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Join three intrepid explorers as they seek to cross and explore the continent of Africa from Indian Ocean to Atlantic Ocean, except they’re doing it by hot air balloon. Scholar and scientist Samuel Ferguson, his manservant Joe, and his friend Richard “Dick” Kennedy engage in this mighty scientific feat, as they face danger after danger, enjoy adventure after adventure, and experience the literal highs and lows of Africa from the view of a hot air balloon. (Summary by Alex C. Telander)...

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Adventure

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Es ist die Nacht vom 26. auf den 27. November des Jahres 1703. Eine muntere Gesellschaft feiert auf dem Eddystone die Fertigstellung des neuen Leuchtturms. Doch eine uralte Sage umrankt diesen Felsen vor der Küste von Cornwall und bestimmt das Schicksal der auf dem Leuchtturm versammelten Personen. (Zusammenfassung von Rainer)...

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Fiction, Horror/Ghost stories, Mystery, Myths/Legends, Romance, Sea stories

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The Cruise of the Snark (1913) is a memoir of Jack and Charmian London's 1907-1909 voyage across the Pacific. His descriptions of surf-riding, which he dubbed a royal sport, helped introduce it to and popularize it with the mainland. London writes: Through the white crest of a breaker suddenly appears a dark figure, erect, a man-fish or a sea-god, on the very forward face of the crest where the top falls over and down, driving in toward shore, buried to his loins in smoking spray, caught up by the sea and flung landward, bodily, a quarter of a mile. It is a Kanaka on a surf-board. And I know that when I have finished these lines I shall be out in that riot of colour and pounding surf, trying to bit those breakers even as he, and failing as he never failed, but living life as the best of us may live it. Excerpted from Wikipedia....

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Memoirs

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This is the tale of a perilous voyage aboard a clipper ship told by the second mate. He looks up to Trunnell, the first mate, who somehow manages to hold things together between a murdering former captain, a captain who may not actually be a captain, and a crew inclined to mutiny. This all leads to a surprising and satisfying ending. The author, Hains, wrote frequently of the sea. He is the author who (under a pen name) had a story on the newsstands about a liner hitting an iceberg and sinking, while Titanic was doing precisely that!...

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Fiction, Sea stories

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Authentic Narratives of the Most Celebrated Sea Robbers.

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Adventure, Sea stories, Biography

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For Treasure Bound is one of the earlier novels by Harry Collingwood (William Joseph Cosens Lancaster), published in 1897. We follow the hero, whose name is incidentally also Harry Collingwood, on a quest to the pacific islands for treasure and his marooned father, through all the perils he encounters on his journey, such as pirates, sea monsters, and beautiful young ladies. (Summary by Carolin)...

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Adventure, Fiction, Sea stories

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The Trawler is a short story revolving around the trying life of a group of bank fishermen based in Gloucester. Skipper Hugh Glynn worked his men hard; some said too hard, and Arthur Snow was one who had paid the ultimate price. Arthur's close friend Simon Kippen decided he'd ask to take the place of his fallen friend aboard Hugh Glynn's vessel as a dory mate, and from there we have a tale of the open seas between Gloucester and Newfoundland where perhaps only the names and locations have changed from the countless stories of similar nature; the key being that this one, however, is first hand. (Summary by Roger Melin)...

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Adventure, Sea stories

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This 1904 maritime adventure is set in the Great Lakes region, upon water and in wood. Our hero is caught in a smuggling scheme and may lose his boat and his sweetheart. With a fast pace and interesting plot, the story is made realistic with very modern bad-guys. (Summary by Brenda Price)...

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Adventure, Sea stories, Romance

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8 great spoofs of 'types' of fiction by the premier Canadian humorist Leacock, taken from his book Nonsense Novels. The title of each parody gives away it's genre: Soaked in Seaweed or, Upset in the Ocean; Maddened by Mystery: or, The Defective Detective; Q. A Psychic Pstory of the Psupernatural; Guido the Gimlet of Ghent: A Romance of Chivalry; The Man in Asbestos: an Allegory of the Future; Sorrows of a Super Soul: or, The Memoirs of Marie Mushenough; A Hero in Homespun: or, The Life Struggle of Hezekiah Hayloft and Caroline's Christmas: or, The Inexplicable Infant. If you enjoy take offs and parodies, the stories in this collection are for you. See how many types you recognize as you listen and laugh. (Summary by phil chenevert)...

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Humor

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Dick Sands, a youth of fifteen, must assume command of a ship after the disappearance of its captain. Nature’s forces combined with evil doings of men lead him and his companions to many dangerous adventures on sea and in Central Africa....

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Adventure

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Der Chancellor ist eines von Jules Vernes ungewöhnlichsten Werken. Es erzählt vom Untergang eines Schiffes in Form eines Tagebuches, das der Passagier J.-R. Kazallon führt, wird die letzte Fahrt des Dreimasters Chancellor geschildert, der irgendwo im Atlantik zwischen Charleston (South Carolina) und Liverpool untergeht, nachdem an Bord Feuer ausgebrochen ist, weil die Ladung (Baumwolle) Feuer gefangen hat. Die Situation wird noch dadurch erschwert, dass ein Passagier, der Kaufmann John Ruby, eigenmächtig hochexplosiven Sprengstoff mit an Bord gebracht hat. Der Autor schildert die Umstände, die zur Katastrophe führen, die Versuche der Mannschaft, das Schiff noch zu retten und die Leiden der Überlebenden, die nach dem Untergang der Chancellor auf einem Floß über den Atlantik treiben. Die Überlebenden leiden Hunger, sie haben Halluzinationen. Einige Matrosen begehen Selbstmord, indem sie sich erhängen oder von Bord springen und sich den Haien, die das Floß umkreisen, zum Fraß vorwerfen. Allmählich blättert das Zivilisierte von den Schiffbrüchigen ab, Gier und Missgunst kommen zum Vorschein. Die Mannschaft lehnt sich gegen die Passagier...

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Adventure, Fiction, Literature, Sea stories, Travel

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The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket is Edgar Allan Poe’s only complete novel, published in 1838.The work relates the tale of the young Arthur Gordon Pym who stows away aboard a whaling ship called Grampus. Various adventures and mis-adventures befall Pym including shipwreck, mutiny and cannibalism. The story starts out as a fairly conventional adventure at sea, but it becomes increasingly strange and hard to classify in later chapters, involving religious symbolism and the Hollow Earth. Summary from Wikipedia...

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Adventure

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This is the story of a man’s monumental struggle against nature, to win the hand of the woman he loves, and surmount every difficulty that Nature puts in his path (Summary by Alisson Veldhuis)...

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Romance, Sea stories

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Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town is a sequence of stories by Stephen Leacock, first published in 1912. It is generally considered to be one of the most enduring classics of Canadian humorous literature. The fictional setting for these stories is Mariposa, a small town on the shore of Lake Wissanotti. Although drawn from his experiences in Orillia, Ontario, Leacock writes in the introduction: Mariposa is not a real town. On the contrary, it is about seventy or eighty of them. You may find them all the way from Lake Superior to the sea, with the same square streets and the same maple trees and the same churches and hotels. This work has remained popular for its universal appeal. Many of the characters, though modelled on townspeople of Orillia, are small town archetypes. Their shortcomings and weaknesses are presented in a humorous but affectionate way. (Summary from Wikipedia)...

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Fiction, Humor

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Im Jahr 1599 sind die Niederlande von den Spaniern besetzt. Die Stadt Antwerpen ist bevölkert von italienischen Söldnern. Doch die Niederländer leisten Widerstand. Auf See ist der Wille der “Wassergeusen” ungebrochen und ihre Schlagkraft von den Besatzern gefürchtet. Am meisten graut ihnen jedoch vor dem Flaggschiff: Die schwarze Galeere… (Zusammenfassung von Felix)...

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Adventure, Sea stories

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A one-act play. Eccentric (crazy?) Captain Hagberd has been waiting for years for his son to come home from the sea. He has scrimped and saved, outfitting a house for Harry to inherit upon his return, which will be in only one day more. He has also planned that Harry will marry Bessie, the repressed maiden next door. Note: The recording was done outside, so there will be some ambient noise (airplanes, lawn mowers, birds, children... etc). (Summary by TriciaG)...

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Play

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Nördlich von Australien, um 1840. Während einer Reise von Sidney nach Singapur sichtet die Mannschaft des Segelschiffes Betsy Ann auf den Klippen des Great Barrier Reef ein Wrack. Die Bark scheint menschenleer zu sein, doch als einige Männer der Betsy Ann zu dem Wrack hinüberrudern, finden sie dort einen rätselhaften Einsiedler vor. Blutspuren deuten auf einen Kampf an Bord hin, und den Seeleuten wird bald klar, dass hier ein Verbrechen geschehen ist. Aber was genau ist passiert, und welche Rolle spielte dabei dieser schweigsame Mann? Da geschieht plötzlich ein weiteres Unglück... (Zusammenfassung von Karlsson)...

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Adventure, Sea stories, Teen/Young adult

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The Frozen Deep is a story of a love triangle between Clara, Frank and Richard, spiced up with dangerous expeditions, mysterious visions and life-threatening circumstances. The end is as surprising and unexpected as we are (or are not) accustomed to in Collins' books. (Summary by Diana Majlinger)...

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Adventure, Fiction, Sea stories

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Persuasion is a regency Cinderella-esque tale of a young woman, the beautiful Anne Elliot, who is persuaded from marrying the Naval officer of her heart. It is now almost nine years since she rejected him. Bonaparte has abdicated and England's sailors return home covered in glory. Fredrick Wentworth is now a rich and highly eligible sea captain and the two are curiously thrown together. Will their forgotten affection blossom anew? Or has the captain found another? (Summary by rlowalrus)...

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Literature

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Typee is Herman Melville's first book, recounting his experiences after having jumped ship in the Marquesas Islands in 1842, and becoming a captive of a cannibal island tribe. It was an immediate success in America and England, and was Melville's most popular work during his lifetime. It was not until the end of the 1930's that it was surpassed in popularity by Moby Dick, more than thirty years after his death. The story provoked harsh criticism for its condemnation of missionary efforts in the Pacific Islands. Many sought to discredit the book, claiming that it was a work of fiction, but this criticism ended when the events it described were corroborated by Melville's fellow castaway, Richard T. Greene, who appears in the story as the character Toby (Summary by Michael)...

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Adventure, Sea stories