Three Ways to Capsize a Boat: An Optimist Afloat

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Description

If you're wondering what Chris Stewart did before he and Ana moved to El Valero, their Spanish farm, here's one of the answers. He took to the sea, landing a job as skipper for the summer, sailing a Cornish Crabber around the Greek islands. It was his dream job - and there was just one tiny problem. He hadn't ever sailed before and had not the foggiest how to start. In a series of madcap and hilarious adventures we follow Chris from a shaky start in Chichester harbour to his epic Odyssey to Spetses (a bucket would have been handy), and then on to the journey of a lifetime - battening down the hatches on a trip across the North Atlantic. It's a journey crackling with Chris's zest for life, irresistible humour, and unerring lack of foresight. Dry land never looked more welcoming .

Reviews

Laugh yourself silly! Wonderful! * Books Quarterly *
Witty, self-deprecating and charming, Stewart makes wonderful company even if you do get soaked in the process. It's a book with a big heart and a great belly laugh -- Kathleen Wyatt * The Times *
A charming and lyrical read, awash with the joy of discovery...I've never read a funnier description than his detailed advice on How to Pee at Midnight during a Force -- Rory Maclean * Guardian *
It is easy to enthuse about the simple pleasures of life, but hard to write about them well. Stewart's gift is to do so with the carefree manner of someone you've just met in a bar, and who is buying the drinks -- Hugh Thomson * Independent *
His enthusiasm and sheer good nature are infectious and, like Bill Bryson, with whom he's sometimes compared, he's a hard man to dislike * Mail on Sunday *
This is a lovely little book... you really get a sense of what it's like aboard an ocean-going sailing ship -- Sam Leith * Daily Mail *

Author Bio

Chris Stewart shot to fame with Driving Over Lemons. Funny, insightful and real, the book became an international bestseller and with its sequels - A Parrot in the Pepper Tree and The Almond Blossom Appreciation Society. Despite the extraordinary success of his books, Chris, his wife Ana, and their daughter Chloe, continue to live on their farm, with their numerous dogs, cats, chickens, sheep and misanthropic parrot.