In this first biography of David Henry Lewis, Ben Lowings examines his lifetime of adventure forensically yet sympathetically, and unlocks the secrets of his determination. This British-born New Zealander was the first person to sail a catamaran around the world, the first - in Ice Bird - to reach Antarctica solo under sail, and the first to make known to Westerners how ancient navigators reached - and could reach again - the Pacific islands. His many voyages resulted in thirteen books published and translated worldwide; many were bestsellers - We, the Navigators has not been out of print since first publication in 1972. David Lewis's achievements have been acknowledged with a series of awards, including that of Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. But the price of David Lewis's adventures had ultimately to be paid by others in the succession of families he created, then broke apart; and many of his actions brought him into conflict with the feelings of friends and contemporaries. We may legitimately ask 'was it really all worth it?' For the first time his six marriages are revealed, through more than a year of original research in Britain, Australia and New Zealand - including interviews with all surviving family members, as well as friends and fellow voyagers. Events thinly-sketched or omitted in his own writings, such as his father's own failings, are investigated. His kayaking, mountain-climbing and sailing were struggles all the more difficult because of a fractured backbone, shattered elbow and impaired vision. David Lewis's early years get the comprehensive documentation they deserve - in his own memoir he jumps straight from child to fully-fledged explorer. Inaccuracies are corrected in his tale of kayaking four hundred miles home from school. As playboy medical student, British paratrooper fighting in Normandy, and political activist in Palestine, Jamaica and London, he grappled with academic and colonial prejudice, and fought anti-Semitism and inequality; all is examined. As a general practitioner in the East End's impure 1950s air he worked where the new National Health Service was most needed. Professional frustrations and marital disappointments were not soothed by weekend sailing. He would join a pioneering single-handed yacht race to America in 1960, leaving his first daughter to find him on board in Plymouth to say farewell only at the last minute. In 1964 he would race again, but this time in a catamaran, and then, with Fiona, his new wife, and their daughters, girdle the earth in it. For the first time, their circumnavigation is described in part from Fiona's perspective. Media accounts and passages from his many books build up a picture of a consistently experimental, and utterly untypical, middle aged man. Every word in the Antarctic logbook of Ice Bird - scrawled with freezing hands - is closely compared with literary sources, National Geographic articles and his commercially successful book-length account. A new critical appreciation shows the white heat at the core of his being. He has abandoned his children again, and been drugged by ocean solitude. But in the act of writing he is earning his place among humanity. To hell with the frozen hands.

For some learners a picture is worth a thousand words--and this lavishly illustrated volume proves the rule. The expert advice and lively illustrations combine to offer serious how-to instruction in an entertaining fashion to sea kayakers of all levels.

Developed by an ACA-certified instructor over years of paddling and education, this complete program provides a visual tour of all that sea kayaking can offer, including ingenious tips on advanced paddling techniques, navigation and safety, and more.

Compiled by a team of Cruising Association regional editors and Imray, the Cruising Almanac is an annual publication first published over 100 years ago and long regarded as the perfect on board companion for cruising yachts. Each year, a well-known cruising sailor writes the Preface, and this year's is by Tom Cunliffe. The Almanac covers Northwest Europe from the Shetlands and southern Norway to Gibraltar and West Ireland to the Baltic. Based on first-hand experience and official data, all sections - text, plans, tidal data - are checked and updated annually. With over 750 port entries alongside passage notes (easily identified by their pale blue background colour), it's a vital tool for both planning and whilst at sea. 2021 tide tables for 47 standard ports are included in a separate booklet. The main Almanac contains tidal stream diagrams: full tidal details for secondary ports are included with the text for the relevant port. Updating of the Almanac continues throughout the year, with corrections published monthly on the Cruising Association website Almanac corrections page.

Details of harbors and anchorages in the Pacific south of the Equator between New Guinea and South America are offered in this updated edition.

Chart scale 1: 350 000 Plans included: A Coruna (1:50 000) Ria de Corme e Laxe (1:75 000) Ria de Camarinas (1:50 000) Ria de Muros (1:75 000) Approaches to Ria de Arousa (1:150 000) Ria de Arousa (1:150 000) Cabo de Cruz (1:40 000) Vilagarcia (1:35 000) Illa de Arousa to Cambados (1:40 000) Ria de Pontevedra (1:150 000) Ria de Vigo (1:150 000) Baiona (1:85 000) Viana do Castelo (1:30 000) Leixoes (1:20 000) Barra do Rio Douro (1:20 000)) On this edition the chart specification has been improved to show coloured light flashes. There have been numerous updates to harbour developments across the chart. The plan of Ria de Camarinas has been extended westward to include a larger scale approach and full charting of Las Quebrantas bank. There has been general updating throughout.

Nothing beats a natural swimming hole for cooling off on a scorching summer day in Texas. Cold, clear spring water, big old shade trees, and a quiet stretch of beach or lawn offer the perfect excuse to pack a cooler and head out with family and friends to the nearest natural oasis. Whether you’re looking for a quick getaway or an unforgettable summer vacation, let The Swimming Holes of Texas be your guide. Julie Wernersbach and Carolyn Tracy highlight one hundred natural swimming spots across the entire state. The book is organized by geographic regions, so you can quickly find local places to swim—or plan a trip to a more distant spot you’d like to explore. Each swimming hole is illustrated with an inviting color photo and a description of what it’s like to swim there, as well as the site’s history, ecology, and conservation. The authors include all the pertinent info about admission fees and hours, parking, and on-site amenities such as showers and restrooms. They also offer tips for planning your trips and lists of the swimming holes that are most welcoming to families and pets. So when the temperature tops 100 and there’s nothing but traffic in sight, take a detour down the backroads and swim, sunbathe, revel, and relax in the swimming holes of Texas.

Triathlon Swimming reveals the rewarding and rigorous Tower 26 program for mastering open-water swimming by the world's leading open-water swimming coach Gerry Rodrigues and former pro triathlete Emma-Kate Lidbury. Triathlon swimming is unique in its challenges and physical and mental limits. Over his lifetime of over 100 open-water swim race wins and over 30 years of coaching, Rodrigues has perfected the art and science of open-water swimming. His famed Tower 26 swimming program trains athletes in both the pool and in rough open water conditions, making triathletes and swimmers skilled, confident, capable, and fast in any condition. In Triathlon Swimming, Rodrigues and Lidbury break down open-water swimming technique and show how triathlon swimming requires different form. From kicking to sighting, Triathlon Swimming describes the best technique for swimming in open water. This guide shares the best gear for open-water swimming, shows how to create your own effective open-water swim workouts, and shares a plan for race prep and taper. Tower 26 offers the best open-water swimming technique. With Rodrigues' coaching approach and Lidbury's first-hand experience and insight, Triathlon Swimming can help you become a master open-water swimmer for faster, fearless racing.

The Herreshoff Manufacturing Company constructed the most thrilling, innovative and graceful boats ever built in the United States. Here the finest of the Herreshoff designs afloat today are presented with insightful commentary on design evolution in every facet-from lines to displacement to hardware, accompanied by full-colour images of each vessel both in detail and under way, and unique colour reproductions of Herreshoff's archival plans and drawings. Each entry incorporates a history of the boat (or class), its owners, race results and fate, celebrating the many that still grace the waters.

"I first met her in Tollesbury and immediately fell for her. She was an -Essex girl through and through but not like all the others, although she was shallow. As far as I could see then there were only two problems. There was a big age difference-fifty-five years. She was born in 1904 and I was ten back then in 1959. None of this mattered to me but the second problem would be trickier: my Dad loved her too." So begins Nick Imber's affectionate account of his family's love affair with the barge yacht Nan, who was to give so much pleasure to three generations, across twenty years from the 1950s to the 1970s. We share Nick's childhood excitement on first encountering Nan, his teenage pride in skippering her for the very first time, and his quiet pleasure as his own children take to the water in her. Nan took good care of them all; whether exploring a peaceful East Coast river, braving a gale at sea, or drying out on an idyllic Devon beach, she demonstrates that the humble barge yacht has so much to offer the young sailing family.

Covering a time of great social and technological change, this history traces the development of the four classic aquatic disciplines of competitive swimming, diving, synchronized swimming and water polo, with its main focus on racing. Working from the beginnings of municipal recreational swimming, the book fully explores the links between swimming and other aspects of English life society including class, education, gender, municipal governance, sexuality and the Victorian invention of the sports amateur-professional divide. Uniquely focused on swimming -often neglected in analytic sports histories- this is the first study of its kind and will be an important landmark in the establishment of swimming history as a topic of scholarly investigation. This book was previously published as a special issue of the International Journal of the History of Sport.

The Triumph of the Amateurs is the story of the lost world or professional rowing in America, a sport that attracted crowds of thousands, widespread betting, and ultimately corruption that foretold its doom. It centers on the colorful careers of two New York City Irish boys, the Biglin brothers John and Barney, now long forgotten save for Thomas Eakins lovely portraits of them in their scull. If the bestseller The Boys in the Boat portrayed the good guys of the U.S.'s 1936 Olympic crew, the Biglins were the Bad Boys in the Boat. Rascals abounded on and off the water, where rowdy fans often outdid modern soccer thugs in violence, betting was rampant-as was fixing-and spectators in the tens of thousands came out to see it all. Racing to Oblivion traces the sport from its rise in the years before the Civil War on through the Gilded Age to its scandalous demise and eventual transition into a purely college amateur sport. In addition Barney Biglin's later career as holder of sinecures offers a colorful glimpse into late 19th-century New York City political corruption. Illustrated with 40 black and white and color illustrations, including Thomas Eakins famous paintings of the Biglin brothers rowing on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia in 1873.

'Non-fiction it may be, but it contains all the tension of a thriller' Stuart Alexander, The Independent The Vendee Globe is a 27, 000 mile, single-handed yacht race through the world's most treacherous seas. A four month journey where the sailors pit themselves against icebergs, hurricane-force winds and waves the height of six-storey buildings. On 3 November 1996 sixteen sailors, including Tony Bullimore and Pete Goss set out. Only six crossed the finishing line, six others withdrew or were disqualified for seeking outside help, three were plucked fro m sinking boats while the world watched and one disappeared without tr ace. It is a captivating tale. 'This is a book which vividly transcen ds its immediate brief as a narrative of the race and those who sailed it, and presents a gripping and poetic evocation of the terrible and seductive power of the sea' John Tague, The Independent on Sunday

This riveting book offers 20 harrowing, real-life tales of sea kayaking accidents that will not only keep readers on the edge of their seats, but also instruct them with potentially life-saving lessons.

All the information necessary for preparing to plank, hanging and fastening and finishing off. Every type of wooden planking system, technique and method is covered along with all fastening options. Advice and illustrations all based on specific projects large and small.

Claire Walsh spent her twenties living the life she thought she was supposed to live, all the while playing hide and seek with depression. As a result, the road to recovery was the only travelling she did. Aged 32, single and living with her parents, she decided it was time to chart her own path. Booking a flight to South America, she let go of 'at home Claire' and opened herself up to a new world of possibilities. It was here she discovered freediving. Diving deep under water without the use of breathing apparatus, freediving is one of the most dangerous sports in the world, but at 60 metres below the surface, Claire discovered a fresh perspective that transformed her life and helped her find freedom. Under Water is Claire's candid and captivating story of how holding her breath taught her to live.

Martin O'Scannall loves the old, the eccentric, the offbeat - the quirky if you like; the wandering off into byways, the exploration of half-forgotten snippets of history. And Galicia, his home for the past decade or more, is ideal territory for indulging that taste. Galicia is a time warp: rain-swept, isolated, savage and gentle by turns, as far a cry from the blazing Costas as it is possible to imagine. This book is a conversation with the past, conducted in a very old, engineless gaff cutter, armed with the Admiralty Pilot, a gallant crew, and a sense of the ridiculous. We encounter, but in unexpected ways, the likes of Drake, Nelson, the ill-fated HMS Serpent, Celtic myth and legend, and the reminiscences of those who have gone before, all interspersed with the business of managing an old yacht in the old way: Walker log, paper charts and all. Beginning, as he says it has to be, with the dreaded storm at sea.

At the end of the First World War, there were 270,000 demobilised Australian soldiers in Europe. Getting them home after the Armistice was a task of epic proportions that would take more than two years. In the meantime, how to keep these disgruntled, damaged men with guns occupied? In a word: sport. The Oarsmen tells the story of the servicemen who survived the war to row for the coveted King's Cup at the 1919 Royal Henley Peace Regatta. Competing against crews from the US, New Zealand, France, the UK and Canada, the Australians were a ragtag bunch of oarsmen thrown in an old-fashioned boat and expected to race. Many had seen the worst of the action during the war at Gallipoli and the Western Front, and carried scars both physical and psychological. The baggage they brought to the boat would soon threaten to capsize the whole endeavour. Combining first-hand accounts with lively prose, this never-before-told story approaches the First World War from peacetime and illuminates history in vivid and compelling detail. Interweaving the soldiers' personal stories from before, during and after the war, The Oarsmen paints a fascinating picture of how these men, and society, transitioned from an unprecedented war to a new sort of peace.

Katherine Grainger is not only Great Britain's finest ever woman rower, but also she has won more Olympic medals than any other female British athlete in any sport. At Rio de Janeiro in the 2016 Olympic Games, at the age of 40, and less than two years after coming out of 'retirement', with a different partner, she came within one second of retaining her women's Double Sculls gold medal. On 3 August 2012, on the water at Eton Dorney in the London 2012 Olympic Games, she - and Anna Watkins - had rowed to glory in the women's Double Sculls. Three times an Olympic silver medallist, she could finally hang up her oars as an Olympic champion to add to her six World Championships and eight World Cup gold medals - but she didn't. Katherine's story is a remarkable one - proof that nice people can be winners and dedication and hard work pay off. Incredibly bright, Grainger combined her athletic career with her education and she has degrees from Glasgow and Edinburgh universities and a PhD from London, in subjects as diverse as law, philosophy and homicide. No wonder she is so much in demand as a motivational speaker. Katherine Grainger: The Autobiography continues her inspirational story taking in her post-London activities, the return to training, finding a new double sculls partner in Vicky Thornley, the highs and lows of their attempt to qualify for Rio 2016 and eventually their astonishing row to another silver medal.