THE BLUE TUNNYMAN
By Andrew Andrews 'The Blue Tunnyman ' is a sailing yacht of medium tonnage and ideal appointments, suited to all weathers. Had she been the heroine of Mr. Andrews' book (Cape, 10s. 6d.) his narrative might have been a less adventurous one than it is. But the ideal yacht, designed after a varied experience of other sailing boats, is still, it appears, a boat of the future, though in no sort a mere dream. Mr. Andrews has learnt long since that the dazzle of romance " at sea is usually accompanied by the prosaic cooking of porridge, if not by the danger of shipwreck ; consequently a turn for the practical rules all his preferences. " I have found my romance under canvas," he states, " — admittedly helped by the motor." In this
book he describes adventures in craft ranging from a Turkish fishing boat to a Thames tug with a defective reverse gear, He has been on an elegant steam yacht that turned out to be a houseboat, and on a small dry-weather sailing yacht in a heavy storm. He has sailed in Channel fogs, along the African Coast, and into the sunny ports of Brittany, with a keen eye kit the qualities of each. The dangers -he met 'were sometimes visionary : one night off Beachy Head he saw the masthead light of an immense steamer towering over him, but looked a second time. " The hull was a -wedge-shaped cloud, and dead above its centre hung some impostor of a star." Mr. Andrews has an easy and vigorous style that makes his narrative go gallantly. There is a jarring note when he turns to comment on the political consequences of the General Strike, after describing how he helped to pilot pro- visions up the river. Such philosophies seem out of place in a book the merit of which is to avoid the troubles of landsmen and entertain us with the perils and pleasures of the sea.
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