louder than words, Byrd adapts to the relentless rhythms of the sea. Ballast today, a sailor tomorrow, his wit and will are tested by the unforgiving Bermuda Triangle, enigmatic personalities, and the siren whose love story is as turbulent as the waters they navigate. While each port offers a tantalizing blend of culture and chaos, it's the onboard antics, mechanical failures, and the people that steer this tale through a storm of laughter and learning. Byrd's affable voice ties together misadventures and milestones, inviting readers to confront the capriciousness of nature, the depth of human connection, and the supreme challenge of charting one's own course.
“An amazing life-changing sailing adventure! Byrd’s funny stories and beautiful descriptions, amid the death-defying drama and romance, make me want to book a trip to the Caribbean… but I’ll take mine sitting on the beach.”
– Kaitlyn Jain: Author, Passports and Pacifiers
“Surviving Paradise launches the reader on a rousing peregrination, a mid-life quest across perilous oceans with riotous and erotic digressions, philosophical reflections, and nautical revelations so vivid that you may need a barf bag to survive them for the next riveting saga of the seas.”
– George Gilder, author-investor of Life After Capitalism and 21 other books
From D.Cohen: “I’ve been Googling lots of these places in your book like Trunk Bay and Pillsbury Sound and looking at the many pictures Google offers and it further increases my joy and appreciation of your experience. Saves a lot of money on travel and energy I no longer possess. I’m on my last one hundred pages and hope it never ends.”
From the editor of the Library of Congress Magazine for 36 years: “Although I don’t usually read adventure, romance, or travel books, I thoroughly enjoyed Surviving Paradise, which includes all three. I guess I’m going to broaden my genre choices, beyond historical fiction and novels.”
From M.O. in CT: “Bryan, it's SIX months since you alerted me to your amazing "auto-fiction" production! Sorry it's taken me so long to respond BUT I read every single word (I didn't want to miss any of your laugh-out-loud wit). It's incredible that your diary survived all your adventures! After finishing the book, I shared it with the husband of a dear friend who enjoyed his own sailboat but is now dealing with the late stages of Parkinson's. Thank you for providing me with a fun, uniquely interesting book that also helped to entertain someone near the end of his life.”
Bryan,
Thank you for sharing a story of an adventure that captures the quest of the human spirit to experience life to the fullest with others. The most positive desire to make the most of a challenging experience with the people God has put in your life while acknowledging their weakness and sharing their strength seems to be the center of living life to the fullest. By providing a vivid description of adventure on the sea, you engage your reader to immerse themselves in the adventure and help them relate to characters from their own frame of reference.
I am in awe of your work Bryan and am grateful you shared some of it with me.
Warm regards,
Ron
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