A round-up 0f the latest BOOKS
The latest releases in the world of nautical publishing are as eclectic as ever, from the memoirs of a marine engineer to art, travel, history – even some sailing!
THE VENTURESOME VOYAGES OF CAPTAIN VOSS CAPTAIN JC VOSS
In 1901 John Voss, a sometime sailor and carpenter, set out on a round-the-world trip in a 38ft (11.6m) wooden dugout canoe named the Tilikum. It would be understandable if you viewed this not so much as a cruise as a suicide mission. Nevertheless, he made it from Victoria to the UK via Australia, the Cape of Good Hope and Brazil. A truly extraordinary performance. Voss recounts the journey along with a couple of other random adventures in worryingly unseaworthy craft. The book is obviously absorbing reading but perhaps what gives it real edge is Voss’ reputation for being a bit of a queer fish and having a famously poor relationship with certain crew members. Rumours persisted after the voyage that a crew member lost overboard en route to Australia had actually been deliberately killed by Voss. Certainly, his first crew member, Norman Luxton, was not complimentary about him. Luxton’s daughter, Eleanor, later published her father’s journals and they are worth reading alongside Voss’ account. She described him as “a hardened seaman, mature, egotistical... with black moods”. Anyway, his account is thankfully not an endless tirade against various crew members, and he remains entirely neutral, yet it is this intrigue – plus his magnificent achievement – that drive the book along.
Pub Century Hutchinson, amazon.co.uk, from £6.38
THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF THE MARY CELESTE GRAHAM FAIELLA
On 4 December 1872, the brigantine Dei Gratia was sailing near the Azores when it happed upon the impossible spectacle of another brigantine, the Mary Celeste, abandoned under sail and in seemingly perfect condition. This new book examines the facts, the rumours and the mythology this famous vessel has created, 150 years after the event. Ste an Meyric Hughes Pub The History Press, £16.99
A TALE OF TWO YACHTS BARBARA WHITE
Self-published books narrating long ocean passages are pretty much two-a-penny these days, but Barbara White avoids falling into too much of a rut by mirroring her cruise, undertaken on retirement with her husband, with that of famous Norwegian sailor Erling Tambs. In 1928 Tambs himself set out with his wife from Ulvøysund, Norway, aboard their engineless, retired pilot cutter Teddy, on a similarly westwards route, to begin their cruise to the Pacific Islands. The book therefore looks at two very di§erent voyages and compares and contrasts.
Combining extracts from her blog and passages from Erling’s book The Cruise of the Teddy and an enthusiastic curiosity to learn more about the world, Barbara embarks on a magnificent journey across oceans, between cultures and through time. From the highs of being welcomed to new lands with open arms and experiencing indigenous customs and traditions first-hand, to the lows of devastating earthquakes and near-fatal misfortune, A Tale of Two Yachts o§ers an insight to lands and lives afar, all the while reflecting on what it means – and takes – to commit oneself to such a challenging expedition afloat.
Pub selfpublishinghouse.co.uk, £12.99
DEEP WATER EMMA BAMFORD
Emma spent many years working as deputy editor on our sister title Sailing Today, during which time she published two sailing travel memoirs. She moved into fiction and the result is Deep Water, a book in the pot boiler mode that draws on her experiences sailing in southeast Asia in order to construct a story of mystery and menace in a paradise gone wrong. Alex Garland mined this seam deeply in The Beach and although there are mild echoes of this, they are more circumstantial. The plot line is taut and there is a good feel of menace and mystery from the o§. All in all, this feels like a belting summer read while you are enjoying a hopefully less fraught summer cruise.
Pub simonandchuster.co.uk, £7.37