Bob Shepton is an ordained minister in the Church of England in his late 70s, but spends most of his time sailing into the Arctic and making first ascents of inaccessible mountains. No tea parties for this vicar.
Opening with the disastrous fire that destroyed his yacht whilst he was ice-bound in Greenland, the book travels back to his childhood growing up on the rubber plantation his father managed in Malaysia, moving back to England after his father was shot by the Japanese during the war, boarding school, the Royal Marines, and the church. We then follow Bob as he sails around the world with a group of schoolboys, is dismasted off the Falklands, trapped in ice, and climbs mountains accessible only from iceberg-strewn water and with only sketchy maps available.
Bob Shepton, winner of the 2013 Yachtsman of the Year Award, is an old-school adventurer, and this compelling book is in the spirit of sailing mountaineer HW Tilman, explorer Ranulph Fiennes, climber Chris Bonington and yachtsman Robin Knox-Johnston, all of whom have been either friends of Bob’s or an inspiration for his own exploits. Derring do in a dog collar!
Ranulph Fiennes: 'A wonderful true tale of adventure.'
Bear Grylls: 'You are going to enjoy this...as a Commando, Bob is clearly made of the right stuff!'
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN: 9781472905871
Number of pages: 224
Weight: 216 g
Dimensions: 198 x 129 mm
An entertaining story told by a genuine adventurer - Sailing Today
You are going to enjoy this: a life, of adventure - surviving the war years on the far side of the world, sailing, climbing, ski mountaineering, in many different parts of the world. It is inspiring that a Reverend should stick his neck out in this way - battling Atlantic storms, losing a mast in Antarctica, sailing continually in the Arctic, making the first ascents of mountains, skiing across remote regions, climbing with world class climbers, and sailing through the North West Passage. As a Commando, Bob is clearly made of the right stuff! - Bear Grylls
His expeditions have made over sixty first ascents of mountains and rock faces…all previously unclimbed, and he has been called ‘the modern Tilman’. All this as well as being, and often in conjunction with being, a Reverend. It’s an interesting and varied life; I commend it to you. - Sir Chris Bonington, Foreword
This is the uniquely interesting and colourful life of a Anglican clergyman turned adventurer. A wonderful true tale of adventure with a wide variety of people of all ages, in different parts of the world and over many years, stretching from the days of the British Empire to the present. A truly interesting book, which I definitely recommend. - Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Foreword
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