Quote:
Originally Posted by issybird
I'm going to nominate The Last Grain Race by Eric Newby. I've read other books by him and greatly enjoyed them.
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Really glad to see this book nominated; it is excellent.
For anyone who is interested in the last days of the windjammers, Newby took a camera with him on his voyage, and several editions of an oversize book were published with many of his photos and commentary. I read it as "Learning the Ropes: An Apprentice on the Last of the Windjammers", published by John Murray in 1999. It was published in the USA as "Windjammer: Pictures of Life Before the Mast in the Last Grain Race" by Dutton in 1968. There may be other versions and titles.
By a peculiar coincidence, this book has surfaced in this club at the same time as Abby Sunderland's sailboat has reappeared off South Australia after vanishing for 6 years. I am reminded how wild the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties are, and of how hardy and courageous a sailor must be in those regions.
https://www.theguardian.com/australi...boat-abandoned