An Accidental Sailor
Witty, charming and downright funny, author Kathryn Lasky Knight writes about what happens when you marry into sailing in Atlantic Circle, taking readers through her first Atlantic crossing and the extensive European cruise that followed in the process.
In a story that will cause many first mates to nod empathetically, Knight struggles in the beginning to find her place on board their 30ft Cheoy Lee ketch, Leucothea. While she grapples with fog and weeks without showers, for example, she also learns how to shampoo her hair in the Gulf Stream and overcome her fear of heights when climbing the rig. Her poignant descriptions bring the reader into the cockpit in many a faraway place—the fjords of Norway, Morocco, the Saone River in France and the islands of the Caribbean.
After three years, the couple finally reaches Grenada, where they fly the flags of the 10 countries they’ve visited. Knight writes, “I lay back and watched: frigate birds carving lazy arcs in cloudless sky, the twin jibs billowing at last with twelve-knot trade wind breezes, and the lushly sculpted islands floating like mirages on a sea of liquid sapphire.”
Whether first mate or captain, any sailor who’s lived aboard will relate to Knight’s adventures, which will undoubtedly continue beyond Atlantic Circle.