Saga of a Wayward Sailor

Tristan Jones was one of the most prolific and best-loved authors of sailing stories in our time. A Welshman, he left school at age 14 to work on sailing barges and spent the rest of his life at sea--in the Royal Navy, as a delivery skipper, and as a daring adventurer in search of new seagoing challenges. The author of 16 books, including Seagulls in My Soup and One Hand for Yourself and One for the Ship, Jones lived in Phuket, Thailand for ten years, until his death in June 1995.

Autobiographical sketches from 1961 to 1969, laced with rum, schnapps and strange encounters. They principally record a series of wayward voyages and delivery trips beset by nautical disasters, and the amazing chances which have so far prevented them from ending fatally. At the start it promises to be an adventure yarn for the reader who "always longed to run a trading schooner in the South Seas but became a chartered accountant instead". However, considerable admiration must be extended to an author capable of overcoming so much adversity, and whose homespun philosophy is, in his own words, "of great comfort to those at the end of their tether". It's quite a jolly read.

• ForewordPart I: Let's Go!1. Hell and High Water2. Pennies from Heaven3. Say Cheese4. Hit and Miss5. Dismasted Again6. Lost and Found!Part II: Allons!7. "Blue to the Mast, True to the Last!"8. A Classic Passage9. En Passant!10. Check!11. Mate!12. An English Arrival13. Une Vignette Française14. Messing About in Boats15. Dismasted Yet AgainPart III: ¡Vamonos!16. Ups and Downs17. El Caudillo18. A Lucky Break19. An Actor, Bullfighter, and a Traitor20. Monkey Business21. Encounters22. Love Me, Love My Dog23. "I Don't Know Why You Say Goodbye--I Say Hello!"Epilogue