Escape Under Sail

Leonard Skinner & Mary Cooney

Adlard Coles

£20

Leonard Skinner and Mary Cooney kept their stripped-out sailboat Faoin Spéir in the garden for three years as they worked to refit her as a liveaboard cruiser. She had cost them £4350 (yes, just the four figures) and their book is a must for anyone who needs to adjust their mindset to economy and simplicity. (Sadly, this means they have hard things to say about the scale of wants generated within the pages of a yachting magazine!) Then they left land life for good, taking Mary’s teenage children with them. Emotions and resentments are acknowledged in a spirit of calm rationality. And, if the weather forecast is poor, stay put; you have all the time in the world. Reassuring advice.