917.14 Hol (c1939)

Sarah P’ s comments:  Since I seem to be on a kick of writing about northern sailing, here is another classic I discovered last year. Not quite Rockwell Kent but a good read nonetheless. The author does not name the year he sailed to Labrador but, from clues in the text, I would say it’s sometime in the 1920’s.

Google Books Link

WorldCat Link

Quotes:

‘I write that the coexistence of abysmal terror and God-like elation is responsible for much seafaring, especially the small-boat kind.‘

‘And thus, in the unpainted cabin of this schooner…did we three fatuous asses bray that the luck which is God’s mercy to fools was nothing more nor less than our sterling seamanship.’

‘For boats, even the uglier ones, are among the loveliest creations of man’s hands, and though owning them brings a train of debts, hangnails, bruises, bad frights, and all kinds of worries not experienced by those who content themselves with the more practical vices, the relation between a man and his boat is as personal and intimate as the relation between husband and wife.’

 

 

 

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919.82 Ken (c1930)

Sarah P’s comments:  As an artist, Rockwell Kent does not need an introduction but for many years I wasn’t aware he was a writer as well. Two of his books are sailing stories and over the years I would see N by E mentioned here or there as, in Maine, it’s touted as a ‘classic’.

Finally, one sailing summer, I read Kent’s story of cruising north to Greenland in 1929 on his 33′ cutter. The illustrations, the descriptions, the subsequent shipwreck…all make for a riveting read. In fact I liked it so much I hunted up his other sailing story which was even better…and which I will write about next…

Quotes: