“Running Away to Sea” by Douglas Fetherling. M&S Inc. Hardcover​​​​​

“Running Away to Sea: Round the World On a Tramp Freighter” by Douglas Fetherling • M&S Inc. • 256 Pages • Hardcover Condition: Excellent ———————————— At a low point in his life, the prolific Canadian writer Douglas Fetherling sought to clear his head by taking the kind of trip that many of us dream about – going round the world on one of the last of the tramp freighters. The four-month voyage carried him some thirty thousand nautical miles, from Europe via the Panama Canal to the South Pacific. Written with dash, colour, and humor, Fetherling’s narrative is peopled by a rich cast of characters, from the Foreign Legionnaires of French Polynesia to the raskol gangs of Papua New Guinea. Fetherling captures the reality of life aboard a working cargo ship – the boredom, the seclusion, the differences of nationality and culture. He also describes how the routine of loneliness or tranquillity is punctuated by moments of near-panic – shipboard fires, furniture-smashing storms, even a brush with pirates in the Strait of Malacca. Running Away to Sea is literary travel-writing in the grand old tradition. —————————————- REVIEWS “A truly wonderful book. Fetherling at his best.” –Bill Bryson “A splendid seadog’s yarn.…Like John McPhee’s Looking for a Ship or Gavin Young’s Slow Boat to China, this wonderful, well-crafted book is ideal reading for a desert island or an armchair.” –Kitchener-Waterloo Record