Overview

The true story of how a family brought a wooden cargo ship back into the age of sail. Cecilia bought the first ship, a Thames barge, for family vacations - there were six children. Dominick bought the successor, a Baltic Trader, and then found this would be his career. Twenty years elapsed between the first days of the barge and the last day of the Baltic. From knowing virtually nothing about sailing ships, the author traces getting to grips with the problems of making sails on board, skipping between sandbanks, dragging anchor, losing a mast, crossing the Atlantic, fixing self steering, avoiding hurricanes, hauling out for repairs, and his major preoccupation: failing to sink. For 13 years, the author had no other home, and for half that period never spent a night ashore. When on dry dock, he felt it was rather like having his underpants repaired while still wearing them.

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9780786475803

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Reviews

"""An autobiography that begins with the author learning to sail on a Thames barge that he and his wife bought for vacation use with their six children. They eventually bought a three-masted schooner, which they sailed and lived aboard for more than a decade.""--Woodenboat Review; ""With no previous knowledge of ships and sailing, a scientist and his wife buy a large sailing barge, beginning a 20-year adventure sailing large ships with their six children. This narrative describes close calls with dry humor and charts the family's growing confidence as they eventually live on the ship full-time. The book includes b&w photos and maps.""--Reference & Research Book News."

An autobiography that begins with the author learning to sail on a Thames barge that he and his wife bought for vacation use with their six children. They eventually bought a three-masted schooner, which they sailed and lived aboard for more than a decade. --Woodenboat Review; With no previous knowledge of ships and sailing, a scientist and his wife buy a large sailing barge, beginning a 20-year adventure sailing large ships with their six children. This narrative describes close calls with dry humor and charts the family's growing confidence as they eventually live on the ship full-time. The book includes b&w photos and maps. --Reference & Research Book News.

Author Information

Dominick Jones lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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