A couple of months ago, Steven Pike pointed us towards this book: “Moderate Becoming Good Later; Sea Kayaking the Shipping Forecast”, by Toby & Katie Carr.
https://www.stanfords.co.uk/Moderate-Becoming-Good-Later-Sea-Kayaking-the-Shipping-Forecast_9781800076105
“An exhilarating and deeply moving story of one man’s attempt to sea kayak the areas of the Shipping Forecast, perfect for fans of The Salt Path and Attention All Shipping”
Katie Carr gave a talk about this at Stanfords bookshop, in central Bristol, in June. I went to this talk and it certainly encouraged me to buy it.
I’ve now finished reading it, so I thought I should give a brief review.
In short, very good!
It’s certainly poignant. Toby Carr passed away before he could finish the project, and his sister Katie continued with his notes and has published the book. Their family has suffered more than their fair share of personal loss.
However, the book is a fun and interesting story. It mixes the technical detail of kayaking well with the personal stories of Toby’s life, and with the people he meets. It’s not simplistic about the kayaking, but it doesn’t try to be a detailed instruction book. It is structured with a chapter on each shipping area (more-or-less). It’s not a ‘travelogue’, so it won’t tell you where to launch or how to handle the tides in some of these areas. But it might trigger an interest in following Toby to kayak some of those same areas.
I’d encourage you all to buy a copy, whether or not you’re a sea kayaker. Preferably support a local bookshop, or Stanfords (which sort-of counts as local anyway), and please try to avoid using Amazon.
https://www.stanfords.co.uk/Moderate-Becoming-Good-Later-Sea-Kayaking-the-Shipping-Forecast_9781800076105
Conor