ONBOARD Books Just Sea & Sky BY BEN PESTER
Living on a boat in the modern world, trying to save enough money for the next voyage, it is easy to lose track of the things that attracted you to cruising under sail in the fi rst place. Slipping out of harbour as the grey dawn turns to morning, feeling the deck alive beneath your feet, or the soft glow of paraffi n lamps as your vessel rocks gently at anchor, can all start to seem as if they belong to another existence. To help keep these dreams alive, in the months dominated by marina bills and getting to work on time, Magali recently bought me Just Sea & Sky. This small, slim volume tells the story of a cruise from England to New Zealand, made by two young men, Ben Pester and Peter Fox aboard the 39’ (12m) gaff yawl T
ern II.
Leaving Plymouth at the end of August 1953 they sailed, via France, Portugal and the Canary Islands to the Caribbean, then on through Panama,
CLASSIC BOOKSHELF The Cruise of the Teddy BY Erling Tambs
In August 1928 Erling Tambs and his wife Julie left Norway aboard their 40ft (12m) engineless Colin Archer-designed pilot cutter Teddy, on a voyage that was to take them as far as New Zealand. They set off with hardly any money, only a few charts and practically no navigation equipment, but they did have a strong, well-found boat and a seemingly unending supply of determination and enthusiasm. After an eventful journey across the North
Sea, they headed down-Channel, and across the Bay of Biscay, to Northern Spain where the crew was increased by the addition of a dog, christened Spare Provisions. In the Canary Islands the ship’s complement grew again, when they had their fi rst child, a boy named Tony, followed in New Zealand by a girl, Tui.
The book lets us join the Tambs on their journey, and share in
their experiences. We read of the drama of being caught on a lee shore in a rising gale while still in the North Sea, the pleasure of sailing in the trade winds, the thrill of arriving on an unknown shore, and fi nally the heartbreak of shipwreck. In the preface, Erling Tambs says his motive for writing was to build
another ‘fl oating kingdom’ on which the family could continue the cruising life. I believe they succeeded on a vessel named Sandefjord. RT
70 CLASSIC BOAT MAY 2011
across the Pacifi c, arriving
in Auckland in April 1954. Travelling before wind-vane
self-steering was commonly fi tted to yachts, they discover the delight of running down the tradewinds with the helm unattended under square rig. They experience the satisfaction of making a landfall after days at sea, with only a sextant and chronometer to give a position, then once they reach port, enjoy the sort of
welcome that was perhaps common when cruising yachts were a novelty. Ben Pester wrote this account of their voyage in 2009, by which time he was in his eighties, but he has managed to recapture all the enthusiasm and insouciance of youth, while blending it
seamlessly with the comments and observations gained by experience. Richard T
oyne
Pub Adlard Coles Nautical, 2010, 176pp, paperback, £8.99, ISBN 978-1- 4081-2855-8
Wooden Boatbuilding
JEAN-FRANCOIS GARRY
This would be a good book for someone who is starting to think about boatbuilding, or who has a lovely old boat and wants to restore her. It takes the reader through the stages of planning a boat – including making a half model and lofting, through to aspects of traditional boat construction – carvel and clinker – onto rigging and sailmaking. The tone and layout are very straightforward and easy to follow with good illustrations and photos taking you step by step through the processes. It focusses on smaller open and half-decked boats, not so much on cabin boats. DH
Pub Adlard Coles Nautical, 2010, 127pp paperback, £16.99
Phoenix from the Ashes By Justin Ruthven-Tyers
When their house burned down, Justin Ruthven-Tyers turned to his wife and said, he didn’t know why, “Good would come of this.” The good that came was an increased confi dence in their own abilities. First they rebuilt the house; then they decided they’d rather live on a boat and, despite knowing nothing of the craft, set to and in three years built a fi ne pilot cutter to a design by John Hesp.
This is the tale of that adventure
– a little short on practical detail for us boaties (though Justin did learn adzing) – and their subsequent life aboard. These latter sections can drag a bit, but the tales of tree-stealing and living on free shellfi sh from the River Fal are fun, and there is useful navigational information, particularly about the loughs of Northern Ireland. Justin is a fi ne artist – his series on boat
handling under sail (CB251-254) was memorable for its drawing. There are fewer of these (and smaller) than one would wish in this book, but overall it makes for a feelgood read, and a gently encouraging introduction to anyone contemplating this way of life. PW
Pub Adlard Coles Nautical, 2012, 250pp, paperback, £8.99
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