I vividly remember my first boat. She was called ‘Galah‘ and I sailed her in waters around Tasmania that would have been familiar to the early explorers of what was then Van Diemen’s Land. Sadly, these days I have little time to venture out on the water but I retain a strong interest in boats, large and small, as well as my abiding passion for the ships of the Great Age of Fighting Sail. This BookPick pays homage to Shackleton’s famous boat, celebrates a gifted American yacht designer, shines a light on cruising grounds in the south of England, explores navigation down the ages and examines the fate of castaways.

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When I first started to write the Kydd Series little did I realise that my original conception of perhaps a dozen titles would more than double. The more I delved into the historical record the greater scope I found for Kydd, Renzi and the rest of the fearless crew for adventures up to and beyond the Battle of Trafalgar. This year sees the publication of the 24th title in the series, Thunderer. As the cover reveals, in this book Kydd is given a 74 gun ship-of-the-line.