Frank

Captain of My Own Ship

AVAILABLE January 2026: Sailing Naked – A Memoir

Sailing the high seas, clothes are always optional. Why be plain vanilla when you can be an outrageous chocolate sundae full of nuts?

‘Sailing consumed my father almost as much as alcohol did. Those escapes lived on different planes of his existence but resulted in equal pleasure for him. The sun, wind, water, and salt air replenished his soul and set him free, while the alcohol stole it and made him a prisoner to his addiction. If only self-control was as simple as setting sails and catching a breeze.’

There was never a dull moment around Frank Kalapos – a vibrant, cultured and exciting father who had escaped Hungary as a young man after the 1956 Revolution and started a new life in the USA. However, past traumas cast a shadow across his eclectic, unconventional and freedom-loving lifestyle. His American daughter Kristina grew up admiring and loving her father but conflicted by intergenerational trauma. This is an account of her path to find peace, via Venice Beach, California in the 1970s, Seville, Spain in the 1980s, Michigan, Chicago, Switzerland, the Isle of Wight and Mexico.

‘It is never too late to seek purpose and be present, to be accountable and blameless, to be vulnerable and worthy, to be positive and insightful, to see the glass as half full.’

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