<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> T H E B O S U N ' S C H R O N I C L E The official Ezine of the Thomas Kydd Shipmates' network <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> VOL. 5, ISSUE 7, August 2005 All hands on deck! 1 DISPATCHES 2 ASK JULIAN 3 BOOKSHELF 4 SALTY SAYINGS 5 A DAY IN THE LIFE 6 CONTESTS 7 COUNTDOWN TO TRAFALGAR 8 NEW ON THE WEB ==================== 1 DISPATCHES + Shipmate Reviewers Thanks to all of you who entered the contest for Shipmate Reviewers for TENACIOUS - we had a huge response and choosing the winners was certainly not easy! However, here are the six winning one-sentence descriptions of Julian's writing chosen by the panel of judges: >Stockwin's writing, like a well-tied knot, binds the reader to the world, the characters and the locales in a way not often seen among modern writers. >Julian Stockwin serves up a delicious mix of fiction and historical fact, full of sea flavours, sounds and smells; satisfying, but always leaving you hungry for more. >Awash with detail, enthralling plots and addictive pace, Julian's writing simply forbids the reader to put down the book until it has reached completion. >Authentic sea-born historical fiction at its very best. >If any author deserves to be piped into bookshops with full naval honours it is Julian Stockwin, whose writing is never less than vivid and always meticulously researched. >Open Julian's books and immediately you are transported back in time aboard a naval vessel in the eighteenth century, to take up the post of Thomas Kydd's invisible shadow and share in his apprehensions, fears and excitement. Congratulations to: John Brown, Jeff Closs, Patricia Fray, Michael Arnold, Barbara Spencer and David Pinset. Look out for their reviews of TENACIOUS in next month's issue. + Maritime print discount offer US-based George Jepson, known by many of you as the former proprietor of Tall Ships Books, has launched a new venture specialising in fine art prints of British and American marine artists, Bowsprit Maritime Art - and for the month of August is offering Shipmates a 20% discount (exclusive of shipping costs) off any print. When you contact George, just mention the August issue of the Chronicle to claim your discount! www.bowspritart.com + First boat memories After reading what Julian said about "Galah" in last month's issue, a number of you emailed with memories of +your+ first boat, among them Bill Peterson, from San Pedro in California. Bill wrote: "I grew up at the Isthmus of Santa Catalina Island, off the coast of California in the 1960s - a very small community of less than 100 souls in those days. I had my first dinghy when I was five or six and my first sailboat at ten, a small flat bottomed scow with a drop centreboard and a touchy weather helm that I named 'Valkyr'. I remember this distinctly because ten minutes after I launched her for the first time I accidentally jibed while sailing through the moorings and capsized and sank her! When I did manage to keep my scow afloat, every dinghy was a Spanish galleon and every moored yacht a French ship-of-the-line. 'Beat to quarters, run the guns out, and fire as you bear' was my motto. Sadly, they never let me actually do that when I was an officer in the Coast Guard, nor later when I ran an Oceanographic Research Vessel. Nobody complained when I was a charter skipper in the USVI - they just wouldn't let me have any powder or shot!" + QUARTERDECK audiobook BBC Audiobooks has produced an unabridged audiobook of QUARTERDECK, superbly read by Christian Rodska. Available in both cassette (GBP17.99) and CD (GBP 22.99). http://www.audiobookcollection.com For a chance to win a copy, see Contests + Whitehaven Festival Whitehaven, on the west coast of the English county of Cumbria, is a picturesque harbour town dating from 1634. During the mid eighteenth century it was the third biggest port in England. It now boasts one of the best marinas in the UK, with space for over 400 craft. As promised in a previous issue, Shipmate Jim Hewitson reports on the 2005 Maritime Festival recently held there: "We had perfect weather, and from June 24-26, a quarter of a million people visited, from as far afield as Norway, Canada, Finland and America. This year's festival was one of the UK's Sea Britain 2005 events and included tallships, aerial displays, parades, and street entertainers. The tallships present were the 'Jeanie Johnstone' from Ireland; the three-masted schooner 'Kathleen and May'; Liverpool-based square rigger the 'Zebu' and the French brigantine 'Jean de la Lune'." The next festival is planned for 2007. One for the diary! + Julian on CD We've had a very enthusiastic response to the "Julian Stockwin in Conversation" CD. Many of you have said how you feel you know Julian so much more after listening to him talk about his life and work, and read some of his favourite passages. And, as one Shipmate put it, "As much as I enjoy the professional readers of the audiobooks, there is something special about an author in his own words. You get a sense of what is particularly important to Julian." We're offering a special 15% discount this month. The CD is available through the website. ===================== 2 ASK JULIAN At several author events recently Julian was asked "Do you know what book you will start writing next year?" Here's what he said: "When I first started writing the series I planned out, in flowchart form, where each book would take my hero in general terms - so I do have a sense of the main plot points, the location, the ship etc. for each book. However as Kathy and I work through the series we do find we fine-tune some of these details, especially as I get closer to starting a new book. At the moment I am heavily into writing COMMAND, which I have to deliver to my publishers on January 1, but I can tell you that the book I will start in late January, book eight, will have a very strong Devon/Cornwall focus. There will also be some very interesting developments of a personal nature for Kydd!" [Sorry, the Bosun couldn't press him further...] ==================== 3 BOOKSHELF The Island Nation A History of Britain and the Sea By Brian Lavery ISBN 184486 0167. GBP 20.00 Published by Conway Maritime in conjunction with the National Maritime Museum, this is the official volume of SeaBritain 2005. Superbly illustrated, the book celebrates 2000 years of maritime and naval history - and is certainly a worthy addition to the wonderful feast of books coming out this year about the sea. Look out for another recent release by Conway Maritime, "The Liner" by Philip Dawson - a fascinating account of the design, history and mystique of the ocean liner. www.conwaymaritime.com ==================== 4 FEATURE Weather at Sea An aspect of Julian's writing that many of you comment on is the way he paints such vivid word pictures of weather at sea, whether a balmy tropical evening - or the sea in one of her more violent moods. As a young lad Julian devoured books about the sea and admits he was terrified by descriptions of storms - but longed to go to sea to experience a real one, which he later did on many occasions! At heart, Julian is a "foul weather sailor"; a trait also shared by Thomas Kydd. One of the pieces that Julian chose to read on the "Julian Stockwin in Conversation" CD is about an unusual electrical storm in Africa. At sea in Kydd's day all lieutenants were required to keep logs recording details of weather, navigation and routine of the ship, as well as incidents that occurred during the commission. Printed formats appeared from about 1799, with the Admiralty laying down a standard form in 1805. At the completion of each year, each lieutenant's log was deposited in the Admiralty Office. These day-to-day historic accounts are now providing a unique source of data in the form of the Climatological Database for the World's Oceans to help predict climate change in the future. What's your favourite weather passage in the Kydd books? We have a mystery sea gift for the first nomination drawn at random on August 25. Please include your postal details. ==================== 5 SALTY SAYINGS Run the gauntlet Today, if we say someone has to run the gauntlet they risk being assailed or criticised from all sides. The origins of this phrase are definitely salty. In Kydd's day it was a form of punishment for stealing, which involved a sailor having to make his way between two rows of his shipmates, each man armed with a knotted rope. The master-at-arms went in front of the unfortunate man, walking backwards with a cutlass drawn to prevent him running through too quickly. The term comes not from any association with a glove, but from a corruption of "gantlope", which in turn derives from two Swedish words, "gata"(lane) and "lopp" (running). ==================== 6 A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A SHIP-O'-THE-LINE The middle watch Midnight to 4am Also known as "the Graveyard Watch" this was similar to the First Watch (see July issue), and apart from the helmsmen and lookouts, the duties of the watch on deck were generally light. Julian remembers many a pleasurable middle watch during his time at sea: it was an opportunity to have deep conversations with shipmates, to contemplate some of life's questions - or just to marvel at the beauty of the sea at night. The watch changed at 4 in the morning, and the ship's day began again. ==================== 7 CONTESTS Deadline for all contests is August 25. Email: Bosun@JulianStockwin.com. Please include your postal address and put CONTEST in the subject line. +The Island Nation Email the Bosun with the answer to this question: Who wrote the foreword? First correct entry drawn on the closing date wins a copy of the book. +Audiobook For a chance to win a copy of the unabridged audiobook of QUARTERDECK email the Bosun with the number of products featuring Julian's writing offered at the Audiobook Collection. Congratulations to all the winners of last month's contests - +Brian Lister and Chris Teigeler won a book of their choice from Seafarers Books. +Terry Hoyle will receive a copy of "The History of the Ship" from Conway Maritime. +And, in the post to Keith Overington, a unique copy of ARTEMIS - a First Edition signed by both Julian and Geoff Hunt. By the way, if you didn't win a postcard of TENACIOUS, there'll be another chance in next month's issue. =================== 8 COUNTDOWN TO TRAFALGAR Worth taking a look at Magellan Flags, Scotland - they've put together a brilliant Commemorative Collection of Trafalgar Flags. http://www.magellan- flags.com/factory/library/magellan_flags_leafet.pdf =================== 9 NEW ON THE WEB Thanks to the Blackburn Reading Group for sending in a pic of some of their members enjoying KYDD. You can see them on the Reading Groups page in the website. A special Reading Group Pack is available free of charge on request to established groups. And there's a monthly draw of Kydd books for reading groups. www.JulianStockwin.com =================== Coming next month: The Italian connection, Advance Reviews of TENACIOUS - plus all the usual favourites. Yours aye, THE BOSUN ++ Back issues of the newsletter downloadable from the website ++