For the last year, I have been working six to seven days a week, finally putting to bed a writing project that has been loitering in my 'intray' for years, a sailing memoir / selective history of cruising under sail, spanning the years from 1966 to 2024.  I began it as a project for the creative writing component of my BA in English at James Cook University twenty years ago, and some stories have been published before, in yachting magazines and the journal of the Junk Rig Association.

The result is a two-volume work, lavishly illustrated with over 400 embedded colour photos, mostly my own, but also including images kindly contributed by many of the extraordinary sailors I have met, including the late Dr David Lewis (courtesy of his son, Barry), Robin Lee Graham, Roger Taylor, Pete Hill, Annie Hill, Webb Chiles, Russell Brown,  etc, and others who voyaged unknown and unsung.

The print books are available from Amazon.com or Amazon.com.uk, and the ebook versions from Amazon, Kobo, or Barnes and Noble.  You can take a look inside the book and read the first 5% on any of these sites.

The following is a quote from the back cover:

Last Days of the Slocum Era is a review of cruising under sail, spanning the years from the mid-1960s through to 2024, viewed through the lens of the author’s engagement with that world, which began at the age of 14 on the famous International Jetty in Durban, South Africa, where yachts from all over the world used to raft up in the summer months, preparing for their passages around the Cape of Good Hope and beyond.  The first sailor the author spoke to, in November 1966, was Dr David Lewis, who was circumnavigating on his catamaran, Rehu Moana.  David later became a close friend.  The following year, on 21 October, 1967, 18-year-old Robin Lee Graham sailed into Durban alone, aboard his small sloop, Dove, and from then on, there was only one thing the author wanted to do, follow in the wake of Dove to wherever it might lead.  Over the next few years, he befriended a number of extraordinary voyagers on the International Jetty, mostly unknown and unsung, many of whom became lifelong friends.

In 1972, he migrated to Sydney, Australia, where he has spent more than 50 years cruising in Pacific waters, sailing everything from tiny, light displacement sloops to 60’ gaff-rigged schooners, and more recently, several junk-rigged yachts.

The first volume of Last Days of the Slocum Era covers the period from 1966 until 1980, when voyaging under sail was not that different to the way that Joshua Slocum sailed around the world on his epic voyage between 1895 and 1898.  Volume Two looks at the technological and cultural impact that the digital age has had on what was once a timeless way of life, once again illustrated by the author’s experiences at sea.

A unique aspect of this work is that the author is not your typical salty dog.  He aspired to be a ballet dancer as a boy, and jokingly references ocean cruising as his great consolation prize.  He has struggled with his emotional and physical health at times, and is frank about his shortcomings, both as a sailor and as a human being.  One thing he has learned from the great characters he has crossed paths with is that passion, courage and commitment form a bridge to a better life.

Right from the first chapter of Volume One, there is a junk-related theme to these books, and the second half of Volume Two, as reflected in the cover, is all about junk rig.

I have also started a blog, showcasing some of the cruising boats and stories that interest me, https://randomboats.blogspot.com/

Here are images of the book covers, with links to the originals.