Not All Plain Sailing
by Sinnett-Jones, David - - with Ann Queensberry
pub by Weidenfeld and Nicholson, London, UK 1989     isbn 0-297-79653-4
208 pages - sailing adventure - biography.
In this book Sinnett-Jones describes the building of his steel hulled Spray replica, the Zane Spray (a 36 ft. version designed by Bruce Roberts-Goodson.) Then he sailed from his home port of Aberporth in Wales first to the Azores, then to the island of St. Helena, on the way he sailed through the Zero longitude at the equator - being at the Zero - Zero point, which is an unusual route, and one he paid dearly for in unusually calm and hot weather, a bad thing for a sailboat. From St. Helena he sailed to Cape Town, S. Africa where he visited his daughter Madeleine. The contestants in the BOC around the world race stopped at Durban, S. Africa while he was there. Leaving S. Africa he took a Jeannie Muir who was a great help, especially watch-keeping. He sailed on to western Australia, arriving in time to be among the throng viewing the Americas Cup races - January 1987. From there he sailed to Sydney and staged an arrival so that the Television crew would get good footage of his arrival. He stayed in Australia for some time sailing, enjoying himself and doing repairs. He sailed on to New Zealand visiting and then headed out alone across the S. Pacific around Cape Horn to Stanley in the Falkland Islands. He sailed north to St. Helena, closing the loop of his circumnavigation there. He found that he was the first to do a circumnavigation St. Helena to St. Helena. From there he sailed north to the Azores and then back to Wales. He arrived slightly early and waited in a nearby harbor to arrive back at his home port in Aberporth, Walesk UK. This book was published by a regular publisher (not vanity published as his later biography was) and the spelling and word use is much more standard. It also is more circumspect than his later biography, dwelling on the sailing and regular in-port activities.
~ 2009-09-12 ~

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