Jonathan Gornall

How he made a clinker style dinghy for his daughter Phoebe. It was as difficult as it always looks, and took him a year off and on, but fortunately the account is mixed up with lots of very interesting stuff about his life and family, and his exploits trying to row across the Atlantic. Basically he never made it across the ocean so became desperate to finish off this boat project. What Phoebe will make of it in the long term is anybody's guess, I think I could get irritated by the performance of a short stout lug sail dinghy. Lots of interesting stuff about the Orwell, Ipswich and thereabouts. Also the account of his mother's pregnancy and her reaction to the father is very moving, and the reason he ended up at Wolverstone school.… (més)

The story of how a man built a boat for his daughter. The author, who found himself becoming a father again at age 59, set about to leave his new born daughter a remembrance of himself. His troubled past family life obviously affected him, and he wanted to make sure that his child did not have to ever have the doubts about family that raced through his veins. His solution was to build this boat. Never mind that he had no idea of how to build it, nor any skills to accomplish it. He pressed on, to his eventual success.
It's a good story.
Spoiler: after reading the advance copy I received from NetGalley (which was an electronic copy, with no photos), I went online and found the author. There I found him and his daughter, in the boat, looking extremely happy. A happy ending!… (més)