Why a Booktrail?
Present day: Ever fancy crossing the Atlantic in a small boat? Well now’s your chance
Three Ways to Capsize a Boat
What you need to know before your trail
Christ Stewart has written about his adventures and travels before – Driving Over Lemons about life on his Spanish farm. But what did he do before that? Travelling across the Greek islands in a small boat was a map cap adventure and there were a lot of adventures to be had. But then he decided to cross the Atlantic in his biggest adventure yet. So if you’re up for a spot of sailing, then Chris is your guy!
Travel Guide
In the first chapter, the book ‘Teach Yourself Sailing’ is purchased so you know this is going to be an adventure with a difference. Learning to sail is not easy and Chris is testamount to that! Sailing for dummies might have been the title of another book judging by all the funny things that happen to him!
Starting in Littlehampton harbour and then all the way to the Greek islands is his first part of the journey. He sails a Cornish crabber of all things around the Greek islands – Spetses close to Athens. The surprise at finding himself in this situation – his dream job despite not having sailed before is palpable and each experience is evoked as if you were there yourself:
“There were hundreds and hundreds of gleaming plastic boats all bibbing at their moorings on the foul oily slop that constituted the sea in Kalamaki Marina”
But the biggest journey is the one across the Atlantic from Brighton to Newfoundland. The sense of time and space, the risks, the ability to keep your wits about you and your sailing knowledge to the fore. How do you survive? How do you cope with everyday and the unexpected? What about needing a wee in the middle of a storm?
This image will linger:
“hurled into the air at that same moment by a colossal wave and the next thing I knew Keith and I were thrashing about in the furious sea.”
Where Next?
