Sailing to the Baltic With Bob

Every Christmas, I create a wishlist on Amazon. 90% of the items on the list are sailing books, videos, calendars and general sailing stuff. My extended family doesn't get it as they don't go in for sailing much, but they humor me by  pecking away at a few items on the list. One of the books on the list was Sailing To the Baltic With Bob by Griff Rhys-Jones. British or "Limeo-American" readers of this blog will know Griff Rhys-Jones from "Not the Nine O'Clock News" and "Alas Smith and Jones'. These two 80s and 90s BBC comedies were classics. In addition to being a comedian, actor and general BBC-broadcaster-sorta chap, Rhys Jones is also an accomplished sailor. Sailing To The Baltic With Bob, recounts his trip on his yacht, Undina, from England's East Coast to St Petersburg via... via well, pretty much every country on the way. He is accompanied by two old friends, one called Bob, and variety of other chums who join parts of the 3 month cruise. Undina, is a beauty. She is 45-ft wooden Rhodes centerboard yacht. Despite leaking like a sieve she is clearly the love of his life. This is not the most gripping sailing book I have ever read. It lacks the dramatic encounters and adventures of Tristan Jones, Chichester or pretty much any other sailing book, but it is compelling. He writes well and manages to make the day-to-day accounts of a long cruise engaging, amusing and informative. The places he cruises to are fascinating and clearly there are some utterly gorgeous places to sail in the Baltic that no one goes to. It will take a lot of convincing the wife (who believes that a swimsuit is the only sailing attire worth wearing) but Finland is now high on my places to sail. There is more about Rhys-Jones and his exploits on Undina on inthe boatshed.