Book info

• Title Three Ways to Capsize a Boat
• Author Chris Stewart
• Year 2009
• Genre Memoir

If you're wondering what Chris Stewart did before he and Ana moved to El Valero, their Spanish farm, here's one of the answers. He took to the sea, landing a job as skipper for the summer, sailing a Cornish Crabber around the Greek islands. It was his dream job - and there was just one tiny problem. He hadn't ever sailed before and had not the foggiest how to start. In a series of madcap and hilarious adventures we follow Chris from a shaky start in Chichester harbour to his epic Odyssey to Spetses (a bucket would have been handy), and then on to the journey of a lifetime - battening down the hatches on a trip across the North Atlantic. It's a journey crackling with Chris's zest for life, irresistible humour, and unerring lack of foresight. Dry land never looked more welcoming.

Thoughts

Short and sweet, this book illustrates the author’s transition from sheep farmer and reluctant sailer to hardened adventurer crossing the Norwegian fjords and beyond. From the first tentative steps on board a sailing boat with a friend, through proper instruction, to the warmth of a Greek summer, and then the real challenge of an Icelandic adventure with friends, you get to feel how his spirit evolves through every stage.

It’s well written, wide-eyed and romantic, but equally realistic and funny without taking that sarcastic tone that some reluctant travel/adventure books can. It was super quick to read, too, so you can whip through it in an afternoon and decide whether you too want to start donning a lifejacket and heading out to the high seas. (I don’t, I’ll just stick to reading about it!)

Rating: 3 / 5