Below are some of the quotes David selected from Ready to Come About for his calendar, accompanied by the Portuguese audio clips of the same passages from De Vela Ao Vento.
To my surprise, I could understand many of the spoken Portuguese words and phrases – me, a non-Portuguese speaking person – when I read along in English. Maybe it’s because the Portuguese translation is faithful to the original script. Or maybe it’s because Eliana’s narration is so emotionally true, and clear, and clean. Or maybe it’s all of the above. Who knows. But it worked like magic.
Try it! I think you too will be amazed! You might even find yourself singing along at the end!
Wishing you all happy holidays, or I should say, boas festas! 🙂
Last year, in 2024, after several years of work, Joel Rendall (co-founder of Practice Portuguese LDA, the European Portuguese language learning site out of Lisbon) and his team, completed a European Portuguese translation and recording of my memoir Ready to Come About.
This spring, I was generously given the rights to those audio files with which, with the help of Author’s Republic, an audiobook was created.
De Vela Ao Vento, a superlative full-length European Portuguese audiobook, was published on June 24, 2025, interestingly, the exact day eighteen years earlier that David and I cast off the dock lines on the east coast of Canada for the adventure that, unknowingly at the time, would become the basis of this story.
I am so happy with this audiobook! The professional voice actor, Eliana Silva, out of Lisbon Portugal, is amazing!!
It is my pleasure to introduce you to Eliana, in her own words:
Eliana Silva
I was born in 1985 and started singing before I could even talk — as if my voice was destined to become the thread weaving through my life. Clarity in speech and the power of being understood have always been guiding forces for me.
I was born in Lisbon and raised in the Algarve, and at 22 I returned to Lisbon to begin my career as a flight attendant. Traveling the world was my way of discovering not only new places, but also new sides of myself.
At 30, I embraced another calling and joined an arts and performing school. Around the same time, I began my journey as a voice-over actress, giving life to words in a new and exciting way. Today, at 39, I continue to balance the skies and the microphone. I’m a devoted mother to a five-year-old girl, still working as a flight attendant, and still passionate about voice-over. But my mission has grown: beyond discovering the world, I now feel called to share it — through my voice, my work, and my journey.
Here is a sample of Eliana’s narration from De Vela Ao Vento.
This audio is translated from the original English version found in the Epilogue of my memoir:
And we ocean sailors know that quality of life is not dependent on how much we have or how easy we have it. It’s being able to sail our own ships. It’s choosing our own destinations. It’s developing our own heavy-weather tactics. It’s self-discovery through passage-making and riding out the storms. It’s appreciating when the sun re-emerges, as it always does. And it’s the incomparable thrill of landfall that can be experienced only if one first takes the risk to cast off.
De Vela Ao Vento is now available on multiple platforms:
It can be found on other platforms. Search online for “De Vela Ao Vento” to see its availability.
If you speak Portuguese you might want to hear my story told in Eliana’s beautiful voice!
This audiobook was published by me and produced and distributed independently of Dundurn Press Ltd. Dundurn Press Ltd. makes no representations or warranties as to its content, quality or availability.
