The Pebble and the Storm

James Howard

Independently Published

£9.99

This short, vividly written book takes author James Howard from Falmouth to Faro, alone and impecunious on his 27’ Trapper Alcyone. He’s an escapee from the land, towed back, semi-sinking from his first attempt. He works, grimly, for a year to check every inch of his boat. Then he tries again. Howard’s style is poetic, in the sense that whole paragraphs could be set out in irregular, unrhymed verse. His journey is an emotional learning experience with the actual timeline of the voyage set out helpfully in the last pages.

An evocative visual log, downloaded (free) from his website, concludes, ‘The anchor dropped at Faro wasn’t an ending, it was a breath before the next wave.’ I hope there’ll also be another volume.