This is a charming description of the challenge of attempting to be the first private vessel through the most northerly route of the Northwest passage, followed by cruising around Alaska and then back the following year. Polar Bound is a 48ft converted lifeboat specially reinforced to cope with the ice.
This is done by David Scott Cowper – a great yachtsman/adventurer along with newly re-found “old” girlfriend Jane Maufe (who just happens to be the four-time great niece of Sir John Franklin-the Artic explorer who died along with the crew of 129 men trying to find the Passage in 1847).
The book is written by Jane who puts across David’s great navigation and determination in a very candid way, along with the more common human nature of shouting when tying up to jetties, the distinct and well-known roles of cook-cum-general-dogsbody and the skipper.
It also gives great descriptions of the people they meet along the way and the anchorages as well as the difficulty in staying upright in heavy seas and navigating through icebergs in fog. It’s an amazing feat especially considering the pair were two-handed and both into their 70s! A good read with plenty of coloured photographs. Elizabeth Wright
Pub: Bloomsbury £18.99