TryGOLD- Free

Sailing Without an Engine
Yachting World|December 2016

You’re more likely to see a seagull smoking a cigar than a solo skipper sailing without an engine these days, but for martin o’scannall, removing the engine from his yacht was the beginning of an even more beautiful friendship with the sea

Sailing Without an Engine

For the Love of Sauntress – a Forty-year Affair  published as recently as 2014 by the ever-creative Lodestar Books tells the story of Martin O’Scannall’s life with a notably beautiful gaff cutter, mainly on England’s East Anglian coast. The book is exquisitely written, and one can only imagine Dick Wynne at Lodestar rubbing his hands in delight when it came his way. In his own unique way, O’Scannall shows us how a man ready to listen to lessons taught in the classroom of the creeks and the open sea can learn as much about himself as he can the way of a sailing boat on salt water. These two extracts reveal the dramatic personal results of the radical decision to scrap a perfectly good engine and let his old yacht live again. While entertaining delightfully, he quietly slips us some priceless hints about how to manoeuvre under sail in tight waters while sharing the secrets of discovering that self-reliance which is the ultimate hallmark of the sailor.

At long last comes that moment when you stop sawing, hoover out the shavings and start on the paint and the varnish. That final touch before the season starts.

And for those who say that varnish is too much trouble, or that paint is too much trouble, or that wooden boats are too much trouble, well each to his own. But you cannot help wondering just what else might be too much trouble, the things which not only beautify your boat but on which her safety relies.

Having applied the last lick of varnish, cleaned your brushes and tidied all away, you now have to get out of the impossible ditch that is Toosey Creek, at the top of the tide; and this, as the denizens of the yard know all too well, is the moment for some good clean fun.

This story is from the December 2016 edition of Yachting World.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the December 2016 edition of Yachting World.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM YACHTING WORLDView All
RAPID EVOLUTION
Yachting World

RAPID EVOLUTION

A CRUISING CATAMARAN OFFERINGBETTER HANDLING, MORE SPEEDAND SAFER PASSAGE-MAKING – WITHOUT THE COMPLICATIONS OFDAGGERBOARDS?

time-read
9 mins  |
February 2025
MARGIN OF ERROR
Yachting World

MARGIN OF ERROR

KNOCKED DOWN, BECALMED, GROUNDED, AND LOST, GRAHAM COX'S ATTEMPT TO SAIL FROM AUSTRALIA TO NEW ZEALAND IN A 24-FOOTER ENDS IN NEAR DISASTER

time-read
8 mins  |
February 2025
TRIBAL QUEST
Yachting World

TRIBAL QUEST

IT WAS THE DREAM OF A LIFETIME FOR JAMES ASHWELL TO SAIL TO THE REMOTE ISLANDS OF VANUATU, THE SOLOMON ISLANDS AND PAPUA NEW GUINEA

time-read
10+ mins  |
February 2025
CHASED BY MONSTERS
Yachting World

CHASED BY MONSTERS

THE SOLO VENDÉE GLOBE SAILORS ARE NOW TRAVELLING SO FAST THEY CAN TRY TO OUTRUN MOTHER NATURE. HELEN FRETTER FINDS OUT WHAT IT TAKES TO CIRCLE THE WORLD AT MACH SPEED

time-read
10+ mins  |
February 2025
DALMATIAN DREAMS
Yachting World

DALMATIAN DREAMS

TOBY HODGES AND FAMILY FIND PLENTY OF SURPRISES AS THEY CHARTER A NEW SUNSAIL MODEL FROM THE FAMED OLD CROATIAN CITY OF DUBROVNIK

time-read
8 mins  |
February 2025
ICE 66 RS
Yachting World

ICE 66 RS

ICE HAS LITERALLY RAISED THE ROOF WITH ITS LATEST DESIGN, THANKS TO AN ENCOURAGING PAIRING OF FARR AND ITALIAN DESIGN

time-read
4 mins  |
February 2025
MATTHEW SHEAHAN
Yachting World

MATTHEW SHEAHAN

SOMETIMES YOU DON'T NEED TO ADOPT EVERY TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCE TO STAY AT THE FRONT, AS THE IMOCA CLASS IS PROVING

time-read
3 mins  |
February 2025
SPECIAL REPORT
Yachting World

SPECIAL REPORT

ELAINE BUNTING ON TRANSATLANTIC MULTIHULLS

time-read
8 mins  |
February 2025
NIKKI HENDERSON
Yachting World

NIKKI HENDERSON

WHY SAIL OFFSHORE? OFTEN IT'S TO MAGNIFY YOUR LIFE. THE BIGGER QUESTION IS, WILL YOU LIKE WHAT YOU SEE?

time-read
3 mins  |
February 2025
INDIAN OCEAN JEWELS
Yachting World

INDIAN OCEAN JEWELS

WILDLY DIVERGENT SAILING AND CULTURAL EXPERIENCES CHALLENGE AND DELIGHT SASKIA STAINER-HUTCHINS AS SHE ISLAND-HOPS ACROSS THE VAST INDIAN OCEAN

time-read
10+ mins  |
February 2025

We use cookies to provide and improve our services. By using our site, you consent to cookies. Learn more