The Happy Wanderer

New Zealand Listener, Volume 36, Issue 915, 22 February 1957, Page 12

The Happy Wanderer

AROUND -THE WORLD IN WANDERER Ill, by Eric C. Hiscock; Oxford University Press, Geoffrey Cumberlege, English price FE

(Reviewed by

J.

C.

HE art of making ocean passages in small boats has, since World War II, produced a literature of its own. In the thirties some such passages would probably have won a London newspaper’s cash prize, but the post-war voyagers have had to claim their rewards from a different branch of the publishing industry and the result has been a spate of books on ocean cruising. In almost every one the feat recorded has been more notable than the quality of the writing, and even the enthusiast’s interest is inclined to wither as the accounts repeat themselves. There is no denying that crossing the oceans in small boats has become almost popular, or that some of these crossings are worthy of being placed on record. But, like most records, one surpasses another and the appeal to the reader becomes academic. . Around the World in Wanderer III is addressed to a much wider audience. Although it puts into practice the edicts of Mr. Hiscock’s earlier work Cruising Under. Sail its principal object is to entertain. It is a travel book of the best class, containing much useful information for those who follow this particular -mode of travel, and also providing an accurate picture of the places, people, animals, fish and the weather that the author encountered. This circumnavigation, then, has become a story-a welltold story written by a yachtsman who is a writer by profession and whose subject is the sea. The voyage of Wanderer III was as sensible an undertaking as some other passages were reckless, Consider for a moment Ben Carlin and his wife, who crossed the Atlantic in a converted amphibious jeep, or the Smith brothers who made the crossing in the cockleshell Nova Espero, or Johnnie Cald-

well who, at the start of his first transPacific voyage, knew nothing. of ocean cruising. But the Hiscocks, with years of experience to guide them, had Wanderer III designed and built especially for their circumnavigation; and with a 30-foot overall length she was certainly no stunt boat. Nor did they set out to prove an academic point, as Humphrey Barton did in Vertue XXXV when he scorned the assistance of the trade winds. For the Hiscocks it was sufficient to show that in a properly designed and equipped yacht an ocean passage can be made not only in safety, but with pleasure and a reasonable degree of comfort. For them the sea represents no more than a normal risk and the gales are at least measurable within the Beaufort Scale. In reading the story of Wanderer III New Zealanders will find that their hospitality to the Hiscocks has been repaid by accurate reporting of what they saw here. They were quick to notice the beauty of our coastline, the importance of our maritime connection, and our anxiety to please and impress the visitor "from Home." Keen observation is, in fact, the keynote of this book, which could serve well as a model for other writers of cruising tales. It is doubtful, though, whether they could achieve Mr. MHiscock’s modesty or charm.