Maud Berridge was a captain’s wife who accompanied some of his regular trips to Australia in the 1880s, completing a circumnavigation when the owners ordered a return via San Francisco. Their ship was the Superb, a three-masted clipper carrying passengers who were either emigrating or travelling ‘for health’. Some of Maud’s diaries have survived and have been diligently researched and put in context by her great granddaughter. Just occasionally the diligence is excessive but Maud’s experience certainly adds to our understanding of women at sea. She helped her husband copy up his log, organised and applauded shipboard entertainment, visited the sick, hovered anxiously over unsuitable flirtations. Her conclusion? ‘A long sea voyage is a great test of character.’

Yachting MonthlyJulia Jones1 March 2019Sailing, Adlard Coles Nautical, Sally Berridge

Greek Waters Pilot (13th edition)

The Heikells’ work is never done. This volume alone covers 7,000 miles of indented coastline with a wealth of natural anchorages and harbours. Yacht numbers are increasing, new marinas are being built, ports privatised and facilities improved. Nevertheless there are still ‘places in this sailors’ paradise that are mostly overlooked by sea-borne visitors’ – and Heikell has decades of experience to guide us there. This year’s revision focusses on the Ionian, the Saronic and the less frequented but intriguing coast of Northern Greece (Thessaloniki to Samothrace) where we are promised ‘some of the grandest scenery and finest sandy beaches’. Greek Waters is a splendid volume but, even by pilot book standards it’s weighty. There will be a pdf version.

Yachting MonthlyJulia Jones1 March 2019Sailing, Imray, Rod Heikell, Lucinda Heikell

Sailing to the Edge of Time

Autobiography, personal philosophy, adventure and advice – John Kretschmer’s new book criss-crosses the oceans of the world and different periods of the author’s sailing life. There are many action-packed episodes, often terrifying, but this is also a literary book where wide reading supports the central message. ‘A small boat under press of sail, surrounded by the steel blue sea with a good crew poised to take whatever comes their way is the perfect environment to unleash eudaemonia.’ For Kretschmer Aristotle’s concept of well-being entails frequent periods of strenuous effort and thousands of miles under the keel, as well as regular meaning-of-life discussions during ‘Captain’s Hour’. People pay to sail with him: the majority form deep friendships and return.

Yachting MonthlyJulia Jones1 March 2019Adlard Coles Nautical, Sailing, John Kretschmer

Finding Pax

Yachting MonthlyJulia Jones1 January 2019Sailing, Adlard Coles Nautical, Kaci Cronkhite

World Voyage Planner

Yachting MonthlyJulia Jones1 January 2019Sailing, Adlard Coles Nautical, Jimmy Cornell, Ivan Cornell

Falling

Yachting MonthlyJulia Jones1 January 2019Sailing, C-Star Press, Brion Toss

In Bed with the Atlantic

Don’t be misled by the title nor by the gamine bikini-clad figure on the cover nor by the emphasis on the author’s inexperience. This is not a bimbo’s book. Kit Pascoe and her partner Alex spent two years exploring the islands of the Atlantic and the Caribbean in their 1970s Nicholson 32. In Bed with the Atlantic analyses the experience of being at one with the ocean and the concept of a yacht as an inside/outside space. Pascoe’s a fine travel writer, fascinated by all that she sees as well as by the changes she experiences in her understanding of the world. She’s also a risk taker who battles persistent anxiety with impressive success. Patronise this woman at your peril!

Yachting MonthlyJulia Jones1 December 2018Sailing, Fernhurst, Kitiara Pascoe

The Cruising Almanac 2019

The CA Almanac does what it says on the label. It covers the coast of North West Europe from Bergen to Gibralter; the British Isles and includes a few tempting pages that might encourage exploration of the growing network of European inland waterways. Extraneous information is kept to a minimum; there is no advertising (except for Imray’s linked publications) and tide tables are in a user-friendly separate volume. The graphics are excellent – though dim-eyed readers might want to comment on the tidal stream chartlets. At the heart of this almanac is the human voice: the key contributors for each area who explain why one might want to visit a particular location and what might be a good route onwards. Experienced, essential guidance.

Yachting MonthlyJulia Jones1 December 2018Sailing, Imray

Singlehand

A new Llewellyn thriller is a cause for celebration. Failed yacht broker, Gavin Chance, (hero of Black Fish), has conquered his addiction to alcohol but the cost of his time in rehab must be repaid. Skippering an oligarch’s superyacht soon finds him implicated in the heist of several million pounds-worth of Highland whisky, whilst avoiding a seven-foot homicidal maniac and struggling to fathom the motivations of a cocaine-sniffing seductress. Chance dodges expertly among the lochs and islands of the Hebrides in vessels ranging from Ro-Ro ferry to Drascombe lugger. He’s a less edgy, angry hero than some of his predecessors but for lovers of Llewellyn’s writing style and humour there are treats in every paragraph. I read it twice.

Yachting MonthlyJulia Jones1 December 2018Sailing, New Hat, Sam Llewellyn