BETWEEN WIND AND WATER
By
Gerald Warner Brace has been one of the ""summer people"" at Deer Isle, Maine since he was a small boy, and the state of Maine has had a great part in his life. Surge of surf, salt of sea and the fresh clear air of tides turning make his present book a pleasure to read. The account of designing, building, and using a pleasure craft becomes a metaphor of one man's life. From the sailboat race of happy summer Saturday to the responsibility of deep-water cruising, he comes full circle to the chore of cradling, lifting and housing his boat. The title refers to the days of sailing warships, when the enemy aimed ""between wind and water,"" or at the hull of the vessel, above her water-line and below her rigging. In this book, Professor Brace questions the damage that may come to the hull of civilization from the onslaught of mechanized convenience. His ""affectionate farewell"" to the anachronism of sail is at the same time a salute to the stimulus of change. Again an engagement with nature gives rise to philosophical speculations in an established genre.