Under the Cabin Lamp

The ordinary yachtsman has many yarns to tell, but his gossip is mostly of a homely variety. He has cruised from port to port, and he may have sailed in big yachts as well as little. He has almost certainly been disreputable while cruising, with horny hands and two or three days’ stubble on his chin; but he may also have been neat and respectable on shining decks at Cowes. He has ‘taken it green’ when thrashing to windward down-Channel; and he has dreamed and idled on halcyon seas and landlocked waters. Under sail he has dodged the big ships and the tugs and lighters in busy ports; and he has ghosted in moonlight on deserted seaways. Recollections of this kind are told under the cabin lamp, when sails are furled and the anchor is down. “We all have our own stories and topics,” says the author, “and here are a few of mine.” They carry with them the smell of salt water and the ocean wind, these tales of London’s river and Thames mouth, of the Suffolk coast, of Cowes and the Solent, of Devon, and Cornish waters – tales, too, of the brave old Britannia, of adventure into Broadland, of cruising and racing, and of stormy passages and peaceful havens.

We could not put it better than this original description, other than to add that in this delightful book first published in 1950 and (we believe) out of print since, Tripp's pen, whether through word or line, masterfully evokes the English cruising scene during the first half of the twentieth century.