In her forties Welsh poet Gwyneth Lewis decided to trade in her landlubber life - a nice house in Cardiff and a sensible job at the BBC - for life aboard a small yacht with her husband Leighton, a former Merchant Navy seaman and now in his mid-sixties. There begins a story of them both learning to sail a boat whilst she battles with depression and severe seasickness, and they both cope with horrendous weather conditions.
They seem to me to be incredibly ambitious as they are determined to cross the Atlantic. They have continuous problems with their boat and Leighton becomes extremely bad tempered and difficult to live with. Added to all this pressure is the realisation that their marriage is falling apart.
I found the actual story interesting but I was continually irritated by Gwyneth’s obsession with Hornblower and the many quotes that she used throughout the book. Coupled with copious diagrams I found I was often skipping sections in order to continue with their travels. However I finished it and was still interested enough to read the several sections at the back of the book about the author.