[PropBet]

Not "yachting" per say, but I found this to be kind of fun / interesting read...

The world’s largest floating bookshop MV Doulos docked on Thursday afternoon at the Gate 1, South Harbor, Manila Pier 13 (near the historic Manila Hotel) for public viewing and sale of quality books from November 30–December 23, 2007.

This will be MV Doulos’ final visit to the Philippines. It docked at past 3 p.m.

Manila Mayor Alfredo S. Lim earlier promised Manilenos and book lovers nationwide access to quality books inside the world’s largest floating bookshop, MV Doulos.

The mayor recently met with MV Doulos’ project coordinators Sofie Eriksson and Mathias Bosch who told him that this would be the last visit in Manila of the world-renowned floating bookshop.

Over the past 29 years, the Doulos has visited more than 100 countries, welcoming more than 20 million people on board. The ship has 350 volunteers coming from over 50 countries that have the common goal of bringing knowledge, help and hope to the people of the world.

The Doulos carries a stock of more than 500,000 books that are on sale at affordable prices. The 6,000 titles cover a wide range of subjects such as science, education, cookery, technology, dictionaries, sports and children’s books, among others.

Lim said he is happy with the arrival of the MV Doulos to the country as this will give many Filipinos access to quality books that will help enrich their knowledge as well as the diverse cultures that can be gleaned from the multinational volunteers on board.

He added that books can really be expensive and most people would choose to spend their hard-earned money on food and other basic needs.

“But with the arrival of the MV Doulos here in the Philippines, the public will obtain books at much lower prices than in the usual bookstores,” he pointed out.

The Doulos was built in 1914 as a freighter named Medina and is just two years younger than the ill-fated Titanic. In 1948, she became the Roma and transported immigrants to Australia. In 1952, she transformed into a cruise liner.

Web site: http://www.mvdoulos.org