Ocean Freedom

Anne Pilcher Gough

Vanguard Press

£4.55

Anne Pilcher Gough is a highly experienced sailor who grew up in Sydney Harbour and was the first Australian woman to navigate the North West passage. She now lives in New Zealand’s Southland. This is her account of a five-year southern hemisphere circumnavigation undertaken 2015-2020 in a 36’ foot steel yacht Kiwi Dream. 

The sailing competence of Anne and her partner Alan Forrest is obvious and leads them to focus on the places visited and people met, rather than the passages in between. Their exploration of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago and the Chilean channels is particularly interesting, as is their time in Africa.  

They’re never afraid to adapt their plans to visit somewhere new. A very worthwhile book for intending voyagers.