Across Three Oceans By Conor OBrien

Conor OBrien ☆ 4 Free read

Most small-boat voyagers sail westward, taking advantage of the prevailing winds. Conor O'Brien chose to sail round the world in the opposite direction: 'I think I should die of boredom if I had to run 5,000 miles in the Trades.'

On 20 June 1923, he left Dublin in the 20-ton Saoirse with a crew of two and crossed the Atlantic to Pernambuco in Brazil, then on to Durban and across the Indian Ocean to Melbourne. On the homeward passage, he steered from Auckland to Cape Horn and spent Christmas 1924 in the Falklands, which he describes in lively detail.

For the three stages of this remarkable trip O'Brien was awarded the Challenge Cup of the royal Cruising club three times in succession.

As a sailor, I am fascinated by his descriptions of planning and experiences from 100 years ago that are so vastly different from what one sees today. It was truly an adventure to set out to the unknown back then. Today, crossing an ocean is ho-hum and circumnavigations are common. Yet, the weather patterns are distinctly different and the quantity of marine life encountered is palpably less. It's curious that he doesn't talk about his crew much, as crew can make or break a voyage. He was a trail blazer and this book inspired many to follow in his wake. Across Three Oceans This is definitely a book for sailing enthusiasts. After the first quarter I realized I was simply going to have to Skip chunks of the book, as no rapid flipping between diagrams and google assist was ever going to get me familiar enough with sails and what they do to understand what he was saying. But I greatly enjoyed his descriptions of people, places and weather. Across Three Oceans