JOHANNA VON AMRUM / Willem Ruempler

40 years ago, Hamburg architect Volkwin Marg acquired the decommissioned Danish cargo ship ACTIV. Over several years, the lover of historic shipbuilding restored the wooden ship, which was launched in 1951 at the Ring Andersen shipyard in Svendborg.To date, the 3-masted topsail schooner ACTIV has travelled well over 400,000 nautical miles under sail. Marg talks about the people who accompanied him on board and also about encounters with friends, artists and colleagues in search of cultural and historical destinations. The book provides numerous insights into life on board the ACTIV, proving that there is no shortage of imaginative fun and a consistently great galley.The illustrated book is the chronicle of a great project that is unrivalled in this form.336 pages with 54 black and white and 455 colour photos, six maps, five drawings and plans, format 28 x 30 cm, hardcover, with ribbon marker. German edition.

One boat, 14 months, almost 10,000 kilometres, and nothing goes as planned.The twin brothers Hansen and Paul Hoepner, born in 1982, are once again on a great adventure, but once again with special challenges. They are venturing into largely unknown territory on the water and are also travelling through Europe in a CO2-neutral way. In view of the impending climate catastrophe, they are using sustainable self-made energy sources on the roof of the ship.However, thousands of emission-free kilometres in their self-converted motor sailer across the Danube, along the Black Sea coast, through the Mediterranean and along Western European rivers back to Germany are not adventure enough. Unlike before, the twin brothers are undertaking the journey in a completely new constellation. Paul's partner, social pedagogue Anna König, is part of the adventure crew. She researches sustainable and educational initiatives that the team visits throughout Europe on their route. Paul and Anna's daughter Momo and Ronny, Hansen's dog mix rescued from Ukraine, are also part of the team.A sustainable family adventure across Europe.You can find a reading sample further down the page under "Downloads & Information".400 pages, 4 colour illustrations, format 13.5 x 21.5 cm, paperback.

"The pioneering spirit, the firm belief in the laws of nature and the humility towards the sea characterise the greatness of Joshua Slocum and the significance of 'Sailing alone around the World'. This story full of salt and wind is a legacy to sailors who, like him, sail the oceans," writes Wilfried Erdmann in the foreword.As the first German single-handed circumnavigator, Erdmann can empathise with Joshua Slocum's merit and sailing achievements like no other.From 1895 to 1898, Joshua Slocum was the first person to sail solo around the world and thus became a role model for numerous subsequent solo sailors. In his account of this unique voyage, Slocum not only tells of the challenges that the ocean presented to captain and ship, but also of the poetry of life on the high seas. The matter-of-factness of the logbook writer is transformed in an inimitable way into raptures about the immensity of nature. The descriptions of the adversities against which his ship SPRAY has to fight are often not without a certain humour.For the first time, German-speaking readers are presented with the graphics from the original American edition from 1900. Manfred Braun, himself an enthusiastic sailor and a specialist in shipping topics, has retranslated the text from the American edition. Notes and a glossary also make it easier for modern amateur sailors to familiarise themselves with sailing at the end of the 19th century.280 pages, 68 illustrations and graphics, format 13.5 x 20 cm, hardcover, dust jacket. German edition.

What drives people to embark on a journey across the open sea completely alone? In order to find an answer to this question, Richard J. King looks at a number of unconventional personalities in "The History of Singlehanded Sailing". They dared to conquer the oceans completely on their own, often in tiny ships, befriended birds, named their equipment, crossed geographical, physical and mental boundaries and often disappeared forever.King spans an arc from Joshua Slocum, who from 1895 was the first known solo sailor to circumnavigate the world with the simplest of means, to Sharon Sites Adams, who in the 1960s, shortly after setting foot on a sailing boat for the first time, crossed the Pacific accompanied only by her turtle. And last but not least, the gripping account of his own crossing of the Atlantic, which almost came to a fatal end.Richard J. King graduated from the University of St. Andrews with a PhD in Marine Literature and Creative Writing. He is currently a Professor of Maritime History and Literature at the SEA Education Association in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. He has sailed the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans for 30 years, crossing the latter solo on an 8.7 meter sailboat in 2007.Translated from American English by Rudolf Mast. Born in 1958, Mast was a sailing instructor and sailmaker before studying theater studies and philosophy in Berlin. He now works there as a theater scholar, editor and translator.You can find a reading sample under "Downloads".496 pages, numerous illustrations, format 15 x 22 cm, hardcover with dust jacket and ribbon marker. German edition.

The writer, scriptwriter and Contender World Champion Jan von der Bank ("Backe") has fulfilled a dream. In 3650 hours of construction, he built his own boat out of plywood, epoxy resin and mahogany veneer in the tiny garage yard next to his house.The illustrated book with bilingual text documents all the construction steps in the creation of the unique retro racer "RÉMY": from the erection of the first frames in February 2017, to the finishing, veneering and painting of the hull, the interior fitting of the cabin, the casting and installation of the keel, rigging of the mast, to the christening and the first successful sail off Kiel in June 2022.The short texts also open up a very personal view of the intensive and at times adventurous building period, which, apart from the joy of the craft and the final result of the special yacht, also gave the author many new friendships and some surprising insights into himself.100 pages, numerous colour pictures, text in German/English throughout, hardcover.

It is a small sea. Is the Baltic Sea a real sea? Is it even wild and dangerous? Yes. Olaf Kanter has explored it in a small sailing boat. He tells of a once and newly divided sea. Of a rich sea. The short distances from coast to coast were and are used intensively for trade and exchange. He describes a sea that is dead in parts. As in RANDMEER about the North Sea, Olaf Kanter reports in BINNENMEER about what the Baltic Sea was and what it is. He repeatedly intersperses personal memories - from an extended private cruise with his sailing yacht on the Baltic Sea.In the appendix, the book contains specific and special tips and links to destinations. QR codes take you further. Maps provide orientation.Olaf Kanter is a journalist and sailor. He studied English and geosciences. After working for the daily newspaper ‘WELT’ and the marine magazine ‘mare’, he joined SPIEGEL ONLINE's politics department in 2008. He has been in charge of the SPIEGEL news website since 2017. He has been sailing since his school days, circumnavigated the southern part of the Baltic Sea in his 8.70 metre coastal cruiser BIJOU in 2016 and is now the owner of a classic wooden boat.142 pages, with photographs, maps and four-colour illustrations, hardcover with ribbon marker, size 15 x 21.5 cm.European essays on nature and landscape (EENL)In its EENL series, Hamburg-based Klaas Jarchow Media Buchverlag (KJM) brings together texts by authors on landscapes and natural phenomena in Germany and Europe. The edition is intended to create an up-to-date European library of landscapes and natural phenomena. A wide variety of landscapes are described in their peculiarities. The authors have free rein, their personal approach to the respective landscape determines and guides the text. They are free to choose their focus, be it geological history, biology, politics or poetry.The high-quality and lovingly designed books in the European essays on nature and landscape series are printed by the Austrian printing company Gugler to the highest possible sustainable and health-friendly standard. Only materials that are harmless to humans, animals and the environment are used for climate-positive production.

Boatlife - Exploring the Freedom of Maritime LivingBoatlife is nomadic living on the water.More and more people are swapping their city flat for the functional cosiness of a boat cabin. They move onto their sailing yacht and experience travelling, working and living, carried by the waves.The journalist Katharina Charpian, herself a Liveaboard with a trip to northern Norway in her wake and now travelling in southern Europe, tells the stories of 27 boatlifers, from solo travellers to sailing families.They are all united by their enthusiasm for the freedom to sail wherever the wind blows them. Whether sailing on the Baltic Sea or crossing the Atlantic, new landscapes and cultures with their very own charms are always beckoning.With its texts, impressive photos and illustrated maps, this inspiring book conveys what life on the water feels like. It is also very suitable for kindling a longing for a different everyday life.256 pages, 22.5 x 29 x 2.7 cm, hardcover, thread-bound. English edition (Art-No. 9054-002).The book is also available in German. BOATLIFE - Leben und Freiheit auf dem Wasser (Art-No. 9054-001).

Volker Pesch sets off alone in a Zeesboot to explore the unique Bodden and Haffe - these shallow waters behind the coast of the Baltic Sea.The course of the trip through the Bodden chain from Dierhagen on the Saaler Bodden, through the Strelasund, into the Greifswalder Bodden, up the Peenestrom and to the Polish harbors on the Oderhaff is the central theme of his atmospheric essay. It also deals with the birdlife, the history, the biotope and the light above the water. It is also a declaration of love for the original, simple sailing of a wooden boat without any technical frills.When Volker Pesch realizes that he likes the smell of kerosene when lighting the stove on board in the evening, he reminisces about a "chandler for old ships. He then stocks tow and pitch for caulking the planks, linseed oil and root tar for preservation, braided hemp ropes, wooden blocks and jufferns for bracing the masts. And heavy boatbuilding tools, navigation lights, stoves, lamps, cast-iron ship's toilets - in short, everything that makes my heart happy."In the appendix, the book contains specific and special tips and links to destinations. QR codes take you further. A map makes it easy to follow the course of the trip.After studying political science, history and philosophy, Volker Pesch moved from Cologne to Greifswald in the mid-1990s as a research assistant. After gaining his doctorate and a permanent position as a civil servant, he left the university circus and opened a sailing school on the Greifswalder Bodden, chartered sailing yachts and helped build up a maritime youth hotel. He then became a copywriter and designer with his own agency and time for sailing. Among other things, Volker Pesch was the owner and skipper of the traditional ship NORDWIND, co-founder of the Greifswald museum shipyard and chairman of the Greifswald museum harbor. He continues to write to this day: articles for newspapers and magazines, crime novels, short stories and non-fiction books.144 pages, with photographs, maps and other illustrations, hardcover with ribbon marker, size 15 x 21.5 cm.European essays on nature and landscape (EENL)In its EENL series, Hamburg-based Klaas Jarchow Media Buchverlag (KJM) collects authors' texts on landscapes and natural phenomena in Germany and Europe. The edition is intended to create an up-to-date European library of landscapes and natural phenomena. Various landscapes are described in their peculiarity. The authors have free rein, their personal approach to the respective landscape determines and guides the text. They are free to choose their focus, be it geological history, biology, politics or poetry.The very high-quality and lovingly designed books in the European essays on nature and landscape series are printed by the Austrian printing company Gugler to the highest possible sustainable and health-friendly standard. Only materials that are harmless to humans, animals and the environment are used for climate-positive production.

An illustrated book worth seeing about a somewhat different trip to the Caribbean.Photographer Niklas and his skipper Joscha set off from Germany on an adventurous 10,000 nautical mile journey: via Norway, the Shetland Islands and the Faroe Islands, past Iceland and Greenland, along the east coast of Canada and the USA.On their route across the North Atlantic, they experience freezing cold, storms with spray that hits their faces and waves that inspire awe.But when they drop anchor somewhere in the middle of nowhere, they are rewarded for their hardships: with wild archipelagos, imposing glaciers and nature that is there just for them.A book that makes you want to explore the rugged North Atlantic.Sustainability was emphasised in the printing and packaging. The book was printed on recycled paper using environmentally friendly inks at the Siepmann print shop, the first Hamburg print shop to be awarded the Blue Angel in 2020. The printing presses are powered by green electricity.Texts by Laslo Seyda in German and English throughout.248 pages, format 21 x 26 cm, 1.3 kg, richly illustrated, hardcover, shrink-wrapped in recyclable film.

In January 1742, a warped sailing boat washes up on the coast of Brazil. On board were 30 men, the only survivors of the royal conquest ship THE WAGER, which had been wrecked in a storm. Six months later, three shipwrecked men land on the coast of Chile and claim that the 30 men were mutineers who had disobeyed royal orders and committed ruthless murder.Who is lying, who is telling the truth? A British court martial is to decide. It's a matter of life or death.David Grann uses archive material from a historical criminal case to spin a tale as gripping and atmospherically dense as a first-class adventure novel. Guilt and innocence, loyalty and betrayal are closely intertwined, and in the end a shocking truth comes to light. The Spectator praises: ‘The greatest sea story ever told.’David Grann, born in 1967, is an award-winning journalist and non-fiction author. His book ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ was made into a film by and with Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio, who also secured the rights to ‘The Wager’. The book was number one on the New York Times bestseller list for weeks, made it onto Barack Obama's Summer Reading List and, in the German translation by Rudolf Mast, onto the Spiegel bestseller list.You can find a reading sample further down the page under "Downloads & Information".432 pages, with maps and colour illustrations, format 13.5 x 21.5 cm, hardback with dust jacket. German edition.

The classic of ocean sailing: Bernard Moitessier abandoned the first non-stop single-handed race around the world in 1969 shortly before the finish and disappeared into the South Seas for years.Moitessier was considered the likely winner of the well-paid 1968 Sunday Times Golden Globe Yacht Race when, after rounding the third of the great capes (Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin and Cape Horn) in the Atlantic, he turned away to "save his soul". Renouncing fame and the cash prize, he cemented his legendary reputation as a philosopher among circumnavigators and coined statements such as: "A long ocean voyage is the shortest way to yourself."At the time, however, the whole world initially shook its head in disbelief when the Frenchman sailed to the solitude of the Tahitian Islands instead of the English harbour. His book "La longue route" (original title of the book) describes the background to his decision. In addition to vivid descriptions of the wildlife of the three great oceans, the skies over the southern hemisphere and the struggle for survival on his 39-foot yacht JOSHUA, Moitessier also provides deep insights into the world of his thoughts.With his attention to detail, depth of thought and great enthusiasm, Bernard Moitessier still captivates every sailing enthusiast today.50 years after the legendary Golden Globe Race in 1968/69, which Sir Robin Knox-Johnston won as the first non-stop single-handed circumnavigator (and only finisher), the Golden Globe Race 2018 and La Longue Route 2018 are two commemorative round-the-world races for single-handed sailors. The Golden Globe Race 2022/23 was won by South African Kirsten Neuschäfer.272 pages, 30 photos, 7 maps, 41 drawings, format 13.5 x 21.5 cm, paperback. German edition.

Sailing adventures, espionage and German resistance. Piece by piece, the young sailmaker Ole Storm unravels the mystery of an ominous sailing trip that leads northwards from Kiel on the classic route via Anholt to the Swedish archipelago.Thrilling sailing manoeuvres and high tension are guaranteed when screenwriter, sailing world champion and amateur boat builder Jan von der Bank tells this story.Modern sailing classic in sixth, newly edited edition.371 pages, format 14.4 x 20.7 cm, paperback. German edition.

Clemens Richter's second FIRECREST book tells the story of an ocean voyage without electronic aids, which he undertook with his girlfriend on his classic, self-built gaff cutter.On their journey of slowness, they discovered marvellous shores, experienced friendships, extravagant and bizarre characters and adventurous encounters during the great Atlantic tour.A lovingly designed work that can be counted among the modern classics.456 pages, format 16.8 x 23.6 cm, numerous drawings, colour illustrations and map, hardcover with dust jacket. German edition.

New edition of Clemens Richter's first book, published in 1989, which has since become a classic.It tells the story of a very special summer of sailing in the Danish South Sea. Richter sails his courses away from the major yacht centres. There he learns that the great adventure does not just begin behind Gibraltar.Along the way, the book develops into a handbook that also encourages less experienced sailors to leave the well-trodden afternoon routes between the marinas.260 pages, format 15 x 21 cm, colour map, numerous drawings (also by the author), paperback.

FISH'N'SHIPS. A summer of sailing around England and Scotland.Photographer and Baltic Sea sailor Christian Irrgang is embarking on a new sailing adventure in the summer of 2022. He will take just under five months to sail his OBLOMOW from the Baltic Sea around England and Scotland.Sometimes as a solo sailor, sometimes with friends, he explores the British waters. From the Thames upwards, his sailing trip runs along England's south coast. He visits the Isles of Scilly with its Caribbean flair and then sets off in the direction of Dublin and Belfast through the stormy Irish Sea. His voyage takes him all the way to Scotland, and on the way back he just escapes a storm in the North Sea - just one of many challenges on this trip!The travelogue from on board the OBLOMOW describes and shows in impressive photos the fascinating, unique British coasts, currents and tides. Cream tea in Cornwall and nights in rustic pubs were just as much a part of the 2,800-mile trip as small sleepy coastal villages, lively big cities and plenty of interesting encounters on the sandy beaches of the Isles of Scilly to Loch Ness.A book that makes you want to go on an extended trip to Great Britain!144 pages, 135 photos and illustrations, 21.3 x 24.0 cm, paperback with flaps.German edition.

The title is being discontinued by the publisher - therefore now at a special price!A man and his boat: a great love.Daredevil manoeuvres, energy-sapping crossings, accompanied by rough gusts and violent adrenaline rushes. Leaning. Splashing water. Rocking in the swell. Breaking cloud cover or a downpour out of the blue just before docking: hardly a sailing day passes without surprises.But isn't the real adventure to drink the first sip of coffee in the morning sun to the twittering of birds and the cry of seagulls, to let your gaze wander over the shore of the anchorage and to know that you have only reached this dreamlike place through your own skill and on your own keel?Both aspects - spectacular sailing and deep enjoyment - can be experienced particularly intensively on a small, unpretentious boat. A Folkeboat, as we have known for 75 years, is perfect for this.How great moments of happiness can be, how deep the love for the boat, for the sea, for sailing, has been experienced by Nicolas Thon since the moment he laid eyes on his PAULA - which taught him everything, also took command itself sometimes, never bitched excessively and showed him: When the spare canister flies through the cockpit, there is clearly too much wind!224 pages, numerous photos. Format 23,1 x 15,4 cm. Paperback. German edition.

With this bestseller, the award-winning science editor of the New York Times Dava Sobel founded a completely new, extremely successful form of popular science non-fiction."The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time" tells the story of the Scottish watchmaker John Harrison. He sets himself an ambitious and seemingly impossible goal at the beginning of the 18th century: to devise a method that would allow sailors to determine the exact longitude of their position at sea.For over forty years, Harrison worked obsessively on the production of a perfect chronometer. Finally, the ingenious mechanic experiences an unprecedented triumph - despite resentment and numerous hostilities.Translated into German by Matthias Fienbork.208 pages, format 12.2 x 18 cm, paperback.

James Wharram's life changed forever when, in his early twenties, he saw Thor Heyerdahl's film about the Kon-Tiki voyage and came across a book about Polynesian double canoe sailboats in Manchester Central Library.He decided to refute Heyerdahl's claim that Polynesia could only have been settled from South America and not from Southeast Asia, which would have required a more sophisticated vessel than a balsa wood raft.He devoted his working life to demonstrating the seaworthiness, windward capability and practicality of the Polynesian double canoe form, and probably sailed more nautical miles in boats of this design - all of his own design - than any other man.For sixty-five years James Wharram designed, built and sailed boats in the shape of Polynesian double canoes, demonstrating with them that the sea, far from being a barrier between islands, was their artery of communication. Long before Western man "discovered" them, the "People of the Sea", as many inhabitants of the South Pacific islands called themselves, had a vibrant, socially highly developed culture in which water travel played an essential role.Inspired by James Wharram's lifelong creativity and spirit of discovery, many modern "People of the Sea" sail all seas in boats they built themselves from Wharram's designs.James and his team's ocean voyages culminated in their circumnavigation of the globe on the 63-foot Spirit of Gaia, exploring the lands and cultures of their spiritual homeland, the Polynesian Islands.James Wharram died in December 2021 at the age of 93.2nd revised edition. 272 pp. Colour plates, numerous black and white photographs, drawings and diagrams, bibliography, index. Format 15.6 x 21.6 cm, softcover with thread stitching, cover flaps and matt lamination. In English.

Anyone looking out over the North Sea from Helgoland would never think that it wasn't there. But ten thousand years ago, you could walk from here to England. The sea was 100 metres deeper than it is today. In his essay on the marginal sea of the Atlantic, Olaf Kanter reports on the landscapes that were submerged. 8,400 years ago, a tsunami flooded the settlement of Doggerland and the water continued to rise. Today it stands 13 metres high above what was once inhabited. Kanter repeatedly intersperses his story of the sea and its landscapes with personal memories. From private sailing trips or his reporting assignments, for example on an oil rig or on board a submarine.In the appendix, the book contains specific and special tips and links to destinations. QR codes take you further. Maps provide orientation.Olaf Kanter is a journalist and sailor. He studied English and geosciences. After working for the daily newspaper ‘WELT’ and the marine magazine ‘mare’, he joined SPIEGEL ONLINE's politics department in 2008. He has been in charge of the SPIEGEL news website since 2017. He has been sailing since his school days, circumnavigated the southern part of the Baltic Sea in his 8.70 metre coastal cruiser BIJOU in 2016 and is now the owner of a classic wooden boat.142 pages, with photographs, maps and four-colour illustrations, hardcover with ribbon marker, size 15 x 21.5 cm.European essays on nature and landscape (EENL)In its EENL series, Hamburg-based Klaas Jarchow Media Buchverlag (KJM) brings together texts by authors on landscapes and natural phenomena in Germany and Europe. The edition is intended to create an up-to-date European library of landscapes and natural phenomena. A wide variety of landscapes are described in their peculiarities. The authors have free rein, their personal approach to the respective landscape determines and guides the text. They are free to choose their focus, be it geological history, biology, politics or poetry.The high-quality and lovingly designed books in the European essays on nature and landscape series are printed by the Austrian printing company Gugler to the highest possible sustainable and health-friendly standard. Only materials that are harmless to humans, animals and the environment are used for climate-positive production.

The filmmaker Tom Nitsch provides a kind of "logbook" full of moments, sequences and encounters from his films from "LA NIOULARGUE" to "TRACKS OF BORKUMRIFF IV".The result is a contemporary document of the period from the renaissance of classic yachts to the construction of the first superyachts at the end of the 20th century. Nitsch's photos and stills taken from his films visually express the beauty of the yachts in combination with light, wind and waves.In terms of content, the focus is not only on the respective film but also on the associated themes and thoughts of the sailors. Of course, personal memories of these times are also included - quintessential works such as "Functional Arts" by the US American Lance Lee and "Joy & Beauty" by the Finn Esko Kilpi in reference to these cultural assets.216 pages, numerous colour photos, 30 x 30 cm, hardcover. The texts are in English and German throughout.

The title is being discontinued by the publisher - so now at a special price! Five young people sail around the world in a catamaran with a changing crew. Many photos and original diary entries by the young crew illustrate the journey, about which the channel arte has produced a 15-part series. This "adventure holiday" pursues a mission: to search for, test, improve and rebuild low-tech products all over the world and use them to live in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way.Corentin de Chatelperron, engineer for "green solutions" and builder of a boat in which glass fibres have been replaced by natural fibres, describes low-tech ideas and inventors from all over the world.He and his fellow campaigners pass on the knowledge they have gained - not only during their journey, but also in cooperation with NGOs, which use it to help refugee camps or crisis regions to help themselves, for example.Instructions for special low-tech solutions and additional QR codes for detailed instructions and films make the title a practical handbook.240 pages, 288 illustrations and photos, format 21 x 24 cm, paperback. German edition.

The last book by Bernard Moitessier.The unconventional autobiography of the philosopher among single-handed sailors in German translation for the first time."In his autobiography, Bernard Moitessier takes very personal stock of a truly eventful life. Tamata is much more than sailing. It is the story of an unusual, lived dream. In short, an explanation of why this 'vagabond of the seas' has become a great sailing legend. Tamata is a book for Moitessier lovers and long-distance sailors. It answers the questions of all those who dream of the horizon of the South Seas and life under palm trees." So writes the German circumnavigator Wilfried Erdmann in his foreword to TAMATA - Memories of a Sailor.524 pages, 18 illustrations and 37 photos, format 13 x 20 cm, hardcover, dust jacket. German edition.

Roger Barnes believes that small boats are the perfect way to access remote, beautiful places.The Brit, who was featured in the 01/2024 issue of "Yacht Classic" magazine, among others, has been sailing for years with a minimum of equipment in an open dinghy, even in such challenging waters as Brittany. His aim is to integrate sailing into everyday life without making a fuss about it, because "one of the surest routes to satisfaction in life is a small boat, a favourable wind and a new coast to explore".The book, which is now available in a second, revised edition, has long been regarded as the standard work on cruising in a simple dinghy. The information and advice are interwoven with wonderfully vivid stories about the author's adventures on the water. They range from idyllic weeks on remote rivers and along the coast to hair-raising journeys to remote islands.For this new edition, an account of the author's first capsize, new material on electronics and clothing, and more information on boat designs have been added.Topics covered in the guide are: the search for a good boatequipment for day tripsboat technique under engine and rudderMooring and anchoringPreparing for open waternavigation on open seasmaintaining a dinghycomfort and safetyHere you will learn that dinghy sailing is a wonderful way to experience nature and new coastlines at close quarters and at low cost. Sailing where bigger boats can't go and sleeping under canvas on board or ashore - it's boating stripped down to the essentials, and all the better for it. 272 pages, with inspiring colour photos and helpful illustrations throughout, 17x24 cm, paperback, Adlard Coles Nautical London. In English.

Storms and failing winds, fog and inhospitable coasts, illnesses and accidents. The sea voyages of the past lasted a long time and were dangerous in many ways. Sailors who returned home were by no means always unharmed, either physically or mentally.Viet, 14 years old, is now at the age when ship's boys go on their first big voyage. In 1862, the barque COMET set sail from Blankenese on Viet's first voyage. Through the English Channel and across the Atlantic to South America. Life on board is extremely hard for the boy. One sailor turns out to be a violent criminal and murderer, others are alcoholics or sexually ill, infected with yellow fever or driven by special sexual inclinations.Not all of those who set sail from Hamburg reach the South American coast on the COMET. Viet survives and sets off in search of his uncle, who has long been missing off Chile. It is not until five years later that he returns home. 192 pages. Format 14.1 x 20.8 cm, hardcover. German edition.