DECADES
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost" J.R.R. Tolkien
NOT ANOTHER DAY
A MEMOIR
A gripping yarn, an ode to adventure.
“This is no ordinary mariner’s tale; this is no ordinary memoir”
'Not Another Day' is a ripping good yarn–and an inspiring one at that. From lighthouse stations along the South African coastline, the author leads us to places as diverse as the Islands of St Helena and Ascension in the mid-Atlantic Ocean, to a country jail in the great Karoo.
At its heart, ‘Not Another Day’ is an ode to adventure, to heeding the inner call to living one's best life. It's a candid tale about grit, about authenticity, and about being fully present in this great, wide, wonderful world.
This is the finest COVID-19 mitigation measure yet to come out of 2022.
A young South African searching for peace on a restless ocean
This is a sailing book, that’s not about sailing. You don’t need to know, or care, about the proper use of a boat hook to enjoy every twist and turn of this yarn. Born at Cape Point Lighthouse in South Africa, the author lived an idyllic life of freedom before being forced into the city for schooling. We are taken with on his personal quest to break free from the city life which he realizes is literally killing him. We follow him as he fights his inherent fear of the ocean and a deeply rooted lack of confidence, until, in a dramatic and defining moment, he breaks the chains of his self-imposed prison.
Things do not go as planned.
What follows is a series of wild ocean adventure, each one its own perfect storm of incidents and revelations. We cross the Atlantic Ocean to St Helena and Ascension Island, are tossed into an adventure along the Wild Coast of South African, so extreme, it almost ends in tragedy. What should be a routine road trip back home with his good friend, turns into a dystopian nightmare. Finally, we are led on a round trip across the Atlantic to South America on a boat made of stone.
This is no ordinary mariner’s tale; this is no ordinary memoir.
Latest reviews
Tracey Pharoah - March 2022
Many go through life working hard on their retirement plan, feeling rudderless and adrift in a place where dreams go to die.. afraid to brave the wind while drowning in a sea of mediocrity.
Ben is an ordinary guy who abandons his 9-to-5 existence as a hardware store manager to chase his dreams. Embracing the unknown, he sets sail on an extraordinary adventure across the Atlantic and along the shores of South Africa, providing a witty and candid, sometimes hair-raising account of confronting storms, making new friends and encounters with strange characters in unlikely places.
Not Another Day is a reminder that living a colourful, vibrant, and fulfilling life requires leaving the safety of the harbour knowing that you are going to make mistakes and it won’t all be smooth sailing as you build your confidence one experience at a time, changing the future in ways that you could not have imagined. Required reading for anyone with the spirit of adventure in their souls.
Emmalen Kriel – Author of ‘Close the Door Softly Behind You’ and ‘Jam Every Other Day’ – 03 March 2022
Ben’s writing style grabbed me enough to read it through in one go. He has a way of capturing the reader with his honesty, sharing his shortcomings and challenges. For me, having completely different interests, it says a great deal that I read it, and enjoyed it to the very end. I found it inspiring and exciting, and if I was younger, I would certainly want to try something like that. I think you will find 'Not Another Day' a most interesting read.
Nigel Wessels – 6 March 2022
A thoroughly absorbing read and a down to earth account leaving this reader regretting not having had the courage to have similarly (in the author’s own words) ‘pushed the ladder away from the tree’ and followed his sailing dream. I often read several books at once, but this is one of the few that I read from start to finish without switching, and in double quick time!
Carol Van Niekerk – Book club reviewer – 24th Jan 2022
Loved the book, read it in two days. Enjoyed the style of writing and turn of phrase – keeps the reader interested. One can relate to his emotional journey – appreciated the sharing of anxieties, the highs, and lows! Yet he does not go on and on about this – leaves it to the reader.
The sailing accounts were fascinating, both scary and informative (especially to the non-sailor) Did not go overboard (no pun intended) with details but gave enough to sketch the actual immensity of the undertaking.
Janina Bokova – Latvia - 31 January 2022
Through 3 trips in the Ocean (that don’t go as planned), we follow the growth of a young man as he sails away from an unwanted lifestyle to fill his curiosity and overcome his insecurities and finds balance between love for adventure and his loved ones. An exciting and honest memoire that will be interesting, even for those who are not into the sailing.
Dominique le Roux - Reader, writer, publisher and lover of the Great Outdoors - 26 January 2022
A life well lived. A story well told.
I've read a bunch of sailing memoirs–including many of those Ben mentions in his book, in fact–but few have had me turning the pages quite as avidly as this one. 'Not Another Day' is a ripping good yarn–and an inspiring one, at that. At its heart, though, it's not really a sailing story at all. It's an ode to adventure. And much more: to heeding the inner call to living one's best life. It's a candid tale about grit, about authenticity, and about being fully present in this great, wide, wonderful world.
Sean McNamara - Cairns, Australia - 17 January 2021
Not Another Day, by Ben Swanepoel, is more than a sailing novel, and will appeal to sailors and non-sailors alike. Anchored through a series of page turning ocean sailing adventures, Swanepeol paints a picture of a young man growing up sailing and surfing along South Africa’s coast, and navigating life changing decisions. This second offering by Swanepeol will definitely leave you wanting more.
Jennifer Jen - Northland, New Zealand - 30 December 2021
Written with delightful humour and vulnerable honesty of those crux points in life of ‘not. one. more. day!’ when we bravely step into the unknown with no path laid out neatly ahead, on blind faith of inner guidance alone. Few authors have the gift to write in such a way where words wash over and touch your very soul where the world disappears and you’re catapulted into life experiences as if it’s your own, touching familiar places of courage, misery, self doubt, the indescribable beauty of ‘home’, love and the soaring freedom of life’s adventure, joy and success. A book not to be missed, a promised enjoyable read.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
PART I - THE EARLY YEARS
Chapter 1-From Lighthouse to Long Beach.
Chapter 2-Dinghy Days
PART II - ATLANTIC CROSSING - INTERRUPTED
Chapter 3-Drifting and Drifting
Chapter 4- C’est Nous
CHAPTER 5-Where are we?
CHAPTER 6-Dem be Yachties
CHAPTER 7- 700 Pages to Ascension
CHAPTER 8- Ascension Island
CHAPTER 9- Heading Home
PART III - CAPE OF STORMS
CHAPTER 10- The Girl I’m Going to Marry
CHAPTER 11-Agulhas Showdown
CHAPTER 12-Thumbing into Trouble
CHAPTER 13 - A Boy Named Pete
PART IV - STONE BOAT TO SOUTH AMERICA
CHAPTER 14-Becalmed
CHAPTER 15-Across the Pond
CHAPTER 16-Villains and Vagabonds
CHAPTER 17-Down South
ONE FINE DAY IN MOSSEL BAY
The Author - Ben Swanepoel
Ben was born in South Africa, where he spent his formative years living on lighthouse stations along the South African and Namibian coastline. After his family moved into the city for schooling, Ben struggled to settle into city life. His spirit of adventure and independence stands out in stark contrast to his internal struggles with fear and a lack of confidence. It is this internal tension, along with his honesty, that makes his writing so relatable.
Ben experienced life in ways many of us can only dream about. He has written extensively about his experiences, which include accounts of his ocean sailing voyage’s, long distance cycling adventures and his work in conservation. After serving as a conservation manager in South Africa for over 20 years, Ben moved to the Southeast Asian country of Lao PDR, where he currently lives, working as a technical advisor on protected areas management for the Wildlife Conservation Society.
