<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> T H E B O S U N ' S C H R O N I C L E <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> S T O P P R E S S + Shipmate Reviews of QUARTERDECK + Win "Trafalgar and the Spanish Navy" + Free laminated bookmarks Welcome aboard the world of Thomas Kydd! VOL. 4, ISSUE 8, August 2004 1 NEWS & VIEWS 2 ASK JULIAN 3 BOOKSHELF 4 SALTY SAYINGS 5 FEATURE 6 ACCUL TO ZOLL 7 CONTEST 8 NAUTICALIA 9 NEW ON THE WEB ==================== 1 NEWS & VIEWS --- publishing happenings, author events, Shipmates ahoy! --- + Shipmate Reviews of QUARTERDECK In June we ran a contest for Shipmate Reviewers to win an Advance Copy of QUARTERDECK. Here's what four of them had to say: "QUARTERDECK vividly brings to life the trials and tribulations of a newly promoted lieutenant in the Royal Navy of the late eighteenth century. Julian Stockwin has overtaken Patrick O'Brian and Alexander Kent!" - David Porthouse "As usual, a great read - I could not put it down and felt I was right there with Kydd! Julian really brings those times to life, and the detail of how the navy was run and organised is fantastic. I would recommend QUARTERDECK to all." - Steve Nicholas "QUARTERDECK is pivotal in the wonderful story of Thomas Kydd. We see Kydd's thought processes change with the new role he has to play - but none of this alters the outgoing character we know from earlier stories, just gives us more layers to explore!" - Peter Wilson "With his hero's problems of trying to fit in to the wardroom, Julian keeps us in suspense right up to the final pages of the book - and the descriptions of Halifax, Prince Edward Island and the New England states are a tribute to the author's research." - Doug Highstead + Hodder & Stoughton announce new book jackets QUARTERDECK launches a stunning livery for the Thomas Kydd series. The design team at Hodder's art department, told the Bosun how this came about:- "When Julian's editor Carolyn Mays suggested a fresh, new look for the covers we were delighted to take up the challenge - and started the hunt for the face that would be Tom Kydd! After perusing numerous agencies' portfolios, we whittled down the choice to about twelve young men and then organised a casting session. We had a superb team lined up for the shoot - photographer, makeup artist, hairdresser, stylist - so we knew we could 'mature' and 'age' Kydd, but the actual choice of the model is something you cannot do by just looking at a photo. You need to get a sense of the person by seeing him in the flesh. The 'shoot' lasted all day. Julian had given us an excellent idea of what eighteenth century sailors and officers wore and we had all the costumes on hand. 'Tom' coped wonderfully, really growing into his role, from naive young wigmaker press-ganged into naval Service to prime hand to officer! Of the many shoots we have organised, this was certainly one of the most enjoyable!" + Shipmates Ahoy > Neil Cohn lives in Portsmouth on America's east coast. Like its British namesake, Neil's birthplace, which was settled in 1623, is rich in nautical history. The city sits near the mouth of the Piscataqua River, which divides New Hampshire and Maine. Over the years the Portsmouth Naval Dockyard has been an integral part of the community, servicing such famous ships as the USS "Constitution". Neil is a board member of the local Maritime Commission and has toured many visiting ships - such as the "Gorch Fock", the "Bounty", the "Lynx". He particularly treasures being the sole person on board the clipper "Providence" one night when the crew went ashore for dinner. "A rare moment to have an entire ship to yourself! I enjoyed my own Kydd-like moments as I watched the stars and the ship rolled with the wakes of the harbour." > Bob Squarebriggs is displaying his models of "Artemis" and "Seaflower" at a summer-long exhibition at Ritchie Wharf Historic Park, New Brunswick, Canada. He says he'd love to chat with any visiting fellow Shipmates. + "Cutty Sark" Julian was delighted to accept an invitation to give a talk aboard the grand old lady in October. The Cutty Sark Trust has submitted a proposal to Britain's Heritage Lottery Fund for a grant to conserve this famous vessel, the last of her kind in the world. Julian would like to encourage as many Shipmates as possible to join him in supporting the bid by emailing Elish McGuinness, Head of the Grants Team on enquire@hlf.org.uk Every voice counts! + ARTEMIS Unabridged audiobook offer Following our feature about the unabridged audiobook of ARTEMIS last month, we're delighted to announce a special offer of just GBP 17.99 (plus p&p) for the 10-cassette set. Orders - 01225 443400 or via www.audiobookcollection.com + Australian Shipmate brings Tom Kydd to school Macarthur Anglican School, an independent school in Sydney, is full of avid readers who have been inspired to delve into the world of Tom Kydd, as a result of their headmaster Mr Riley Warren's passion for the Kydd books. At the launch of the Headmaster's Reading Awards earlier this year, Mr Warren encouraged his students to become keen readers and shared his love of books by telling the students what he was currently reading. "It is my hope that these Awards will help to ignite a passion for reading among you, especially those less enthusiastic readers. I love reading and am at present reading a wonderful series of books by Julian Stockwin. They follow the life of Tom Kydd who at the age of nineteen was press-ganged into the British Navy in the eighteenth century. They are great adventure stories full of atmosphere as Tom sails around the world. You can almost taste the salt and feel the cat. I have enjoyed them so much I have had the full set placed in the library and I encourage you to read them". ===================== 2 ASK JULIAN --- a forum for Shipmates' questions --- Carolyn Johnson from Portland, Oregon emailed: "I have just finished reading MUTINY and had thought that all the seamen who mutinied did receive some of their requests. I was also surprised to read that not all of the men were pardoned. Can you set me straight on some of these circumstances?" Julian replies:- "As a result of the earlier mutiny at Spithead the mutineers did see a pay rise and better living conditions. Because of the relatively peaceful way in which the sailors handled themselves, there were no reprisals against these mutineers. However, the Nore mutiny, where Thomas Kydd finds himself, was a different matter. The situation under their leader Richard Parker grew out of hand and put the fate of the country at risk. The ringleader Parker and 36 mutineers were hanged. (There were nearly 10,000 involved)." ==================== 3 BOOKSHELF --- books, magazines and journals about the sea --- "Trafalgar and the Spanish Navy" by John Harbron. Conway Maritime Press The Spanish Navy has had a bad press - defeat of the Armada did not signify its end as a major maritime power. Indeed, at the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars, the Spanish Navy was the third largest navy in the world; its ships were superbly built and were commanded by an officer corps who have often been unfairly maligned. Harbron's fascinating book, illustrated with contemporary plans, paintings and ship models, provides an important contribution to the study of European sea power. ISBN 0-85177-477-6 See CONTEST for a chance to win a copy! ==================== 4 SALTY SAYINGS --- what today's English owes to Jack Tar --- Keep a weather eye open The origins of this phrase are definitely salty. Today if we ask someone to keep a weather eye open, we mean we want them to be on the alert for a sudden change in the situation. In Kydd's day, the lookout watched on the weather (or windward) side of the ship. This meant facing into the wind, spray and rain, but the first sign of a change in the weather always came from this side. ==================== 5 FEATURE Nature's fury One of the aspects of Julian's books often commented on is his descriptions of the sea - especially in her darker moods. After reading SEAFLOWER Australian Shipmate Alan Norton-Smith was moved to share his own memories of storms at sea. Alan was a midshipman in the cruiser HMAS "Canberra" when she was purposefully driven through the centre of a hurricane off Madagascar. "The barometer reading was 931mbs at its lowest." During his sea days Alan experienced a number of storms, but the one he most remembers was on a trip to sea at the age of 14 on an inter-island trading schooner, "Havannah". His father was the manager of the shipping company Burns Philp in Vila, Fiji, and Alan was home for the holidays. "The ship made good time to the first port at Tanna island where we loaded a few tons of copra. Then it was on to a small atoll off Malekula Island which was used a clearing depot for a number of plantations within a 50 miles radius. There was a village of about 200 people, a tiny stone Lutheran Mission church and a trade goods store. An outer reef surrounded the atoll with just one narrow entrance. But a storm was gathering and they headed for the comparative safety of deep sea ... "To the NE the sky was black and purple, lit by flashes of lightning. The cloud was beginning to darken the sun completely, the swell was heavy and oily looking in the eerie light... I could hear a high pitching shrieking, like the demons of hell... "How remote, I thought, was my school in Sydney, where the most adventurous, most exciting thing happening was to be caught by the headmaster climbing the big mulberry tree..." Forty-one hours later the Havanna, battered and bruised, but afloat, re-entered the lagoon. "Of buildings there was no sign, except for the copra store, which was roofless and windowless, with sand banked up six feet against the walls. No wharf remained and only a few stripped trees. The island of more than 200 people had been reduced to a barren sand cay. By nightfall we had found no one alive and only one body - that of a young girl half buried in the sand..." ==================== 6 ACCUL TO ZOLL --- an 18th C sea glossary --- Fiddler's Green Where sailors went when they "topped their boom" - an after-life haven featuring bounteous food and drink, and those amenities for which Wapping, Castle Rag and the back of Portsmouth Point were noted... ==================== 7 CONTEST Win a copy of this month's selection from Conway Maritime, "Trafalgar and the Spanish Navy." Here's the question: What is the nationality of the author? Visit www.conwaymaritime.com to find the answer. Answers to www.Bosun@JulianStockwin.com by August 25. Congratulations to Geoff Young, who won last month's prize of "The Sea Chart". =================== 8 NAUTICALIA --- from courses to cruises --- + Navy Days, Devonport Naval Base, Plymouth 28-30 August. HMNB Devonport is now the largest naval base in Western Europe - come along and meet the crews of RN ships and other visiting navies. The historic South Yard, which Kydd would have known, will be open to visitors. www.royalnavy.mod.uk =================== 9 NEW ON THE WEB Just what do you take along for reading matter on a dangerous mission to the upper reaches of the Amazon? Take a look in the website to find out! www.JulianStockwin.com -> Author -> Album =================== + KYDD Memorabilia There's a pair (one for you, one for a friend) of the latest laminated Kydd series bookmarks for the first 20 Shipmates to email in their postal details. Pls. put Bookmarks in the subject line. + COMING NEXT MONTH The Bosun goes behind the scenes to talk with Julian about the writing of QUARTERDECK. Yours aye, THE BOSUN ++ Back issues of the newsletter downloadable from the website ++