Nancy Blackett - under sail with Arthur Ransome
by Wardale, Roger
pub. by Jonathan Cape, London 1991     isbn 0-224-02773-5 - - 272 p. - biography - illustrated with photos, some pen and ink sketches, a few maps - index
Wardale, an avid Ransome fan and author of several books on Ransome, explores each of the boats owned and sailed by Arthur Ransome. The book is more or less in chronological order (after a brief introductory bit on the rescue of Nancy Blackett one of the boats Ransome had built for his use.)
In order the boats are Slug, Racundra, the Swallow, Mavis aka Amazon , Peter Duck a dingy given to the Altounyans , Welcome a 17 ft. una-rigged boat used to explore the Broads , Coch-y-bonddhu a dingy,
Nancy Blackett (was called Spindrift then Electron) a 9 ton cutter purchased by Ransome in 1935 this boat was the model for the Goblin in We didn't mean to go to sea,
Selina King another cutter, which he had built in 1938 was 35 ft overall sold in 1946,
Peter Duck a ketch 28ft 3 in long - beam 9 ft drew 3ft 6 in built in 1946,
Lotttie Blossom a sloop 27 ft long - beam 7ft 5in drew 4ft 3 in built in 1952.
There was a second Swallow dingy which Ransome used as a dingy with Selina King one of his larger cruising boats.
Wardale sprinkles the tales of Arthur and Evgenia sailing their various boats with bits from Ransome's writing showing where experiences in his real life reflected in his writing. This is a satisfying book for any fan of Arthur Ransome's writings.
~ 2009-10-04 ~

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