THE CREAM OFF: AND SOME MYTHS

About the Book

The book refers to the following:

Birth to the sea: a short description of the life during the WWII the famine in Greece.
The Sea life: All the individual short stories on board of each ship.
The "gold plated" Syndrome the "humble" opinion of the Author.
The Maritime Accidents.
The safety on the Cruise ships: (I was asked by ladies which Cruise ship is safe).
There are many stories which some will be interesting and unusual.
There is no book that covers the old and modern seamen's life. That is the reason I wrote it.

About the Author

I have finished the Merchantile Marine Academy and I went to sea. I sailed for 47 years on a total of 69 ships and 19 International Companies. (I have applied for Guinness book world records). The last 30 years I Commanded 42 of them, mostly Large and some Very Large Tankers (VLCCs). I have sailed with multi national Officers and Crews from various cultures. Additionally I am an Inventor with 2 patents and a medal winner at the International Inventors Expo Geneva May 1999.

At present I am a resident  in Windermere FL, with the intent to become a U.S.A. citizen.
I am a retired extra Master.  Also a very successful Herbalist: (I have never been to a doctor or taken any medicine and I am on the "Longevity" World Record "endeavor". (I have a secret Club with over 5,000  "lucky"members)

One top Asian Politician when in the U.S.A. was asked what University degree he had! His answer: I have finished a University that gives no degrees:   "Society"!

It is prudent for me to write the short stories from all the ships and the visiting ports. There are many "myths" covering the "seaman's life". The only true thing is that it is an extremely tough one! And there are non "exotic" places.

I am not writer or a poet, but I followed the advice of my friends to write the book the way I tell the stories.

So it is a narrative!

An American teacher who read the rough copy of the book wrote me a note: Quote I sarted reading and it made me want to read more and I already know the stories (or at least few of them), So this is positive. For someone reading for the first time, I imagine the desire to read more would be even greater.

When I read, I know you are not a native English speaker, for the way you phrase things are from a foreign tongue. However, on a positive note, this adds to the charm of the stories! Unquote

The American film: "American Beauty" got the Oscar as the Director left the viewers to guess the END:

I humbly ask the readers to understand!

Capt. Ilias Gyftonikolos