South Sea Vagabonds
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75th anniversary edition of the timeless New Zealand classic of adventure at sea. The true story of Johnny Wray's adventures after being fired from his day job in the Great Depression, building his own boat and spending the rest of his days sailing around the Pacific, living the life of his dreams, has become a classic and an inspiration to generations of readers, sailors and landlubbers alike. From the hilarious and jaw-dropping account of how Johnny begged, borrowed and stole the materials to build his famous yacht, Ngataki, to the many adventures he and his mates had around the atols and islands of the South Pacific, South Sea Vagabonds is much more than just a ripping yarn; it is a heartfelt hymn to the possibility of living a free life, of being the master of one's own destiny. As such it has touched the souls of countless readers since its first publication in 1939.
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This book, first published in 1935, is somewhat iconic in Auckland nautical circles and has been reprinted a number of times. Johnny Wray was well known in yachting circles before he passed away in 1986. My edition is a 75 year anniversary edition, with an introduction by Bruce Aynsley (which describes a lot more of Wray's life than the book does) and contains a lot of photos not provided in the original.
As a 21 year old, in the early 1930s, Johnny was made redundant from the job he never liked in the first place - a casualty of the great depression in New Zealand. He wasn't keen on finding a new job, and fancied going cruising around the tropical islands of the South Pacific in a yacht. Friend Walter, who had a small skiff, was discussing it with Johnny.
“There are, let me see, four-five-six ways of acquiring a suitable boat. You can buy one; you can be given one; you can build one; you can beg, borrow or steal one. Now let's take them in order; You can't buy one - not with £8 10s. - so I think we can rule that one out. You don't know anyone likely to give you one?” “I'm afraid not,” I grinned. “You can count that out.”“Well, what about building one? You once made a canoe out of a sheet of roofing iron, don't forget that. I think you ought to build one.”“You'll have to guess again. I don't know one end of a saw from the other.”“You could learn, you have plenty of time now.”
Ngataki
