In Tidal Waters

Cooke was a successful merchant banker and was eagerly looking forward to his boat yard in Essex slipping his last boat into the Thames for him when he died … at 102 years old! Cooke authored and published over thirty books on sailing, cruising and just plain yarns. Mostly set in the Thames estuary, Blackwater, Medway and Swale – my own home waters – his engaging yarns of disasters and then subsequent quiet evenings in mud berths are as enchanting as those of Griffiths (MG) and Ford. In Tidal Waters he displayed lyrical appreciation for nature, the sea and sailing people and showed his humor…
”To reach the river-bank in those days was a difficult matter, as, owing to a breach in the sea-wall, the marshes were flooded at high show more water and the tide swept rapidly across what was left of the road. As a rule we crossed the floods in an old shooting punt, but that night it was not there and I had no alternative but to remove my trousers and wade. As the road was full of holes, I had to walk delicately, but feeling my way carefully I contrived to cross in safety. I was miserably cold, however, when I arrived on board, as a handkerchief is a poor substitute for a towel.”

And his sheer joy…”she sped through the troubled water of the Rolling Ground throwing spray aft from her weather bow with a freedom that called for oilskins… but most exhilarating. The stars shone … the lighthouses cast their rays across the water … she leapt the seas like a thing of life, leaving in her trail a wake of sizzling foam.”

First published in 1883 his copyright is amazingly still in force and is not due to expire until 2044, and many of his works are only available from First Edition or Antique booksellers, more is the pity as he remains eminently readable and instructive. show less