One Summer's Grace: A Family Voyage Round Britain

Libby Purves likes doing things. Long walks, sailing boats, travel, adventure. She also likes her five year old and three year old child. So as it would clearly be harsh to expect them to cope without Mummy for two months, she decides to sail a yacht round the British Isles with her husband and both kids.

It's a lovely book for the geography of the British Isles. I recommend reading it with a good map, and savouring their epic long sails and their pottering from loch to loch. It's also a good book for remembering to live life with the weather. There are weeks they can go nowhere. There are days they sail 100 miles in a single bound.

It's also a good book for a pragmatic approach to challenges. They snip off a tiny corner with the Crinan show more canal. They do a lot of it motoring under engine. But they clearly have sailed round Britain.

I wonder if it would work nowadays? That whimmish ability to just moor up in remote corners of Scotland. I hope it still works like that, I fear it probably doesn't. It was a bit of an eye opener when I realised I was born at the same time as the kids.

Libby is very keen to tell us all how middle class she is, but it is the sort of middle class with a nanny and horses and a yacht, and there are many things they worry about on their trip, but never whether they can afford mooring fees, or the taxi to casually go inland.

It charts the family moods fairly frankly as well, they all hit the odd pockets of 'why are we doing this, it's a bad idea', and then all brush themselves down and get on with it. And are all pleased to have done it at the end. show less

An entertaining and honest description of one family's summer spent sailing around Britain. I was alternately jealous of their summer travels, and glad that I wasn't confined on the ship with them! The description of the harbours and moorings they visited will interest anyone who enjoys travel books. An enjoyable read.