When the Wind Blows

Publisher: Trafford Publishing, £12

Publication Date: 2006

CA Library Reference:

The charm of this book lies in the narrative. Maggie Ansell’s account of their adventure brims over with enthusiasm, which is infectious even for people who have read many “sell up and sail” books. Her story starts in the Cayman Islands where her husband bids for a seized drug boat. This 50ft ferro-cement ketch eventually becomes their home before they sever land ties altogether. Their adventures take them round the Caribbean through the Panama Canal and into the Pacific. Their joys and tribulations are told with warmth and the wonder that comes from experiencing the marvellous for the first time.

Their dramatic rescue in a cyclone off the Great Barrier Reef has an appropriate place in the book. It neither dominates nor is the enormity of the danger played down. Fears are honestly expressed as they are swept towards a reef whilst laying to a sea anchor. The presentation of the book is good but the photos, of which there are many, suffer as a result of the print method. However, this did not detract from the book being a compulsive page turner, and an all round good read. - JP