Three Ways to Capsize a Boat: An Optimist Afloat

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.

About the Author :
Chris Stewart shot to fame with Driving Over Lemons - Sort Of Books' launch title in 1999. Funny, insightful and real, the book told the story of how he bought a Spanish peasant farm on the wrong side of the river, with its previous owner still resident. It became an international bestseller and together with its sequels - A Parrot in the Pepper Tree and The Almond Blossom Appreciation Society -has sold more than a million copies in the UK alone. Chris prepared for life on his Spanish farm with jobs of doubtful relevance. He was the original drummer in Genesis (he played on the first album), then joined a circus, learnt how to shear sheep, went to China to write the Rough Guide, gained a pilot's license in Los Angeles, and completed a course in French cooking. Three Ways to Capsize a Boat fills in his lost years as a yacht skipper in the Greek islands and dodging icebergs in the Atlantic. It is that rare thing: a book about sailing equally fun for people without a trace of sea legs. Chris, his wife Ana and their daughter Chloë continue to live on their farm, with their numerous dogs, cats, chickens, sheep and misanthropic parrot.

Review :
Laugh yourself silly! Wonderful! 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 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 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 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 This is a lovely little book... you really get a sense of what it's like aboard an ocean-going sailing ship