- Hardcover: 416 pages
- Publisher: Knopf Canada (May 11 2004)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0676976344
- ISBN-13: 978-0676976342
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 626 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#782,137 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #54 in Books > Sports > Water Sports > Sailing > Narratives
- #56 in Books > Outdoors & Nature > Outdoor Recreation > Sailing > Narratives
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
Amazon.ca
The romantic allure of life under sail just seems to increase as our own lives become increasingly dependent upon and dominated by technology. In Fair Wind and Plenty of It: A Modern-Day Tall Ship Adventure, author/sailor Rigel Crockett (his very name sounds like an adventurer's) signs onto the crew of the Picton Castle, a three-masted tall ship headed on a round-the-world voyage. Along with Crockett, the captain of the Picton Castle, Dan Moreland, who converted the ship from a North Sea trawler, is the central figure here. His obsessive and authoritarian nature may have been an asset in getting such an ambitious undertaking underway, but there are times the reader will wish his oft-abused crew would pull a Mutiny on the Bounty-style coup on this latter-day Captain Bligh. (Crockett's own father, a shipbuilder in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, had been scheduled for the voyage, but found Moreland's behaviour impossible to tolerate.) To fund the ship's renovation and the voyage, Moreland took on passengers prepared to fork over $32,500 each to join the journey of the Picton Castle, but life on board was no picnic for them either. Crockett chronicles the on-board tensions effectively, and his detailed descriptions of the gruelling work required will surely deter all but those totally committed to the idea of participating in such an adventure.
Just when the voyage begins to seem like a joint exercise in masochism, the author will launch into an eloquent portrait of scenic beauty or moments of peaceful reflection. At such times, Crockett reveals a poetic side to complement the more direct prose used to describe the work routines. In a letter to his girlfriend, he notes that "maybe it's the mournful halo of luminescence that surrounds our hull, or perhaps it's the languid apathy brought on by the equatorial sun, or the sense of time losing all context that gives me the feeling our ship is coinciding with other planes of existence." It is unfortunate that the all-too-few photos included here are on the murky or bland side, but the author's picturesque style does compensate. Fair Wind and Plenty of It may not have you dashing off to the nearest tall ships recruiting station, but it will prove a satisfying read for those fascinated by the subject. --Kerry Doole
From Publishers Weekly
Crockett's engrossing memoir of working on a tall ship as it circumnavigates the globe has more than enough nautical detail for Patrick O'Brian fans, but its lasting pleasures derive from more modern sensibilities. The story begins before the Picton Castle leaves Nova Scotia, as Crockett helps in the preparations, and wonders if the rest of his family will join him on the 18-month journey (they don't). The narrative becomes half travelogue, half personal drama centered on Crockett's struggle to find a sense of belonging on board, juxtaposing the romance of the open seas with his contentious relationship with the captain (who insists the tough discipline will make Crockett a better sailor). Crockett isn't the only one who locks horns with the captain, and he finds room for quick sketches of most of his mates, from the woman who treats the crew to makeovers to the cad who runs off with the ship's cook and $4,000 earmarked for provisions. A professional sailor and first-time author, Crockett vividly portrays the difficulties of living and working with others in cramped quarters, as well as the feeling of abandon that comes upon arrival on land. The sailing elements distinguish the story from other global treks, and the voyage's scope helps it stand out from recent nautical accounts. 8 pages of b&w photos. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
An Attempt to Mask the Mundane With the Exotic,
By "horacesense" (Red Deer, AB Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Fair Wind and Plenty of It: A Modern-Day Tall Ship Adventure (Hardcover)
It should not be surpising that sailing around the world is a dull adventure marked by the odd bit of adventure. Mr. Crockett is a very descriptive writer. His ability to describe a minute scene or event is extraordinary. The lyrical quality of some of his passages are pleasing to the eye and mind. In our dreams sailing around the world in a tall ship is a pleasant dream. In reality it is a slow, boring endeavour. Day to day activity is just that, whether a young or older person spends most of his or her time stocking shelves in a supermarket, scubbing floors at a fast food, arguing cases in a courtroom or operating on human brains. One must deal with the ordinariness of the people and events encountered. Such was the situation of the author as he circumnavigated the world in the bargue Picton Castle. This book is a very slow read no matter how quickly one completes it. It repeats over and over the trivia of daily life. That trivia happens to occur on a sailing ship. Certainly, there are moments of excitment, moments of anguish and moments of concern. However if one trully looks at any ordinary life, those moments are all experienced in any endeavour. Rigel Croockett takes the reader through 33 chapters describing a year and a half of his life as a simple seaman. Beyond the fact that the time was spent at sea in a tall ship, circumnavigating the world, he pretty much descibes the struggle to live with ourselves and others we daily encounter. That the book should be tedious is appropriate. After all, the act of sailling such a distance over such a time must be a very tedious experience. Read this book in order to reaffirm the requirement of monotony in the wonderful act of living.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Remarkable Story by a Remarkable Author,
By Timothy Alison (Meteghan, Nova Scotia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Fair Wind and Plenty of It: A Modern-Day Tall Ship Adventure (Hardcover)
Who among us hasn't dreamed of packing it all in and sailing around the world? A chance to walk the beaches in the South Pacific, and to test your inner strentgh. Rigel Crockett made that dream come true. He risked it all, including the love of his life, for a chance to crew a Tall Ship on an 18 month voyage. A Fair Wind is a truly remarkable book. Yes it's a book about sailing and adventure. But it is much more than that. A Fair Wind is a book about life, love and coming of age. If you are a parent,I defy you to read this book with dry eyes. It simply cannot be done. Crockett is a master storyteller. I fought the urge to plough through the book as fast as I could, feeling the need to put it down from time to time so that I could savor each and every word. It's that good.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.9 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews) 5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Remarkable Story by a Remarkable Author,
By Timothy Alison - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Fair Wind and Plenty of It: A Modern-Day Tall Ship Adventure (Hardcover)
Who among us hasn't dreamed of packing it all in and sailing around the world? A chance to walk the beaches in the South Pacific, and to test your inner strentgh. Rigel Crockett made that dream come true. He risked it all, including the love of his life, for a chance to crew a Tall Ship on an 18 month voyage. A Fair Wind is a truly remarkable book. Yes it's a book about sailing and adventure. But it is much more than that. A Fair Wind is a book about life, love and coming of age. If you are a parent,I defy you to read this book with dry eyes. It simply cannot be done. Crockett is a master storyteller. I fought the urge to plough through the book as fast as I could, feeling the need to put it down from time to time so that I could savor each and every word. It's that good. 4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Extremely Enjoyable Voyage of Discovery,
By SpeedwayCJ - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Fair Wind and Plenty of It: A Modern-Day Tall Ship Adventure (Hardcover)
An amazing, amazing book. Rigel Crockett's evocative writing style brings an authenticity to this work that makes the reader feel a part of the voyage. Anyone who has spent time crewing aboard a tall ship will immediately appreciate Crockett's ability to capture all the excitement, boredom and wonder of life on a square-rigger. Reading this book, I felt as though I was part of the Picton Castle crew; working the lines, watching relationships form and dissolve, enjoying with wide eyes each exotic port and doggedly weathering every storm. This is a work I very highly recommend to all who have sailed aboard a tall ship, or have dreamed of doing so. Crockett allows us to witness not only the dynamics of the crew in relation to each other and their ship, but his own inner-dynamics. We are given the opportunity to experience this world journey just as he experienced it, with the joys of new discovery and the frustrations of everyday life.
Extremely well-written with a rare descriptive power to transport the reader totally into Crockett's world, this book works as a travel journal, a personal journey of discovery, an introduction to square-rig sailing and a record of a most amazing and unusual voyage. It is rare to find a book so absolutely enjoyable as "Fair Wind and Plenty of It." My thanks to Rigel Crockett for allowing us to join him in his journey.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great written book,
By Borut - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Fair Wind and Plenty of It: A Modern-Day Tall Ship Adventure (Hardcover)
For al landlubbers that saw the Tall Ship's Chronicles on TV and don't have enough.It's great book about sailing, distant shores, and the struggles and love between the crew.It's wery well written and it has 400 pages.That's big!! It's one thing though, it has way too little fotos.But them anyway you can find on the homepage of the picton castle. But of course, if you love that kind life there is no better thing on beeing on board on the real sailing ship.Maybe for a start on a charter sailing yacht with your friends during the holidays. |
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