A Yacht Voyage Round England

Harry and Oliver receive an unexpected offer when illness brings their school term to an early close: a summer cruise round England with their father. Their mother gives permission on condition that they keep a journal, and the brothers promise to help with the sailing. At Southampton they board the Lively, a small yacht whose cabins, crew and equipment quickly become objects of keen interest.

William Henry Giles Kingston combines a boy's account of life afloat with observations of coastal places. The family visits sites associated with Isaac Watts, while an excursion in the Scilly Islands takes in a castle, gardens, sheltered waters and granite formations. Sailing master Paul Truck adds practical knowledge and shipboard conversation to the boys' education. Religious observance and local history run through this children's adventure, giving readers interested in older sea stories a picture of a holiday built around learning, family companionship and close attention to unfamiliar surroundings.