waypoints

My first encounter with a sailing boat on the west coast of Scotland was 25 years ago, zipping out close to Port Appin in a Laser and nearly coming a cropper. I haven’t been keen on sailing since.

But Ian Stephen’s new book brings magic to the maritime, and those ancient, mysterious, sometimes bleak, always breathtaking islands and archipelagos off the west coast of Scotland.

Stephen grew up in Stornoway, a writer who spent 15 years as a coastguard and whose prose and poetry is imbued with a sense of the sea.

Ten chapters chart 10 different boats, each chapter recalling a voyage and mingled with traditional tales, such as Ailean Duinn, the waterhorse, and Black John of the Driven Snow. Seabirds, religion and ancient folklore are intertwined with the magic of the islands, a world hidden from so many but presented with utter conviction and clarity by Stephen. Enough, indeed, to make me want to take to the water again. By Ian Stephen

Adlard Coles, £10 (paperback)