We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea
by
Arthur Ransome
![]() |
The title says a lot about the book. The "Swallows" and their mother are
waiting for the return of the father of the family, Commander Walker of the British Navy,
to return from the far east. They make friends with the university student skipper of the
little cutter "Goblin" at Pin Mill and are allowed by their mother to be taken
off for a few days of sailing on strict orders to stay in the local inland waters and not
to go outside. A mishap and some lack of knowledge in the absence of his Captain put John
Walker in charge of a vessel larger than he has ever sailed before, in the North Sea in a
gale of wind, and desperately afraid he will lose their friends boat for him. This is without doubt the best sailing story for young people ever written. No young person will ever put it down unfinished and no adult who has read part of it to a child will ever fail to read the rest for him or herself. (tm) $14.95 |