Water Under the Keel
Memories of the Sea
By Robin Burnett
October 2011
Book Guild
ISBN: 9781846245343
Distributed by Trans-Atlantic Publications
164 pages
, Illustrated
$36.50 Hardcover
Robin Burnett has devoted his life to the sea and sailing. As a boy, out on a muddy Home Counties school rugby pitch, he would dream of being on board a ship battling with the wind and the waves. As soon as he was able, he gained an apprenticeship with a merchant shipping company, and during the following decades he rose through the ranks to Chief Officer as he sailed around the globe, sometimes barely going ashore for weeks on end. In this engaging memoir, Burnett evokes both the drama and drudgery of life at sea the exotic ports and the terrifying storms, but also the long wakeful hours at the wheel. What shines out above all, though, is his passion for the sea in its every mood and movement and also his deep respect for the officers and men of the Merchant Navy itself, whose bravery and tenacity all too often goes unrecognised.