The Sea Bird

Rozelle Raynes

Golden Duck

£11.99

I first read this book many years ago when I first started sailing, writes Claudia Myatt, and loved it then for its candour and huge sense of fun. Rozelle had joined the WW2 WRNS as a stoker aged 17, gaining initial experience in boat-handling and a certainty that the sea was where she belonged. When she was de-mobbed in 1945, she was desolated. She tried to find work as a yacht hand, then set out adventuring on her own small ships. She’s intrepid and resourceful, on one occasion using her suspender belt to repair a broken rudder in the North Sea.

Sailing with Rozelle reminds you that good seamanship often consists in getting yourself out of trouble –then coming back for more!