Hi Eric

If you want a really good read, and a taster for what many of us are letting ourselves in for, then you MUST get a copy of Roger Taylors book 'Voyages of a Simple Sailor.' It's just been published by the Fitzroy press.

Roger is one of those quietly competent sailors who just get on with it - coming through some horrific seas intact and unbowed, mainly due to good preparation and an easily handled boat. His book covers his time spent on a square rigger - the Endurance 2 - which was spectacularly shipwrecked ( with Roger aboard) off the coast of New Zealand. His experiences - and he tells them with an easy, self-depracating style - will have you enthralled. I damn near missed my train-stop as I battled off a lee shore with him in the dead of night.

He goes on to describe how the shipwreck altered his view of sailing - making him more determined to be self-reliant, and develop an unsinkable boat. Of great interest to Jesters will be the narrative of his participation on the 2006 event in his 21ft junk-rigger Corribee Ming Ming( you'll recognise quite a few names and boats) and the decisions he made. I equally enjoyed his engineless trip from Burnham to actually get to the start ( Roger doesn't believe in having an iron topsail). How he worked the wind and tide - avoiding marinas and anchoring in some unlikely places - to get to Plymouth is a real testament to applied seamanship.

Perhaps more than anything, it's a thoughtful book - exploring the alure of the seas - and all it's moods - and how it can affect the lone sailor as an exhiliarating, uplifting experience. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it's just a pity that his most recent Round Britain via Iceland ( again without an engine) isn't in there. That's for another volume, I hope.

To find out more, visit Rogers site - www.the simplesailor.com. We'll be doing a full review in PBO. Despite the storms, shipwrecks and other interesting situations Roger has got into over the years, this book will inspire you to get out there in a minimalist boat - rather than scare the bejeezus out of you! Highly recommended read - but not on a train.