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.