Book description
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.
Chris Stewart shot to fame with Driving Over Lemons -- Sort Of Books'
launch title in 1999. Funny, insightful and real, the book told the
story of how he bought a Spanish peasant farm on the wrong side of the
river, with its previous owner still resident. It became an
international bestseller and together with its sequels -- A Parrot in
the Pepper Tree and The Almond Blossom Appreciation Society -- has
sold more than a million copies in the UK alone.
Chris prepared for life on his Spanish farm with jobs of doubtful
relevance. He was the original drummer in Genesis (he played on the
first album), then joined a circus, learnt how to shear sheep, went to
China to write the Rough Guide, gained a pilot's license in Los
Angeles, and completed a course in French cooking. Three Ways to
Capsize a Boat fills in his lost years as a yacht skipper in the Greek
islands and dodging icebergs in the Atlantic. It is that rare thing: a
book about sailing equally fun for people without a trace of sea legs.
Chris, his wife Ana and their daughter Chloe continue to live on
their farm, with their numerous dogs, cats, chickens, sheep and
misanthropic parrot.
