Gypsy Moth Circles the World - Sir Francis Chichester

In the effort to clear some room on the bookshelves, Higgy and I have gone through fiction A - F and removed all books that we won't re-read or never read in the first place. This leaves me with a stack of 29 books that were on the shelves but never read. At least now I know what I'll be reading for a while...

I have not read much adventure - just one about the first trip across Antarctica (Shackelton?). That probably explains why this was in the fiction section instead of nonfiction. I don't even know where I got the book from. It's old enough that it advertises its price of 95 cents.

I recently read about Chichester's record setting solo sail around the world - Plymouth, UK to Sydney to Plymouth (back in the 60s when he was 65!). Only one port of call - with months alone in between. I don't know how he could handle the solitude - although I guess he was kept pretty busy with the ship. I know NOTHING about sailing, so most of the terms - gybe, mainsail, etc. went by me. What's the difference between a jib and a working jib? But even without a clue to what problem he was experiencing, I still felt the urgency of the problem - the feeling that things weren't as they were supposed to be. I found myself racing to turn the page to find out how things turned out. Would he have to add an extra port? Would he make it at all after capsizing?

I had always wondered why people would take these trips. It appears to be because they can - and they have the money to try. I did come to like Chichester, his ability to handle all the mishaps. But I really wondered what he was thinking in designing his ship - how could he not stand up for the design he wanted? How could he end up in a ship that weighed twice what he wanted, with several prototypes for essential functions? On the other hand, I guess that is the kind of thing I do to people at work all the time. At least my prototypes will only cost a company money, not put someone's life in danger.

While it was a enjoyable read, I don't think it's worth of a permanent home in the library - but it does deserve to be passed on to a friend rather than a book store.