William Albert Robinson

This is a fantastic book. I don't know why I would assume that some "travel book" from 1936 wouldn't be good. I always assume, wrongly, that with the time divide, I will find nothing in common with the author. Surprisingly, this was a great book.

William Robinson led a high society life. He had opportunities that many from that time period never dreamed of. Reading of his yacht voyage from (I think) around New York City, through the Panama Canal, and finally to the Galapagos was fascinating. show more He writes so beautifully. His wife must have been some sort of woman for her time, as well. For someone like me who will likely never voyage to the Galapagos, I can at least share in some of this journey from another time and another place. show less

The story of an around the world sail taken in the late 1920s/1930s. The reader really feels as if he's there in many locales given the exquisite descriptions and place and people. Has me wanting to map our the route on Google Maps.

This is the best account of a circumnavigation of the world since the immortal Slocum's. ... Ever since Mr Robinson sailed his little vessel (the Svaap, a ketch, 27½ feet on the water-line) in a race to Bermuda, and on arriving announced that he hardly felt like turning back just yet, people who take an interest in that kind of sailing have been wondering what sort of a saga would one day be to tell about the Svaap's further voyaging. ... The result is an extraordinarily engaging, original, show more humane story which deserves a very much larger public than the small one of amateur sailors.

Arthur Ransome in The Manchester Guardian, 28 April 1936; reproduced in Christina Hardyment, Ransome on blue water sailing, p. 74. show less

Kevin McAsh