Blue Water, Green Skipper

If you enjoy Stuart Woods' books, and especially if you enjoy sailing storoes, then this is a great picture of his early years, how he got started writing, and a great story of his preparing for and then sailing the OSTAR transatlantic sailing race.

Over the years I've read many Stuart Woods books starting with White Cargo which is still one of my favorites. From there I read many of his early books and read many later books up until the last three years. Having spent so much time reading his different writings including one of his early novels of sailing, I thought it would be worthwhile to read his first book. Blue Water is about Stuart Woods' love of sailing and his adventure in participating in a transatlantic race solo. While this book shows signs of an inexperienced writer, inordinate details that do nothing to move the book along, it does provide a great framework of what is involved in undertaking such a challenging race including the dangers at sea which become quite clear in the last 8th of the book. In addition, if you have studied Woods' other books you get a look at his early life and how those influences may have affected his writings. If you are a fan of Stuart Woods' novels, this is a worthwhile read. If you are a fan of the sea and sailing, you'll also enjoy this book. Other than that, I wouldn't take the time to find this book and pay the high price necessary since it is so far out of print and sells at a high level.