Notes for Chapter 8 of The Voyage of The Aegre are now up. This chapter tells of our first passage (1,800 miles, 34 days) from Scotland to Madeira, how we settled into living on the boat, sailing 24 hours a day with the relentless bad weather for the first few weeks, and navigating to Madeira, 440 miles west of Morocco.
The Aegre sailing out of Scourie Bay, 24 July 1973
Update on the Yohl inspired by The Aegre being built in Glasgow
Peter Matheson and his team at Clydeside Traditional Boatbuilders have added the second plank. See video and photos sent by volunteer boatbuilder Sandy MacDonald.
The 2nd plank is fitted
2nd video of Ireland to Iona curragh voyage
Another video featuring the re-enactment of the 563 AD St Columba Curragh voyage from Northern Ireland to Iona was recently found by my website co-researcher Gene Carl Feldman. The voyage, instigated by my Uncle Jack (below) in 1963, was one of the early inspirations to me to go sailing. I created a page on this website about the curragh voyage and have added a link to the new video (towards the end of the page). The first half of the video is an introduction to St Columba. Film of the 1963 re-enactment of the voyage is from about 19 minutes on.
My Uncle Jack, Canon John Barry in 1963, ‘…went to sea in a boat with a calico skin’.
Not got the book?
The Voyage of The Aegre
The Voyage of The Aegre can be purchased as a paperback from bookshops in the UK, Australia and NZ, and from Amazon worldwide. A Kindle and eBook version is also available. An Audiobook version I narrate myself is available from Amazon Audible, Spotify and all the other major audiobook distributors.
The paperback will soon be available in bookstores in the US, Canada, the EU and most other countries.
Signed copies of the first printed edition of the book are available from this website here.
Additions to the website: Notes on Chapter 7 Sea trials; a page on Errata in the paperback; a video update on the yahl inspired by The Aegre being built in Glasgow; and a page listing all website Posts.
Julie giving The Aegre a coat of anti-fouling at Ardmore
Chapter 7 in the Voyage of The Aegre covers the time from the launching of the decked Aegre through to our departure for Madeira, 1,800 miles to the south. The Notesinclude photos from this time that aren’t in the book, more details about the standing lug rig and the self-steering wind vane system, why our departure was delayed, and a map showing a little more about our trial sails.
Errata in the first printing of the paperback and the 2023 Kindle versions of The Voyage of The Aegre: from Scotland to the South Seas in a Shetland boat. Despite the very best efforts of many trial readers, a professional editor, and of Gene Carl Feldman, David Burnett and myself, some errors slipped through into the published book. We gradually discovered these over the next six months: a misspelt name here, an incorrectly attributed photo there, a misremembered fact somewhere else. For instance, I had long ‘known’ that the builder of The Aegre, Tom Edwardson, came from Yell, in the Shetland Islands. While researching the whole story, I tried to contact his relatives with no success. But then, in July 2023, following the launch of the book in the Lerwick library (in Shetland), Tom’s son-in-law introduced himself and told me that actually Tom and his family came from the island of Unst, not Yell, (in the north of the Shetland Islands).
All of these corrections have been made in the Amazon printing of the book and Kindle version, purchased since February 2024.
Purchasers of the first printing of the book (with the fold-out flaps) and Amazon paperbacks and Kindle versions purchased prior to February 2024 might like to view the Errata page on the website.
The yahl, inspired by The Aegre, being built at Clydeside Traditional Boats in Glasgow by Peter Matheson and his volunteer team, is progressing. See a video and photos of the garboard planks being steamed and fitted.
A list of Posts: This is the 2oth Post I have published from this website about The Voyage of The Aegre. Newer subscribers and interested visitors to the website may be interested in looking back through these past Posts, so I’ve listed them all here.
Not got the book?
The Voyage of The Aegre
The Voyage of The Aegre can be purchased from bookshops in the UK, Australia and NZ, and from Amazon worldwide. A Kindle and eBook version is also widely available. An Audiobook version I narrate myself is available from Amazon Audible, Spotify and all the other major audiobook distributors.
The paperback will soon be available in bookstores in the US, Canada, the EU and most other countries.
Signed copies of the original printed edition of the book are available from this website here.
In this Post: Presentation in Geelong Yacht Club on Sunday 10th March; The Aegre voyage story published on Amazon Audible; Notes on Chapter 6- Fitting out The Aegre; Progress on building boat inspired by The Aegre; Wanted, the pirate ship Flower of Caithness; and finally a piece in memory of Scottish small craft designer Iain Oughtred.
Geelong Wooden Boat Festival
The Geelong [Australia] Wooden Boat Festival is on 9-11 March and I will be giving a presentation on The Aegre Voyage, and signing books at the Geelong Yacht Club on Sunday 10th March at 11:30 am in the Yacht Club. All welcome.
The Voyage of The Aegre is now available as an audiobook on Amazon Audible, Spotify, Audiobooks.com and other audiobook online sites. I read the story myself (with a few asides here and there). A PDF file accompanies the audiobook containing all the maps, diagrams and photos that are in the paperback book.
Notes on Chapter Six-Fitting out The Aegre, are now on the website. Pictures from our snowbound cabin, travel to Orkney to collect the storm sails, more about Jamie Young, adventurer extraordinaire; photos of the newly decked Aegre and her launching.
Julie with The Aegre on Scourie beach waiting for the tide to come in
In memory of Iain Oughtred: Since my last Post, Iain Oughtred, a designer of beautiful and much loved small craft, has passed away. Iain had the ability to design, draw up, guide, and most critically, inspire, ordinary men and women to build beautiful sailing and rowing boats, that performed as well as they looked. The pleasure he gave to people who took on the challenge to build one of his craft and then to sail it, is inestimable.
Oughtred Boats
His was a life devoted to giving pleasure to others through the hand-crafting of timber, building fine boats, and then sailing them in summer breezes in sheltered waters. So many of us have a debt of gratitude to Iain Oughtred, for giving us all those little pleasures.
My first Oughtred boat was a plywood 18ft John Dory, with a simple gunter rig and jib. No, I didn’t build her, but the person who did did so with care and love. We named her Marica G, (which kept both daughters Mariko and Erica happy). She rowed easily and flew under sail.
We adventured out on Port Phillip, Lake Eildon and the icy Lake Jindabyne up in the New South Wales High Country, never quite knowing how the day would end. We raced her in the Paynesville Wooden Boat Messabout and the classic boat regatta on Lake Wendouree. But in the strong gusty winds we often get down here in Victoria, Australia, the depressions sweeping up from the Southern Ocean, she could quickly become a handful with my 5 and 7-year-old daughters aboard. Sometimes the day ended with us all wetter than planned.
A few years later I sold her and bought her big sister, a 19’6″ Caledonia Yawl, another Oughtred design, named Crazybird, which we sailed all around Victoria and South Australia with our young daughters, staying dry this time. A wonderful boat.
The Caledonia Yawl Crazybird
As well as sailing her, I built a website all about Crazybird which, over a few years inspired the building of more Caledonia Yawls around the world. The website fostered a community of Caledonia Yawl builders and sailors.
Caledonia Yawl Crazybird website
These Oughtred boats were part of our lives, as I’m sure similar Oughtred designs have been and are for thousands of others. What a contribution Oughtred made in terms of the simple pleasure that can come from building and sailing a boat. What a legacy.
But time moves on as it has for Iain, and indeed for the Crazybird website, but Crazybird herself sails on, now on the Swan River in Perth, in the loving care of her owner there, still giving pleasure. But she’s only 30 this year and has many years of great sailing still in her. Iain’s memory will live on in her, and in his many other boats.
Also, Notes on Chapter 5: Another London Winter in the book The Voyage of The Aegre are now available. They cover more on the decision not to take a liferaft, choosing a short-wave radio receiver, and buying a sextant.
Chapter 4 of The Voyage of The Aegre is about how Julie and I found The Aegre, and after a trial sail bought her. In the notes on Chapter 4, I go into some detail about her standing lug rig which may not interest everyone. So if you think the difference between a dipping and a standing lug refers to a hearing problem, and a throat-tripping line is something a serial killer might use, then maybe this is not for you. Instead, wait for the Notes on Chapter 5 which I promise will be of wider interest. Coming soon.
Plus I’ve added a new page, Once is enough, to the Aegre website, Lesser Known Inspiring Reads.
Once is enough is not a reflection on The Aegre experience, but about Miles Smeeton’s book, titled Once is enough. It’s wrong to regard it as ‘lesser known’ except it was published in 1956, so 68 years ago. This amazing tale may have slipped people’s minds, so I thought I’d put together a short reminder.
Miles and Berryl Smeeton, sailing a 46ft ketch, were famously pitchpoled (turned end over end) and dismasted 900 miles northwest of Cape Horn. They struggled to Chile repaired the boat and set out again. And well, again things didn’t go quite as planned. See the link below.
An audiobook version of The Voyage of The Aegre is now available. Recorded between October and December 2023, the audiobook is currently available (Jan’24) from the following sites.
The audiobook is being progressively rolled out to other audiobook retailers and will soon be available on Amazon Audible.
Notes for Chapter 3 of The Voyage of The Aegre- A London winter and Scottish summer.
Notes for Chapter 3 have been added to the book website. They comprise a short expansion on beginning to learn about navigation (as mentioned in Chapter Three) and notes from Brian King, an enthusiastic sailing instructor I met at Ridgway’s Adventure School in Scotland in 1972 and also wrote about in Chapter 3. A year later, Brian met yachtsman Bernard Moitessier in New Zealand. Moitessier invited Brian to live aboard his yacht, Joshua, for a time. They talked for days. Brian passed me some of his notes, which I have reproduced with his permission in the Notes on Chapter 3.
Moitessier’s yacht Joshua in 2006 in La Rochelle. Photo: Remi Jouan https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1282464
Notes for Chapter Two of the book, The Voyage of The Aegre, have been added to the book website here.
The Notes give background to my first summer working at the John Ridgway School of Adventure at Ardmore, NW Scotland, during which my first ideas for The Aegre voyage started to develop.
John Ridgway beside the 1966 Atlantic rowboat, English Rose III
Key contributors, expanded on in the Notes with more photos, were the row across the Atlantic by John Ridgway and Chay Blyth in 1966; sailing English Rose IV, the yacht Ridgway was loaned to enter the first solo non-stop round the World race in 1968, and the experience and camaraderie of the Instructor team at the Adventure School.
You can jump straight to the Chapter Two Notes here.
Earlier versions of the story long before publication had a different title, was longer and had Chapter Notes
Chapter Notes are being added to the book website
Earlier versions of The Voyage of The Aegre, before publication, had various titles, were longer, and included additional notes for each chapter.
However, when it came to publication, cost constraints, market expectations, and publisher pressure led me to change the title, make substantial cuts to the manuscript, and remove the chapter notes. It seemed a pity then, but I think the book as published is the better for it.
However now the book is established in the market and readers are frequently writing to me, I’ve decided to progressively publish updated versions of the Chapter Notes on the book website. These will be under ‘The Book’ tab, but you can jump directly to the Notes for the first chapter, ‘Learning to Live’.
I’ll progressively publish the Notes for each chapter
Goodreads
The book is now listed on Goodreads. It’s free to join Goodreads, and anyone can then post ratings and reviews. So if you enjoyed the book and would like to help others discover it, please add it to your Goodreads file and give it a rating and even a review. Thank you! Goodreads also provides a forum for discussing a book and asking the author questions. I’ll try to answer any questions posed about The Aegre voyage. I’ve also listed a few of my own favourite books.
If you’ve already read the book, you might enjoy seeing the Guestbook that we kept on The Aegre. I’ve added it to The Aegre book website. We didn’t have a proper guestbook but asked visitors to the boat to sign inside the covers of a photo album we created about The Aegre. The covers survived the capsize, more or less, and below the image of each page, I’ve listed the names I can identify. Maybe you or someone you know is there? Take a look.
If you bought the book from Amazon, please rate it or even write a few words about it. Ratings and reviews influence how Amazon positions a book and the exposure it gets. Your support will help the book. Thank you.
And Varua? Varua is the 70ft brigantine made famous by William Albert Robinson in his book ‘To The Great Southern Sea’ (Peter Davies – London, 1957) which in addition to being a great sea voyaging story, has excellent detailed appendices on every aspect of Varua and heavy weather sailing.
The course of Varua in the Southern Ocean 1951-52
Signed copies ofThe Voyage of The Aegre – From Scotland to the South Seas in a Shetland Boat, are available from the book website here. It can also be purchased from Boat Books Australia, in the UK from Central Books, the Shetland Times Bookshop, Waterstones, and other good bookshops, and in the rest of the world from good bookstores and Amazon.
In this Post: a video of a talk about the voyage and the book and links to new reviews of the book in three leading magazines.
Julie waits with the newly decked Aegre for the tide to come in on the Scourie beach. May 1973
In September 2023 the Wooden Boat Association of Victoria (Australia) invited me to talk about The Aegre voyage and the book at their monthly meeting, ‘in conversation’ with President Peter Batchelor.
Nick Grainger in conversation with Peter Batchelor at the (Victoria, Australia) Wooden Boat Association meeting, September 2023
The VIC WBA meet at the Albert Park Yacht Club in central Melbourne. I joined the club when I first moved to Melbourne with my family thirty years ago. Embarrassingly I distinguished myself on my first visit by capsizing our skittish Oughtred John Dory with my two little girls aboard on Albert Park Lake in full view of the clubroom! But at least we could stand up and walk to the bank that day.
Reviews of the book have recently appeared or are about to appear in four noteworthy magazines. Each picks up on a different aspect of the story.
The Nov/Dec 2023 issue of Wooden Boat has a review of The Aegre book
Wooden Boat magazine’s November/December issue contains a lengthy review of The Voyage of The Aegre book by leading sailing photo/journalist Nic Compton, past Editor of Classic Boat magazine, concluding that…
Not only is this a compelling story, but Nick tells it in a relaxed and chatty style… There’s no doubt in my mind that this book will quickly join the library of classic survival stories, alongside tomes such as Survive the Savage Sea, by Dougal Robertson, and 117 Days Adrift, by Maurice and Maralyn Bailey.
Practical Boat Owner magazine Editor Katy Stickland also gave the thumbs up to the book, putting it at the top of her list of Christmas reading recommendations on the PBO website.
Katy commented that this was before modern instruments and GPS, and although the story of their time afloat, including their capsize off Tahiti which left the boat dismasted, is a gripping read about survival at sea, it is the details of the preparation of the boat that many Practical Boat Owner readers will find the most fascinating.
Writing in the Dinghy Cruising Association Autumn Journal, Matthew Sullivan concludes his lengthy review by writing:
The Voyage of the Aegre is not only an account of a journey but also a moving tale of two young people growing up together, forging a relationship in extraordinary circumstances, and facing down unimaginably difficult challenges with inspirational courage.
The Voyage of The Aegre reviewed by Matthew Sullivan in the Dinghy Cruising Association Journal, Autumn 2023
On the other side of the world John Macfarlane, a sailing journalist with Boating New Zealand magazine, has written a review of the book for the November issue, but you’ll have to wait till later in October to read that.
Signed copies of the book, The Voyage of The Aegre – From Scotland to the South Seas in a Shetland boat are available from the book website here. It can also be purchased from Boat Books Australia, in the UK from Central Books, the Shetland Times Bookshop and other good bookshops such as Waterstones and Foyles, and in the rest of the world from Amazon.
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