Sailing Alone

A History

By: Richard J. King

Narrated by: William Hope

Brought to you by Penguin.

Sailing on a boat by yourself out at sea and out of sight of land can be exhilarating or terrifying, compelling or tedious - sometimes it can be all of these things just in one morning. It is an adventure at odds with our normal, sociable lives, carried out floating on a medium wholly inimical to our existence. But the deep ocean is also a remarkable place on which to think.

Richard King's enormously engaging and curious book is about the debt we owe to solo sailors: women and men, young and old, who have set out alone. Spending weeks and months alone, slowly, quietly and close to the ocean surface is to create the world's largest laboratory: an endlessly changing, capricious and startling place in which to observe oneself, the weather, the stars and myriad sea creatures, from the tiniest to the most massive and threatening.

This is a book for anyone who is fascinated by sailing, solitude and the vast seas that cover so much of our planet.

©2023 Richard J. King (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

Those who have chosen to face the dangers of the ocean alone are a colourful and inventive bunch ... I was delighted to read of [King's] amazement. (David Mills)

The book is as much a feat as the crossing ... something to be marvelled at ... I’ve already started plotting my own ocean crossing. (Peter Hoskin)

First-hand accounts evoke the elation, frustrations and dangers of life in a small boat crossing the ocean ... King assembles a truly eccentric, even flamboyant cast of solo sailors. (Victor Mallet)