What I'm reading now...

The 100 most endangered species, something to think about, and this is kinda neat...

Offhand, if someone were to ask what one book I'd recommend to someone who wanted to sail off into the sunset, it wouldn't be that hard of a decision.

Sure there are lots of books of the "How-to" sort and, while they can be helpful, they don't quite address the hard part...

There are also any number of "We're-cruising-and-this-is-what-we-do" sort which give you some ideas of how it might be but still they never seem to really address the human condition.

Which brings us to Les Powles...

At a time I was devouring just about any book that had any sailing/boatbuilding/cruising content like a man obsessed, I came across Les Powles book "Hands Open" and it was a very different kettle of fish altogether.

I'll put it this way... "Hands Open" actually brought me to tears.

So yeah, not your normal seafaring yarn at all.

Les Powles is a guy who saw some people on boats in South Africa and decided he wanted to be doing that. He knew nothing of boats or sailing but went back to the UK with the intention of buying a boat and going cruising. At the London Boat Show when he discovered buying a proper sea-going sailboat was beyond his means he didn't let that stop him and decided he'd build a boat...

And so he did!

Once the boat was splashed and with a single days' sailing tuition under his belt (a fellow boat builder had shown him the basics) he set off to sail around the world... which he did.

Once finished with his first circumnavigation he decided to do it again because he felt he needed to. His reasons made a lasting impression on me but I'll let you discover them for yourselves...

As it happens, he went around another time as well...

So, if there is one book I'd recommend, I'd say it would be something written by Les Powles. If you can find a copy of "Hands Open" you really want to experience it. Of course, you'll also want to read "Solitaire Spirit", which includes all three of his single-handed circumnavigations which is what I'm reading now.

Listening to "Pops" Staples

So it goes...