Master and not-so-much Commander
My recently emigrated, hottie/fashionista sister is blogging from the British Isles these days. So far she compares Canadian men to English ones (unfavourably, alas) and describes her exploits at the International Festival of the Sea where she found herself immersed in crowds of like-minded nautical geeks. "It was comparable to being in H&M on a Saturday, except they were much much older, grumpier and more badly dressed." All of this spawned by a secret crush, I suspect, on the fictional Captain Jack Aubrey. As much as she loves picking on my reading habits, I adore poking holes in her fetish for Patrick O'Brian, who apparently couldn't hang a rag to save his life:
Mr Perkins, a venture capitalist behind some of the world's biggest internet companies, was such a fan of the books that he invited Patrick O'Brian, then aged 80, and his wife to spend two weeks on his 154ft superyacht "Andromeda" on a cruise of the Mediterranean in the summer of 1995.
One of O'Brian's books spawned the movie Master and Commander. In his article, Mr Perkins describes a dinner where he and Mr O'Brian discussed the trip. He claims that the author's "knowledge of the practical aspects of sailing seemed, amazingly, almost nil . . .
Underway to Menorca beneath a sunny sky with a 20-knot following wind, the sailing was marvellous and O'Brian was delighted," Mr Perkins writes. "I introduced him to the helm but he seemed to have no feeling for the wind and the course and frequently I had to intervene to prevent a full standing gybe [a sudden change of direction involving the boom swinging violently from one side of the boat to another]. (Via Maud)
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