HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Loading...

Once is enough (1959)

by Miles Smeeton

Other authors: See the other authors section.

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
675391,738 (4.05)2
This timeless classic is an exciting true story of survival against all odds. 'There was a sudden sickening sense of disaster. I felt a great lurch and heel, and a thunder of sound filled my ears. I was conscious, in a terrified moment, of being driven into the front and side of my bunk with tremendous force. At the same time there was a tearing cracking sound, as if Tzu Hang was being ripped apart, and water burst solidly, raging into the cabin. There was darkness, black boards, and I fought wildly to get out, thinking Tzu Hang had already gone. Then suddenly I was standing again, waist deep in water, and floorboards and cushions, mattresses and books were sloshing in wild confusion round me.' Miles Smeeton and his wife Beryl sailed their 46-ft Bermuda ketch, Tzu Hang, in the wild seas of Cape Horn, following the tracks of the old sailing clippers through the world's most notorious waters. This is an exciting true story of survival against all odds, but it is also a thoughtful book which provides hard-learned lessons for other intrepid sailors. As Nevil Shute writes in his foreword: 'It has been left to Miles Smeeton to tell us in clear and simple language just where the limits of safety lie.'… (more)
  1. 00
    High endeavours : the life and endeavours of Miles and Beryl Smeeton by Miles Clark (Figgles)
    Figgles: If you've read Once is Enough, you need to read High Endeavours (and vice versa!). The Smeeton's famous dismastings when attempting to round Cape Horn in their yacht Tzu Hang are only one tiny part of amazing adventurous lives, begun together in British India, climing, travelling, sailing and finishing as conservationists in Canada. Read and be inspired!… (more)
  2. 00
    Passage east by Carleton Mitchell (John_Vaughan)
None
Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 2 mentions

Showing 5 of 5
Excellent true story by an excellent writer. A great description of sailing in the southern ocean.
  David-Block | Sep 15, 2023 |
One of the great classics of cruising sailing literature. I purchased a copy after re-reading the Smeeton's biography "High Endeavours" (which I originally came to through reading "Once is Enough" many years ago). Told in Miles Smeetons dryly humerous and friendly prose it's the story of how, in 1957, he and his wife Beryl tried twice to sail their yacht Tzu Hang around Cape Horn and both times met with disaster. It's also the story of how people pushed to the very edge can fight back and survive (through their own spirit, skills and with a modicum of luck). It's is also a story of the kindness of strangers and how connections made many years previously can come to our aid when we need them. A classic for a reason!
A couple of footnotes -
In recent years scientific study has shown that freak waves, many times larger than those around them, and previously thought to be the invention of tall tale telling sailors, are a real thing. Read Beryl's description of the first wave that toppled them and then do some reading on freak waves...)
The Smeetons did eventually make it around the Horn in Tzu Hang, in 1968, sailing the "wrong way", from East to West.
If you want to see some of John Guzzwell's footage during the first attempt see here: https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/video/cape-horn-sailing-round-the-horn-195... (the patronising description of Beryl is awful but the footage is great) ( )
  Figgles | Apr 23, 2019 |
An interesting account of a husband-and-wife team that takes a yacht down into the Southern Ocean and gets rolled over/somersaulted by a huge wave....on 2 separate occasions. The understated British narration keeps things from getting too exciting, but it's an intriguing story for nautical types nonetheless. Seems like a warning designed for the small yachstman considering venturing far south. ( )
  caimanjosh | Feb 26, 2018 |
Incredible story of three hardy, incredible characters and their sailing adventures in the Southern Seas. ( )
  jvgravy | Jul 24, 2015 |
Classic account of yachting adventure in the 1950s. Miles and Beryl Smeeton, attempting to follow the track of the old grain ships from Australia to England via Cape Horn in their ketch Tzu Hang, are twice caught in storms in the Southern Ocean, capsized, dismasted, and forced to make for the coast of Chile. With the help of large quantities of colonial-era stiff upper lip, resourceful improvisation, seamanship, and sheer physical and mental toughness, they make it both times. Smeeton's account of the dangers they faced is rather understated by modern standards, but it's easy enough to read between the lines and get a sense of how difficult it would have been for any normal person to stay calm and carry out a rational survival plan under such circumstances. Of course, the Smeetons weren't exactly unused to danger. After climbing in the Himalayas and war service in the Western Desert and Burma, finding yourself in a disabled, waterlogged small boat 800 miles from the nearest land might seem like a walk in the park. Possibly... ( )
1 vote thorold | May 28, 2014 |
Showing 5 of 5
no reviews | add a review

» Add other authors (2 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Miles Smeetonprimary authorall editionscalculated
Shute, NevilForewordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

Belongs to Publisher Series

You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
[None]
Dedication
TO BERYL
For she was cook and captain bold,
And the mate of the Nancy brig
First words
Some years ago I had an afternoon to spare in Vancouver, so I went down to the yacht harbour to see what sort of vessels Canadian yachtsmen use.

Introduction, by Nevil Shute.
The crowd still thronged the Spencer Street bridge when Clio and I came back from the Olympic Games.

Chapter 1.
Quotations
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
First published 1959; first published in the Mariners Library 1960.
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (2)

This timeless classic is an exciting true story of survival against all odds. 'There was a sudden sickening sense of disaster. I felt a great lurch and heel, and a thunder of sound filled my ears. I was conscious, in a terrified moment, of being driven into the front and side of my bunk with tremendous force. At the same time there was a tearing cracking sound, as if Tzu Hang was being ripped apart, and water burst solidly, raging into the cabin. There was darkness, black boards, and I fought wildly to get out, thinking Tzu Hang had already gone. Then suddenly I was standing again, waist deep in water, and floorboards and cushions, mattresses and books were sloshing in wild confusion round me.' Miles Smeeton and his wife Beryl sailed their 46-ft Bermuda ketch, Tzu Hang, in the wild seas of Cape Horn, following the tracks of the old sailing clippers through the world's most notorious waters. This is an exciting true story of survival against all odds, but it is also a thoughtful book which provides hard-learned lessons for other intrepid sailors. As Nevil Shute writes in his foreword: 'It has been left to Miles Smeeton to tell us in clear and simple language just where the limits of safety lie.'

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Haiku summary

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (4.05)
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5 4
4 4
4.5 1
5 2

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 203,243,151 books! | Top bar: Always visible