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A beautifully illustrated sailing classic. This rare memoir opens
onto the early adventures of a 12-year-old boy sent to sea after
the tragic deaths of his sister and father and the impending
poverty of his mother. Not for these alone did the book draw great
reviews from The Times and The Spectator, when first published in
the 1920s. Recently, intrigued by this touching life story, his
grandson researched press clippings and documents that compelled
him to update and publish the book again, to reveal the full story
that must have influenced and spurred on his hero. Weathering
fierce storms and worse, in his first 8 years as an apprentice
mariner the boy grew into a fine young man, learning from and
appreciating the multicultured seamen about him as they ploughed
through the Asian trading routes, often fighting off formidable
pirates on the South China seas. On his first return home, now aged
20, Boughton arrived in time to save his mother from bailiffs and
life in a poorhouse. (He supported her to the end of her days.)
Exemplifying that steadfastness, he became a captain and then rose
to become the Superintendent of the Shipping Federation of Britain
as well as Member of the Marine Board for London. Notably, the book
reproduces the original illustrations by Shoesmith, the still much
admired artist of his day. The publication also includes old sea
shanties, knots and amazing facts regarding world religions and
more.
A sailing classic, of real life adventure, beautifully
illustratedTV Presenter JULIETTE FOSTER: "Captain George P
Boughton's maritime career began in 1881 at the age of 12, and
thanks to his grandson, the founder of GB Publishing Org, this
intriguing memoir of a life at sea is now available to a new
generation of readers." THE TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT: "His book is
genuine sea salt...warm colours of Mr Shoesmith's pictures accord
well with the romantic story [of days before steamships]" THE
SPECTATOR: "recalls emotions [on sea-life] that have fleeted from
the minds of most" First published in 1926, Seafaring - The Full
Story reveals that a life on the ocean waves was anything but
jolly: conditions were tough, the food was just about edible while
the work was back-breaking - although the salt-of-the-earth
camaraderie helped. As much a one-man reminiscence as it is an
elegy for a forgotten way of life, it's not hard to imagine a
gravely-voiced Boughton recalling the era of the 'large sailing
ships'. and why the world stopped being a better place when they
were forced off the sea. Boughton died in 1940 at the age of 71,
having worked his way up to the position of Superintendent to the
Shipping Federation of Britain. With the publication of these
memoirs, his contribution to our understanding of this area of
history will surely live on." In this edition of Seafaring, which
deals with ships and life aboard ships in the days before steam had
conquered sail, a Prologue is added that tells of the tragic
circumstances that led up to the author going to sea when aged
twelve. An Epilogue also reveals his fortunes since writing the
book. The men who spent the best part of their lives on sailing
vessels are now gone but fortunately Captain Boughton, as one of
them, committed to writing his first hand account of what their
lives aboard were really like. The salt of the sea is in these
breezy pages; they reflect the virile enjoyment with which the men
of whom Captain Boughton writes faced the hardships of their
existence. ~*~ The inclusion of several of the traditional sea
"chanties", with the musical scores, and the end-papers that
illustrate sailors' knots, add the final flavour to an inspiring
and enduring book.
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