REVIEW OF BOOK

IN YACHTING MONTHLY DEC 2001

This self-effacing autobiography gives the lie to the term "vanity publishing", whereby writers opt to self-publish when they can't find a legitimate route to get into print. Woodall's credentials as a writer are that he has lived and is a natural storyteller. He's sailed over 250,000 miles including 24 trips across the Atlantic, done a spell of skippering for the Greek royal family, been locked in a bordello in Caracas and was pursued by angry Argentinean sailors during the Falklands war. As Jeremy Davis says in is preface Stokey is a man who knows that life is not a rehearsal and nothing is won without daring to dream. His English teacher, who said "you will not go far" would be proud.

Paul Gelder

Editor

Two minutes into the meal we suddenly found ourselves in the Red Sea rather than on it. Our boat had been cut in two by a large, anonymous ship which had failed to notice us and did not stop."....

About three days into the trip the American came rushing into the cabin at 3am and announced that we were sinking. I said "OK. I'll be up in a minute but meanwhile put the kettle on and let's have a cup of tea."....

"Travelling amongst the world of strangers, I have been fortunate to encounter those very special individuals who understand, as a fellow free spirit, that the most difficult test of travelling is to say goodbye. Relationships with such people may be short lived but they contain the intensity of a lifetime."..