Seafaring (ePub)

TV 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.

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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.