BOOK REVIEWS

SAIL TO FREEDOM -- Bill and June Raper. Published by Fernhurst Books at £9.95. 95 pages with many line drawings and b/w photographs. ISBN 0-906754-91-7

Sail to Freedom (pity about the title) is another `how to go about it' guide to long-term cruising based primarily on the authors' own experience. Almost inevitably this experience is primarily of cruising in the particular area which the authors most enjoy, and I cannot agree with the claim on the back cover that `Nor does it matter if your destination is the Mediterranean, the Caribbean or the Great Barrier Reef...' -- Sail to Freedom deals almost entirely with Mediterranean sailing, where day hops and a good deal of motor-sailing are the norm. So also is lying stern (or bows) to in marinas and frequently having the chance to plug into shore power. The remark in the Outline Specification that you `will make longer passages as necessary but probably rarely, if at all, over 500 miles', regarding the cooker that `gimballing is not essential' and later that `it's very rare to find to find a boat without at least one bicycle on board and usually two' also place this firmly as a continental margins rather than a true ocean cruiser's guide. They also give a hint as to the authors' own vessel -- a sizeable converted MFV of a type which may be common in the Med but would be rare around the Caribbean or, I suspect, the Great Barrier Reef.

Having said that, there's always room on the market for another `how to do it' book. That it deals with a different area to most of its recent competitors, and from a different standpoint -- Bill and June Raper write from the retired end of the spectrum and give the impression that money is not a primary limitation -- is no bad thing and in many ways it is a pity that it was not addressed more specifically to this particular market.

Although of limited relevance to ocean cruising members, anyone planning to visit the Mediterranean for the first time would undoubtedly find that it answers many questions. For the less experience person planning a long-term cruise, compared to the boat and her equipment books are a drop in the ocean -- it is impossible to read too many, and no two will be written from the same experience and point of view.

AH

FIRST AID AFLOAT -- Dr Robert Haworth. Published by Fernhurst Books at £9.95. 95 pages with a great many b/w photographs. ISBN 0-9067543-88-7

Dr Robert Haworth brings a depth of experience both professional and recreational to his new book on First Aid Afloat, and well knows the problems encountered at sea having been a crewmember and medical adviser to the Barmouth lifeboat for more than twenty years.

This slim book in wipable soft covers is well produced and illustrated, and I particularly liked the cover index and page coding which enhances the handbook aspect. This index is necessary as otherwise it is difficult to establish logic in the order.

The section entitled `Communications in an Emergency' could be very useful, but reinforces the feeling that First Aid Afloat is intended for coastal sailing, where access to emergency services is available if necessary, rather than ocean cruising. For this more detail on antibiotics and painkillers would required. As a traditionalist I was glad to see the page on Emergency Childbirth, sad to reflect `teak arse' not worth of mention. With twelve pages on Fractures and only one on dental problems I was reminded of the old medical quip that `the page on dentistry was missing when I revised for Finals'.

Whilst it is no replacement for a comprehensive work such as The Ship's Captain's Medical Guide for diagnosis, First Aid Afloat would merit a place beside the VHF or First Aid box. However those requiring independence from the emergency services really do need more detail.

PBF

VOYAGING ON A SMALL INCOME -- Annie Hill. Published by Waterline Books at £12.95. 192 A4-size pages including 15 pages of plans, various line drawings and sketch charts, numerous b/w photographs and some delightful cartoons. ISBN 1-85310-425-6

Voyaging on a Small Income is not so much a book as a lifestyle, and a no-compromise one at that. Peter and Annie Hill have sailed their 34ft junk-rigged schooner Badger all over the Atlantic since completing her some ten years ago (they are currently in South America), and obviously wish for a life holding little else. They aim to be totally self-sufficient, with enough invested capital to generate interest of around £1300 each year -- the `Small Income' of the title. (My own rule of thumb, a few years ago now, was £1000 per head plus another for the boat, and even then plenty of people disbelieved me.)

With disarming honesty, Annie admits at the outset that `many of my comments are controversial -- possibly even radical' even though `our ideas have all been tested out by experience -- they are not half-baked theories conjured up from armchair sailing'. However she accepts that `What works for us may not work for anyone else'. It might be truer to say that while their singleminded lifestyle might work for nearly all of us, not everyone -- in fact probably not many -- would wish to work within it.

I don't think this matters a great deal. You don't have to take on board the entire philosophy from `the advantages of beans' to the evils of insurance companies (which attract a vigorous thumbs down), to learn from and enjoy Annie's book. I'm not even sure she expects a whole flock of converts -- what she really does is challenge the reader to re-evaluate their own habits and attitudes.

So what does it actually cover? Well, a great deal about Badger, of course, and a briefer outline of Pete and Annie's previous ocean cruising. A good deal about junk rigs, maintenance (Badger is owner-built of sheathed plywood), interior layout and the pros and cons of various bits of equipment (not surprisingly Annie is deeply suspicious of high-tech), vegetarian food (buying, storing and eating), stowage, clothing, heating and ventilation, dinghies, anchors, engines, navigation and money management. (It may surprise some to discover that, unlike the `easy come, easy go' attitude typical of many who cruise on a shoestring, the Hills' approach to the stuff is hardheaded in the extreme. It has to be). The appendices include study plans of ten of Jay R Benford's dory designs -- including Badger of course -- as well as Nick Skeates' Wylo II and, earlier in the book, the Hiscock's Laurent Giles-designed Wanderer III.

Written in a chatty and almost talkative style, I can almost promise you'll find plenty to take issue with. But I can also promise, definitively, that you won't be bored.

AH

INTERSPRAY'S RACE AROUND THE WORLD -- Paul Gelder. Published by Courtaulds plc at £9.95. 192 pages and dozens if not hundreds of colour photographs. ISBN 1-85277-089-9

WOMAN OF STEEL -- Vivien Cherry with Keith Wheatley. Published in hard covers by Adlard Coles Nautical at £14.99. 182 pages, various track charts and 8 pages of colour photographs. ISBN 0-7136-3795-1

I found it hard to decide whether or not it was fair to review these two books as a pair. Although both are about the same event -- the recent British Steel Challenge -- in many ways they are very different. INTERSPRAY tells the story of the boat and her crew through the eyes of a professional journalist, who sailed aboard for one of the legs but would not claim to have been at the centre of things. Woman of Steel is Vivien Cherry's very personal account of skippering Cooper's & Lybrand, from crew selection to the finish line. Although (to quote her Preface) `pieced together by Keith Wheatley from journal entries and observations during the course of the race' the effect is of Vivien's own words -- very natural and immediate.

Describing his relationship with the crew of InterSpray, Paul Gelder says that he `sometimes felt like their father confessor, agony aunt, undercover mole and interrogator' when interviewing them after each leg. Even so, it's probably inevitable that the first leg (the one on which Paul sailed) carries the greatest immediacy -- after that there's more a feeling of threads drawn from several skeins. And not only from the views and experiences of InterSpray's own crew -- the many references to the other competing yachts allow INTERSPRAY's Race around the World to present by far the more rounded picture of the race as a whole; for example the table of placings and finishing times for each leg for the whole fleet. It is also spectacularly well illustrated with many colour photographs -- appropriate to a boat sponsored by a company heavily into colour!

Woman of Steel takes you straight aboard an individual yacht, with Vivien's dry sense of humour masking her obvious worries about crew compatability and how she will cope with handling a much larger boat. Cooper's & Lybrand was the third yacht in the race to suffer forestay failure and the description of rigging a jury repair in the Southern Ocean is particularly vivid, but otherwise I got the feeling that, perhaps in order to remain intelligible to a wider readership, the technical side had deliberately been kept to a minimum. As a skipper Vivien Cherry is plainly very competitive and there is always an undercurrent of the `race' aspect -- indeed one sometimes gets the feeling of exasperation with the less competitive elements amongst her crew -- but the insight into the day-to-day life of a big yacht (and a big crew) at sea is universal.

I found myself regretting that to produce the review on time I had to hurry through Woman of Steel -- it's a fine story and flowingly written, and deserves the complete `fireside and cocoa' treatment for full enjoyment.

INTERSPRAY deals more with facts than feelings and, dare I say it, I found it slightly harder work to read -- certainly at one sitting. Although only ten pages longer than Woman of Steel it must contain many more words (which is not to imply that any are redundant, Paul is much too good a journalist for that) and is probably intended for a slightly more knowledgeable audience. Both books deserve to sell well.

AH

AROUND THE WORLD RALLY -- Jimmy Cornell. Published by Adlard Coles Nautical at £9.99. 195 pages, quite a few `league tables' and a dozen or so b/w photographs. ISBN 0-7136-3690-4

Members will, no doubt, know of Jimmy Cornell and his organisation of the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers over the past seven years. His company, World Cruising, also organises the Transarc and other long distance events and he has also circumnavigated twice himself.

This volume is the result of his latest idea of extending the ARC to cover the whole world, not in as short a time as possible but to encourage participants to visit some of the more interesting or exotic places en route. He chose an itinerary to make the best use of prevailing winds and to provide an attractive alternative to other round the world races, and thus avoided Cape Horn and other southern capes. The rally was an undoubted success -- but not, as must be expected, without its problems and for various reasons not all the yachts completed the event.

What do we learn from this account? If looking for advice on the long-standing question as to what is the perfect long-distance cruising yacht then we are out of luck. All thirty-six boats were different -- and, interestingly, nearly all skippers were perfectly content with their choice. Where I found the book more useful was in the preparation of the yachts and the choice of equipment. The various tables also provide a most useful insight into the reliability of equipment (both electronic and structural). On such a rally, lasting some sixteen months and covering 24,000 miles, one would expect failures. It would take the average yachtsman many years to achieve this total -- indeed many would never achieve it.

I trust the various manufacturers will take careful note of the incidence of breakdowns in their equipment. Reliability, particularly in electronic equipment, is considered highly desirable by most of us. Frequently the weather precludes astro navigation and then it is comforting to know that we can still obtain a fix by electronic means. Interestingly, some admitted to never using sextants (!) and only four of the thirty-six used sextants as a matter of daily routine.

The book is a little frustrating to read: I cannot see the reason for having passage descriptions followed by a particular topic all in no apparent order. The legs are described in sequence but the skippers views and comments are somewhat haphazard. I could also see no reason for the `radio story competition' -- this was pure padding. A note for the publishers -- it would help if the Index and Contents lists conformed to the actual page numbering.

On the whole a most useful volume containing much of real interest and value, and particularly useful when considering new equipment. The sections on preparation, maintenance and running repairs were excellent. Whether or not the book would encourage participation is another matter -- after all, few of us can manage that amount of time or the not inconsiderable cost.

MPG