Undiscovered Scotland

 

In 1979 Cully Pettigrew purchased a 27ft sloop, Papillon of Carden, which has been in commission every year since. During that time the author has covered 26,000 miles in her, mostly single-handed, while exploring the waters off the West Coast of Scotland, one of the last unspoiled wildernesses on the western fringes of Europe. Throughout his travels the author has also been keeping detailed cruising logs, and "Hebridean Diary of a Serial Sailor" draws heavily on records kept at the time.

But this is much more than a simple account of journeys made, places visited and people met. It is in effect Cully Pettigrew's autobiography. You learn a great deal about sailing Hebridean waters between its (virtual) covers. But you also find out about the author's life as a Scottish art dealer, and about his philosophy of life: how mindfulness and keeping an open mind are essential for us all to live in harmony. This extends into his views on anti-consumerism and materialism; the role of technology in the modern world; and possible futures for mankind. But mostly this book is about sailing, and about Scotland's western coast and the Hebrides: and at this level it is one of those books that have you yearning to be actually seeing the world through the author's eyes rather than just reading about his experiences. The author has described the book as comprising "10% philosophy, 20% of my life in the Scottish art scene, and 70% my sailing log".

One of the later chapters in the book is entitled "Year of Sailing Dangerously 2012", the focal point of which is an incident which nearly brought Cully Pettigrew's sailing adventures, and his life, to a premature end. This near miss promoted the author's decision to write the book, and we can all be grateful that this wealth of experience has not simply been left in logs and diaries. An original entry in one of them, from 1990, commented: "Why do I bother to write all this down, as nobody will ever read this stuff". Now we can.

It is worth noting that there are two different versions of Cully Pettigrew's book. "Hebridean Diary of a Serial Sailor" is the full autobiography, and is available as a Kindle edition. The second book, "Yachting Journal of a Hebridean Sailor" is available in printed format, and can best be thought of as an abridged edition comprising the cruising logs which form part of the larger book.