Hebridean Diary of a Serial Sailor

[PAPILLONCARDEN]

Just written an e book, “Hebridean Diary of a Serial Sailor” which offers an interesting insight into sailing the seas off the West Coast of Scotland, one of the last wildernesses in Europe. Thirty three years and over 28,000 miles in the same boat is one hell of a journey, and presents a unique perspective of interest to both sailor and landlubber alike.
Starting in 1979, my story is taken directly from the five log-books of Papillon of Carden, and will be of interest to any sailor planning to explore the West Coast of Scotland by giving a record of the remote anchorages visited, distances covered, and further adventures experienced, all well illustrated with over one hundred original colour images. The diary ends in 2012 with my “year of sailing dangerously”, and this close call may just have been the catharsis leading to my autobiography.
Hopefully I may give future voyagers the inspiration to float their dreams onto water, and not to remain self -engrossed, immobile or slow to seek another truth which may lie just over the horizon. My tale is of additional interest to the arm chair sailors happy to allow others to experience the discomfort of hard sailing in sometimes treacherous conditions!
Much more than just a sailing story, I have given an insider`s account of my life as a Scottish art dealer, and how mindfulness and keeping an open mind are essential for us all to live in harmony, further expanding my views on anti-consumerism and materialism and the dramatic part technology is presently playing in all our lives. The book ends with a discussion about how our society may be drifting into a second “Dark Age”, and a prediction of the future of our biosphere with mankind at the helm, just, but Gaia in ultimate charge.
.......but thankfully for you sailors it is mainly about my adventures in my wee boat off the Scottish West Coast!
The Amazon universal link is viewBook.at/B00DDQ70RY

[PAPILLONCARDEN]

Now posted the books 98 images on Flickr at
Flickr: hamilton.drive's Photostream
The wartime images may be of interest to Canadian naval historians as they relate to the fate of my uncle, Hugh Pettigrew, whose ship the Canadian Pacific`s Beaverford was torpedoed in Convoy 84 in 1940 by the pocket battleship Admiral Scheer. There is a detailed account of the part the Beaverford played in this battle.

[David_Old_Jersey]

This forum seems to be mostly (but not all) dedicated to warm water - but posting a few pics of your boat may attract some interest.....aka boat porn!

Unfortunately I don't have an e-reader thingy (am a slow adopter of technology!).

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, PAPILLONCARDEN.

[PAPILLONCARDEN]

Thanks for commenting, David.I dont have a dedicated e reader either! You can
Summer cruising weather in the Hebrides at present is wet and cool, but at least we have the Gulf Stream or North Atlantic Drift but I wouldn`t recommend swimming in the scuddie as the water is very cold as I discovered last year when I fell unconscious off the end of my boat alone in mid winter.It took me over 50 minutes to get out, and I was damned lucky!

[PAPILLONCARDEN]

Sorry, Gord May. I am at a loss as to what you mean!

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by PAPILLONCARDEN

Sorry, Gord May. I am at a loss as to what you mean!

CF = Cruisers Forum

For messing around in the boats I will likely be sticking to the other end of Britain. Water a lot warmer .

[Andrew B.]

As a descendant of the Clan Keith I am very much looking forward to reading your book.
Is it, or will it become available in a printed version ?

[PAPILLONCARDEN]

Thank you for your interest and I would love to produce a printed version.I originally wrote it in word and printed out all two hundred pages or so on A4 together with over 100 colour images and it looked great.When I went to a professional printer, she wanted £25 or $40 to print out in this form! Problem with professionally printing in book form will be the large number of images which would make the final product prohibitively high so the short answer to your question is no! not in the near future unless it becomes a best seller.