Required Reading...

...apart from this load of old c***lers is Sam Llewellyn's very promising new Marine Quarterly. You probably know Sam for his nautical thrillers (and occasional contributions to the thinking gardeners' quarterly Hortus to which Sam's dinky little, impeccably produced Marine Quarterly bears a striking resemblance in terms both of size and excellence of content.) It's even got a proper colophon (Ha! That's got you thinking, eh?)

I was hoping Someone would buy me a subscription for my birthday and the catalyst came after reading an issue of Hortus, a subscription for which I had bought for Her Who gardens. Inside was a flyer. Within days she had reciprocated, and a packet arrived soon after with the first two issues of the Marine Quarterly, which I am now devouring.

All this pompous preamble boils down to this: if you are a lover of all things nautical, and literary and want an alternative to the repetitive yachtie porn that masquerades as sailing journalism these days ("How to service your outboard"; "Building a plywood pram"; "Seven chart plotters on test"; "Whittling a thole pin"; "Fitting out the easy way"; "Fog in the Channel: a cautionary Tale..."; "We sail the new Suneteau 43" etc etc) then take out a subscription to Sam's Marine Quarterly.

One day I may pluck up courage to submit something of my own, but I am in no doubt about the high standards from the likes of Tom Cunliffe, Roger Taylor of MingMing fame, Alex Ramsay (who sailed with Tilman) and Sam himself.

Now, back to the comfy armchair...

www.marinequarterly.com