The Voyages of Captain Ned

The Voyages of Captain Ned follows the life of a sailing ship master. It is the life of sailor men on tramp trading ships travelling round the world, leaky old tubs and avaricious traders, remote ports and the emerging competition from steam.

It is told, in true sailor fashion, as an Ode, which remarkably grows on the reader and makes the stories, while obviously fiction and farcical, come alive in a magical way. The author spent twenty years in the Merchant Navy, and this is obvious for the Ode transports the reader through trials and tribulations of a sailor's life.

Follow Captain Ned through his problems with captain's trying to be first back with the tea, captain's conducting illicit trade, sailors shirking, no crew, harbour taverns and rotten food. The sailing comes alive and you can almost hear the creak of the timbers, the slap of the sail and the indignant squawk as the parrot loses another feather.

If you have an interest in sailing ships, then you really deserve to read this book.