Sailing My Dream; Dick Allan; Longfellow Publishers, 1999; ISBN 0-9533291-1-9; £9.99; CA 15577

Short accounts of “Greylag”’s circumnavigation, as part of the Trade Winds Rally, appeared in Yachting Monthly. The book naturally covers the practical difficulties and delights in much wider scope, visiting many lesser known places. Dick Allan took off from UK with two other recently retired crew. One of them lasted the distance. Greylag was the smallest boat on the rally, a Maxi 999 at 33 feet. This gives little space for privacy. The adventures are well described with a knockdown in the Coral Sea and meetings with varied livestock: from rabid dogs to crocodiles.

Produced well in paperback, the illustrations are black and white. A clear chart precedes each section. Pen and ink drawings and watercolours by the author are reproduced in the text in reduced form. Many are attractive and effective. It is overdone, and some merge into similarity. There are occasional lapses of style which irritated me. Am I alone in finding reference to contemporaries by people in later years as “boys and girls” rather coy?

There are, however, interesting insights into social interaction among crews and the people with whom they come into contact. Perhaps the most interesting is that the author, with his wife and loyal crew member having returned through the French inland waterways, decides to sell up and buy a boat more suited to that purpose.

More of a reflective travelogue than a detailed sailor’s guide, anyone contemplating cruising these grounds, will find much useful information, well written. - MJD

Page prepared 22 September 1999

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