An intrepid retiree takes on the high seas of the Atlantic

Did you know that when sailing across the Atlantic one of the worst things that can happen is to run out of reading material? That it's possible to catch a lobster with a mop in the Caribbean? Or that the island of Martinique is a part of the European Union? I didn't, but I do now that I've met 62-year-old mechanic Panayiotis Kontoyiannis.

Kontoyiannis left the Saronic island of Aegina on his sailing boat in April last year. He crossed the Atlantic, took in the Leeward Islands, visited dreamy Dominica, Guadeloupe and the Virgin Islands, and reached Cuba before heading to Bermuda, the Azores and from there to Gibraltar, the Mediterranean Sea and home. His incredible 15-month maritime adventure was sprinkled with to-be-expected setbacks as well as an array of new encounters and friendships.

Kontoyiannis had always nurtured a passion for sailing. "When I was 35 I took part...