Dove by Robin Lee Graham

[Roach1948]

An account of the youngest person to circumnavigate the world in a 23’ yacht, at the age of 17, in 1965.

I have to say I really enjoyed this book. He has a rather simple writing style, but it meant I charged through the book in an afternoon the garden.

Essentially Robin heads off West for California to the Pacific Islands. After a whirlwind romance with an American girl he meets there, they go their separate ways and the rest of the story is dominated by this separation. It constantly challenges his commitment to the voyage. In Darwin, he decides to settle ashore and get a job where he gets a bit of perspective and decides to continue (after a good dose of parent pressure, and a contract to National Geographic magazine). But he still questions the voyage and at some points gets Crowhurst-esque urges to abandon the ship.

It is a very rewarding read because of the tension between his first love for a girl and his love for sailing. He questions the whole voyage’s reason throughout the book, and shows that a 17 year old can be very grown up emotionally. He is not a half bad sailor either. Losing the mast twice, he manages to jury rig and get back to port without any external assistance. Ofcourse, he was navigating by the stars and had no GPS. Quite an achievement for a young lad.

It prompted me to get the film too, which although it twists the story quite a bit. The acting is a bit flat, but still, it is a good watch if you like seeing sailing boats under canvas in heavy conditions. It must have cost a fortune to film as the yacht is in location in many of the places he went to, including Gutan Lock in the Panama Canal. Well worth it.