KICKING CANVAS

by Captain A. A. Bestic ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 30, 1957

A 1908-1909 voyage on the sailing ship Denbigh Castle recalls the author's days as an apprentice, inexperienced and protected only by fellow sailors, in a miniature world bound around with crises from Cardiff to Fremantle and Mollendo and back to port. The 253 days at sea gave them two ""old men"", the first to face the passage around the Horn, the second to put down a mutiny on their homeward trip; it brought them ill luck and bad food, crashing seas and dissension, long and wearying work that made for instinctive service under absolute rule of their masters; and it took a boy -- homesick, hungry and miserable before the ship even left the dock -- through a belly full of deep water experiences. There was the ordeal of Bass Strait, the winning of Captain Higgins' wager, the near brushes with death on the high seas, navigational off balances, a change over in crews and the tumult and fury of storms encountered by a three master. This relives the way it was before steam and oil drove the ships, the way in which a young one lived out a long passage, and as such should have its following among those who still give their affection to sail.

Pub Date: Jan. 30, 1957

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1957

Categories: NONFICTION