Waypoints

Bloomsbury, 2017 Even though I grew up on an island, that did not stop me hankering to set foot on other, outlying islands. When the tides swelled high, they also fell low. Then you could risk walking out to green places that had seemed impossible to reach. I read a lot when I was young and could also enter other territories that way. I was not sure if I was exploring the ‘real’ world or a landscape in a story. Adventure, memoir, storytelling and celebration of all things maritime meet in Waypoints, a beautifully written account of sea journeys around Scotland’s west cost. Ian Stephen reveals a lifetime’s love affair with sailing. Each voyage honours a seagoing vessel and each adventure is accompanied by a spellbinding retelling of a traditional tale about the sea. Ian’s writing is enchanting and lyrical, gentle but searching, and is accompanied by pen and ink illustrations of each vessel by his wife, artist Christine Morrison. Praise for Waypoints “A really beautiful book … movingly and saltily real” – Adam Nicolson “Charming and engaging. Beautifully written, this is a book you’ll find it hard to put down” – Lifeboat magazine, RNLI “A finely tuned book … a beautiful cover” – Donald Smith, Director of Scottish Storytelling Centre