Voyages of a Simple Sailor

Publisher: Fitzroy Press, £8.99
Publication Date: 2008

To reflect on 50 years of small boat handling is probably best left for roaring winter evenings: slippers towards the fire, whisky at elbow. For many, relating a lifetime in a three-tale memoir might tax resolution almost as much as the original experiences; what not to include becoming the first test. Here, however, the author has produced an easy-to-read three-part argument for simplicity and self-sufficiency in small sailing vessels. His philosophy, to avoid both unhandy ships and crewmates, was born of being shipwrecked on the barque Endeavour II off New Zealand in 1971. He begins with that account and its extraordinary recall of detail and compulsive way with words easily held me for a single sitting. Then the writer develops his theme by describing his entry in the 1974 Trans Tasman Yacht Race during which he survives a tumbling capsize – again vividly described – by dint of his stout craft and personal fortitude. In the final story, complete with philosophical musings and saucy doggerel, he works his junk-rigged, engine-less Corribee from Burnham to Plymouth to enter the 2006 Trans-Atlantic Jester Challenge. Heading weather, calms, poor visibility beset him the whole way until, 14 days out of Plymouth, he turns for home only to endure further frustrations as he sails his little ship back to the Crouch. The volume is nicely presented in soft back with an arresting cover illustration of a square-rigger forging powerfully into the camera. I take the point about using monochrome illustration to 'minimise cost and ecological impact', but the production would have been greatly enhanced by colour. – Edward Cartner