Return to the Sea

By Webb Chiles

Sailing & Yachting (SA), January 2006:

By his own admission, the author's life has been dominated by three things: words, wind and women.

Return to the Sea is his fifth published book, and he has written numerous magazine articles. Hence, the 'words'. The 'wind' of course, is the element that enabled him to do four circumnavigations, during which he set a number of sailing records. There were other voyages, too, and all told, his adventures were on five different boats—Egregious, Chidiock,Tichborne1 and 11, Resurgam and The Hawke of Tuonela.

And the third 'W' in his alliteration? Well, as he weaves his fascinating tale through the early days and brings you up-to-date, I lost count of the number of wives, let alone 'women'; but it did seem to just about equal the number of circumnavigations!

In the main, this book is about his last round the world shot, on The Hawke, and about Carol, the lady who did much of the trip with him before returning to Boston to set up her won business, but is still very much a part of his life.

Together, they cross oceans, and explore some of the ports of Portugal, the Azores and South America, before heading for South Africa and what the author calls "One of my favourite cities". Of course it is Cape Town. And while the boat is being overhauled he and Carol hop on the Blue Train, visit the Kruger Park, see the Drakensberg, drive down the Garden Route and generally do in a couple of weeks as much as many in South Africans do in a lifetime. Webb has much praise for Royal Cape Yacht Club, and for the people he met. He also has some canny observation on a land he had first visited some years earlier.

It is at this point that Carol goes home, and Webb sails on to complete the circumnavigation in Sydney. It is a story that will hold the reader's interest, not only for the content, but for the easy going, colorful manner in which it is told.

The ENSIGN, March 2006:

A world record-setting sailor, Webb Chiles tells of his fourth circumnavigation with his fifth wife, Carol, in Return to Sea.

Much more than a sailing story, this book reveals much about Chiles, who lives for three things: sailing, writing and his wife.

Devastated after his fourth wife leaves him, Chiles opens his boat's sea cocks and sinks it, leaving himself afloat in the Gulf Stream off Florida. After being rescued—partly by luck but partly because he's the ultimate survivor—he rebuilds his life, buys a new boat and finds Carol, to whom he has been married for more than 10 years.

The couple crosses the Atlantic, sailing from Boston to Portugal and Senegal. Then they cross the ocean again, sailing to Brazil before recrossing on their way to Cape Town, South Africa, where they remain for some time. Chiles then makes a single-handed passage to Australia, where he encounters violent storms and again demonstrates his pre-eminence as a sailor.

In lyrical writing, he expresses admiration for the Portuguese and the joy he finds in anchoring on the beautiful Brazilian coast and traveling in South Africa.