The Sea Was Our Village

Miles Smeeton and his wife certainly led an exciting life, and this book is the first of their series of books of their adventures at sea after Miles left the British Military. Neither of them were sea people, but virtually on a lark they decided to buy a sailboat in England (their home) and use it to sail to the Vancouver area (in Canada) where they were moving. This book covers that first journey, and all their pitfalls, triumphs, and exciting moments, and then also covers their trip from Vancouver to Australia.Their writing is certianly inspirational - I mean, a couple who've never sailed before decide to buy a sailboat, and basically teach themselves how to sail while they navigate from England to Vancouver (through the Panama Canal). That takes some moxy!! Their story is filled with humor, as they retell the screwups and stupid things they did as new sailors, but that same lack of knowledge at times almost cost them their lives, and those moments of the book are quite exciting (even though we know they survived). They really make me want to try the same thing!The writing style is very engaging, and somewhat witty, and Miles is definitely a story-teller, albeit at times a bit too like the stereotypical British low-level aristocrat who likes to keep a room occupied with tales of their bravado (think of "Owl" from Winnie the Pooh). He has so many wonderful vignettes from the stays at small islands, his encounters with other boats, and the people (natives and other sailors) that he meets on the journey, people who are friendly, some who are not. He also writes excitingly of the whole culture of sailing people that he is slowly entering into, a culture in which most people truly go out of their way to help each other, especially green behind the ears sailors like Smeeton. Very fascinating from a hisotrical standpoint, and a lot of fun to read from an adventure-loving standpoint. What I really enjoyed about this book, though, is that Smeeton's love of sailing truly comes through - he obviously loved every moment (even the tense life-threatening ones). It comes through in his writing, and, of course, when he and his wife decide *not* to sell the boat after they arrive in Vancouver, one knows that they have been hooked by the lure of the sea.I was at times taken aback by he Smeetons' poor treatment of native peoples as they visited many islands, and some poor coastal areas, and how they speak of those people more as novelties to be displayed than as distinct and valid cultures and individuals - the Smeetons' have an almost typical colonial attitude to any group of people who don't wear shoes, or wear "the typical grass skirts native to their culture, even inappropriately on their women", and they talk some times of almost *lowering* themselves to enjoy the local culture. But, these people are writing in the 1950s, and one cannot expect much more from a former British officer, raised to be haughty and superior in feeling self-wroth, on a sail