Lonely Sea and the Sky (Summersdale Travel) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is an autobiography with adventure. It starts with the young Francis and his early life, which moves well and does not linger too much, but introduces us to his matter-of-fact style of writing. Francis tells of his major flying achievements, which are stunning considering they were done in the early, primitive beginnings of aviation, where a compass, a clock and sextant were the navigational tools. He also is not afraid to tell of his mistakes and mishaps too. He flew solo from England to Australia in the 1930's. Then onwards across the Tasman sea, knowing he would have to find a small island in the middle of the ocean or he would run out of fuel and perish, has the tension of the personal account of a kamikazee pilot. To do this he developed a new technique of navigating called 'dead reckoning' and proved it works by finding the island. The book also details his solo sea voyage around the world, and he tells of curious and amazing adventures while he does it. Mr. Chichester has made his mark in adventuring history with his achievements and has come back to tell about it in an exciting way. The book wastes no words and moves quickly, almost too quickly at times, but the tales he tells easily sit one on the edge of the seat anxiously reading on for more. I recommend this book as a wonderful adventure true story for all ages.

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At the age of 18 and with a taste for adventure, Francis Chichester emigrated to New Zealand with only ten pounds in his pocket. With the impetuousness of youth he tried his hand at a myriad of jobs, and by the age of 26 he had been a farmhand, a boxer, a shepherd, a lumberjack, a member of three trade unions - the Firemen's, the Miners' and the Timber Workers' - a railway worker, a gold prospector, a coal miner, a door-to-door salesman, and a land agent. And it was only then that his real adventures began. It would be from a chance business venture that Chichester would discover the passion for travel that would change his life. With a fellow risk-taker, he helped to establish an early aviation company and began to fly the planes - though not necessarily with an immediate talent. But enthusiasm and experience made him a leader of the field, and in 1929 he embarked on his most famous flight: a solo enterprise in the "Gipsy Moth" from England to Australia. He was the second person ever to accomplish that feat. He was a great sailor as well as aviator, and he won a trans-Atlantic race in the yacht "Gipsy Moth III", and in 1967 he was knighted.This is Sir Francis Chichester's autobiography - a tale of ardour and adventure, of intrepid endeavours on land, on the sea and in the air, and of the physical and mental challenges he faced.

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