The strangely aimless and liminal pages for October 20 – there are only two – include Carruthers complaining that the Dulcibella simply isn’t going fast enough: ‘Can’t we go any faster?’ I burst out once. I felt that there ought to be a pyramid of gauzy canvas aloft, spinnakers, flying jibs, and what not. Davies isContinue reading “‘Spinnakers, flying jibs, and what not’”
Tag Archives: Dulcibella
‘the Meaning of our Work’: contributions of note
In our day-by-day replaying of ‘The Riddle of the Sands’ we’ve reached October 6, and we enter a stage in the book when not a lot happens storywise: “Nothing happened during the next ten days to disturb us at our work. During every hour of daylight and many of darkness, sailing or anchored, aground orContinue reading “‘the Meaning of our Work’: contributions of note”
Club member seeks crew: a chance for a *real* adventure
As we keep saying, Lloyd and I are bumbling amateurs when it comes to sailing. Luckily this project seems to have attracted a number of Adventure Club members who actually know what they’re talking about. One of them is Jerry Clinton, who has already helped us with a number of boat-related issues, and also managedContinue reading “Club member seeks crew: a chance for a *real* adventure”
Cremated in the steam box
The boat that was the template for the Dulcibella of Riddle of the Sands, the Vixen, was the subject of a previous post here. That post covered the Vixen’s early life as a Kent lifeboat, before she was reborn, on the Ramsgate sands, as the scrappy-but-functional yacht that Childers took cruising through the Frisian IslandsContinue reading “Cremated in the steam box”
The 8th Adventure Club Podcast: Ducks, Vikings & Music Boxes
This week we’re concentrating on September 29 & 30, in which we arrive at the Schlei Fjord for a spot of duck shooting, beer and music. We also talk at length about how you can support this project by pledging to pay for access to the live web adventure in the autumn, and acquire a beautifulContinue reading “The 8th Adventure Club Podcast: Ducks, Vikings & Music Boxes”
The 7th Adventure Club Podcast: Books, Handbooks & Punch
This week we’re concentrating on September 28 & 29, in which Davies’s onboard library is discussed, and a dangerous concoction called ‘coffee-punch’ sampled. We also talk at length about how you can support this project by pledging to pay for access to the live web adventure in the autumn, acquiring a beautiful Handbook Edition of ‘TheContinue reading “The 7th Adventure Club Podcast: Books, Handbooks & Punch”
‘She had been a lifeboat’
One of the most thrilling aspects of The Riddle of the Sands is the way it overlaps with the real world, such that you can still read of people assuming that it is a true story. As RM Bowker says of it in his 1978 edition, ‘to me, as to others, this book and all itsContinue reading “‘She had been a lifeboat’”
The 6th Adventure Club Podcast: the Danish Edition
This week, is a very special Danish edition, covering September 27 & September 28. We need to sail to the Als Sound as part of the great Adventure, but club members will need to brush up on their Prussian & Danish history if they’re going to join us… We discuss: how German champagne funded WW1 –Continue reading “The 6th Adventure Club Podcast: the Danish Edition”
The 4th Adventure Club Podcast: First Encounters, Germany & Grog
In which we discuss our plans to re-enact the classic spy novel ‘The Riddle of the Sands’. This week we talk about Day 4 of the adventure – September 26. Today is a day of first encounters – with Davies the yachtsman, Dulcibella the boat and with Flensburg & Germany. We discuss: a brief introductionContinue reading “The 4th Adventure Club Podcast: First Encounters, Germany & Grog”
The Curiously Specific Book Club 