First edition signed fine

Blue Water, Green Skipper by Stuart Woods (pp 190). Author decides he wants to sail, buys a boat, learns how, practices a bit, and participates in the 1976 OSTAR, Observer Single-handed Transatlantic Race. Well written and entertaining. ( )

So…I read this only because it satisfied a reading challenge category…and found myself actually enjoying it. I like Stuart Woods' Stone Barrington series and was familiar with his writing so that wasn’t the surprising part. What surprised me was that I was actually drawn into this story of a novice sailor preparing for a solo transAtlantic boat race despite my having zero interest in either sailing or water sports.

This memoir starts off with the 35-year old writer living alone in Ireland earning a living writing articles and working on a writing career. One day at the harbor, he decides to contact the local sailing club and see if he can crew for a boat. He is badly bitten by the sailing bug and he decides to buy a small boat for himself. Soon, that is not enough and he embarks on the process of purchasing, preparing and sailing a 24’ racing yacht by himself across the Atlantic to Newport.

The time and money that went into the preparation for this race was astonishing. The expense of outfitting a boat for this type of journey and the constant aggravations experienced by the author, definitely reinforced my opinion that this is not something I would be interested in (assuming, of course, that I could even afford it!).

If you like sailing – or have an interest in it – I definitely recommend this book. If you want a glimpse into that world, this works well…so long as you realize that sailing has its very only language and that there may be some that will either need to be looked up or skimmed over.

Rating 3.75 Stars ( )