Sailing narratives, authors O–Q

AMULET
A charm restored and sailed to the Western Isles

Bob Orrell

A humourous account of Cumbria-based author and skipper Bob Orrell's love-hate relationship with a 26-foot wooden keel boat saved from an inglorious end as a garden ornament, during the restoration and the subsequent voyage.

'Bob Orrell has written what we believe will become a yachting classic. The story of his 18-month restoration of Amulet … is a genuinely funny, moving and inspiring read.'

Yachting Monthly

216 x 138 mm | 224 pp illus. | ISBN 0 95381 807 1 | £10.95 SB pbk

BLOWOUT

Robert Orrell

Life on an oil rig is brutal and dangerous, as Bob Orrell discovered, as a radio operator on the Hewett 'A'. At the height of a winter gale, the rig suffered a disastrous blowout. While attempting a rescue, the standby ship sank with the loss of three men. A harrowing account, with a postscript 30 years on.

'… a riveting true story, the stuff of which legends are made.'

The Midwest Book Review, May 2000

'… a dramatic insight into the hard work, isolation, humour and danger of everyday life on a North Sea rig. A real gripping read.'

Suffolk Norfolk Life, May 2000

216 x 138 mm | 194 pp illus. | ISBN 085036 489 2 |£9.95 SBSH pbk

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THUMBNAIL CIRCUMNAVIGATION
 

Paul Packwood

Octogenarian Paul Packwood from Ipswich describes a 58-day, single-handed cruise in his 18-foot sailing boat, Plover.  Not a complete circumnavigation of the British isles, but a thumbnail odyssey round the south of England, through coastal waters and inland waterways.  All is not smoothsailing. In difficulties off the Cornish coast, he is towed into port by a lifeboat.  A collision costs him a broken thumb.  Undaunted, he completes the voyage and brings Plover back to the River Orwell.

212 x 135 mm | 140 pp | ISBN 0 9550243 4 X | £8.95 pbk

 

THERE BE NO DRAGONS
How to cross a big ocean in a small sailboat

Reese Palley

A sailor is never finished like a piece of toast or a steak, but always in the living process of becoming. The core of this book is to give you enough information, but just enough, to support a claim to sailordom, and to convince you that you are capable of taking a small boat across a large ocean.

'Funny, raucous, insightful, anarchistic, entertaining, instructional: seamanship with a difference.'

Wooden Boat

'Witty, irreverent and inspirational, with as much "why to" as "how to"'

Cruising World

229 x 151 mm | 214 pp | ISBN 1 57409 183 2 | £12.95 SH pbk

UNLIKELY PASSAGES

Reese Palley

Palley gave up a successful career as an art dealer and sailed off in his ship Unlikely to encircle the globe. Through a series of humorous anecdotes, illustrations, insights, and practical tips, Palley expounds his unique sailing philosophy.

'If you love to cruise and have enjoyed reading raunchy writers like Henry Miller and Erica Jong, then Unlikely Passages is for you.'

Cruising World

225 x 152 mm | 192 pp illus. | ISBN 1 57409 051 8 |£13.95 SH pbk

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UNLIKLY PEOPLE

Reese Palley

A tribute to the unique breed of people that take to the seas. Stories gathered over thirty years of sailing, from devils and saints, fools and philosophers, are told with humour and charm in Palley's inimitable style. Notable characters include sailing legend Tristan Jones, lunatics in Colombia and The Dumbest Sailor in the World.

210 x 137 mm | 224 pp illus. | ISBN 1 57409 057 7 |£13.95 SH pbk

CRUISING IN SERAFFYN

Lin and Larry Pardey

An evocative story of a leisurely sail from the Gulf of Cortez, via the Panama Canal and the Caribbean to England, this is also an excellent guide to living aboard a small boat - with fun and economy as the guiding principles. With an updated Cruising Guide Survey, based on dozens of interviews, and appendices with vital data for anyone contemplating long distance cruising.

226 x 149 mm | 192 pp illus. | ISBN 0 924486 36 8 |£12.95 SH pbk

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SERAFFYN'S MEDITERRANEAN ADVENTURE

Lin and Larry Pardey

For three years, the Pardey's worked their way from the Spanish via the coasts of North Africa and the Middle east to Greece and Dalmatia. Leaving Seraffyn at Rhodes for a time, they hired out as ferry pilots to sail another boat home to New Orleans. This time, they found themselves to be unwitting smugglers, and in danger.

229 x 149 mm | 256 pp illus. | ISBN 0 924486 15 5 |£12.99 SH pbk

BLOWN AWAY

Herb Payson

In Sea Foam, a 36-foot ketch, Herb and Nancy Payson and their teenage children cruised the Pacific for six and a half years. The delights far outbalanced the drawbacks, and the terrors.

'A realistic portrait of an adventurous, enterprising family. with enough sailing lore to satisfy most bluewater buffs.'

Publishers Weekly

'Herb's self-deprecation is a wonderful counterpoint to his serious seamanship.'

Sail

229 x 149 mm | 256 pp | ISBN 0 71364 440 0 | £12.99 SH pbk

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YOU CAN'T BLOW HOME AGAIN

Herb Payson

Herb Payson's singular determination and humour are irresistible in this charming sequel to the cruising classic, Blown Away. Payson and his wife Nancy learn that their wooden boat, Sea Foam, is in desperate need of repairs. Triumphing over adversity, they manage to rescue the boat and embark on a Pacific passage.

'… told with a great deal of humour'

Wooden Boat

229 x 149 mm | 208 pp | ISBN 0 71365 380 9 | £12.99 SH pbk

THROUGH THE LAND OF FIRE
Fifty-Six South

Ben Pester

The mysterious, dangerous and largely unfrequented waters of Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia are the setting for this story of a millenium cruise in a 36-foot wooden classic yacht. The account of the voyage from Falmouth and back by way of Cape Horn is woven through with tales of fortitude, piety and devilry from the heroic age of the seafarers who braved those hostile regions in the wake of Magellan.

'An enjoyable read and an interesting insight into that part of the world.'

Royal Naval Sailing Association

234 x 153 mm | 288 pp illus.| ISBN 0 9542750 5 5 | £13.95 SBSH hbk

PhotosTRAVELLERS ON A TRADE WIND

Marcia Pirie

David and Marcia Pirie gave up their careers and sailed off across the wide blue ocean.

 

 

 

 

'… the most readable of the genre I have had the good fortune to read in a long time.'

RCC Journal

'… perceptive and entertaining.'

Cruising

Please click on picture to see selection of photos to accompany the book.

If you would like a copy of the photos please contact: info@seafarerbooks.com

 

210 x 134 mm | 339 pp illus. | ISBN 0 85036 471 X | £10.95 SBSH pbk

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