I have good news as we come up to the Christmas season – Dick Wynne’s wonderful Lodestar Books is republishing four more sailing classics that will make great gifts for the sailing man or woman:
- Shoalwater and Fairway – The casual explorations of a sailing main in the shoal seas and tidal waters of Essex and Kent by H Alker Tripp, illustrated by the author. Click on a the image at the top of this post for a sample chapter
- Swin, Swale and Swatchway by H Lewis Jones – Jones pre-dates both Maurice Griffiths and Francis B Cooke, and gives us the the Thames Estuary and the boats and characters inhabiting it in late Victorian times. His charming adventures and human encounters have an engaging immediacy, and are enhanced by the author’s many photographs, which provide a priceless glimpse of a time long gone
- Cruises of the Joan by WE Sinclair – the cruises of an engineless, 22-ft Falmouth quay punt in the 1920s, first around Britain, then to Madeira and to the Baltic, and finally across the North Atlantic to Iceland and Greenland. Sinclair’s dry, phlegmatic humour and observation makes his accounts highly entertaining account – and one we might not have today if luck had not played its part
- On Going to Sea in Yachts – Conor O’Brien’s distilled experience in selecting, equipping and handling sailing craft from the smallest beach cruiser to the ocean-going yacht. The author’s choice of topics and anecdotes, all related in a characteristically down-to-earth manner, makes valuable and engaging reading. His many clear drawings leave us in no doubt as to the practical details, which are born of his own experience over many years and many thousands of sea miles
If these aren’t quite what’s needed, don’t forget Lodestar’s previous publications, Francis B Cooke’s classic Cruising Hints – The Traditional Yachtsman’s Compendium and the outstanding Holmes of the Humber collection of material by and about legendary canoe yawl sailor, boat designer, artist Humber Estuary figure, George Holmes. Get your great boating reading here!
Thanks for sharing this Gavin ! …. they all look to be excellent reading. I have just ordered my Dad's christmas present (Swin, Swale and Swatchway) – and no doubt i will end up buying the others before too long.
Fantastic news I have been chasing a copy of Swin, Swale and Swatchway for more years than I care to recall. Henry Lewis Jones was an amazing man, he passed away on the eve of his 58th birthday and you can read about him via his obituary here – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC23021…
Brilliant – thanks Paul! Gav
Paul and others, Thanks for the good reception. I drew on that obituary for 'About the Author' in the book. Wherever possible I source my editions directly from the originals, including a very rare original of Swin, Swale & Swatchway. I was delighted to find its photos were not screened in the printing, but printed by a continuous tone process, so they reproduced very well. I didn't set out to be a book collector however, and tying up money in old editions impairs my laughable 'business model', so if any collectors out there require the originals for Cooke (20+ vols!), O'Brien, Sinclair & Lewis, drop me a line via my website.
The last line of the obituary has a horribly contemporary resonance for any parent.
It reminded me of this inscription from Ashbourne church in Derbyshire;
'She was in form and intellect most exquisite. The unfortunate parents ventured their all on this frail bark, and the wreck was total.'
I enjoyedthe Cooke Booke so much that I have found a first edition of 'The Corinthian Yachtsman's Handbook' 1913 complete with details of the latest Evinrude. I hope somone buys Dick Wynne's collection.
My copy of S, S & S arrived today …. and very good it looks too !