| Article number: | 17939 |
There’s some new and fascinating material here from the extraordinary mind of that well-known author, sailor, and former newspaper columnist, John Vigor. One glance will convince you that this is not at all your usual boating book. It’s quirky—funny in some chapters, serious in some, and quite over the top in others. And yet, as experienced boaters will realize, it’s really a book about safety at sea. This is the basic thread that runs all the way through it, supplemented with plentiful advice about how you can improve your odds of survival in various circumstances.
Some of it may not be standard advice, of course. Vigor’s famous “denaming” ceremony, for instance, doesn’t look like boating safety advice at first glance. But it is. It protects you from bad luck at sea, and sailors the world over have recognized this. The ceremony is the most-requested article on several Internet Web sites and has been translated into several foreign languages.
But Vigor’s fertile imagination doesn’t stop there. In this book he also introduces us to 19 other prayers, rituals, and ceremonies that boaters might need at some time—even the rites for burying a person at sea.
This unique collection also includes four riproaring curses you can use against other boaters or boatyard owners who charge too much. Do these curses contribute to safety at sea?
“Why yes,” says Vigor. “They let you blow off steam. They calm you down, lower your blood pressure, and allow you once again to make the rational decisions that lead to safe navigation.”
Better keep a copy on board. You never know when you’ll need a burial ceremony.
Or a good laugh.
