Join the Library Society in welcoming Frank Blair as he speaks about his recent book, The Schooner Maggie B, telling the story of his true Southern Ocean circumnavigation, around the great capes, filling the imagination of every serious, as well as armchair, sailor. To RSVP, call 843-723-9912 or email dreutter@charlestonlibrarysociety.org
In 2005, Frank Blair built a 63-foot wooden schooner in Nova Scotia and, with an all-volunteer crew, set off on her two-year maiden voyage around the world. Many sailing books tell of racing hardships, disasters at sea, days adrift in a life raft, or being dismasted off Cape Horn. This book is about a great success: a sailor’s dream voyage well executed. The Schooner Maggie B tells of breakdowns but also the recoveries, great ports and how to surmount their bureaucracies, the sublime pleasures of a clear night watch and other days with fresh gales, and the apprehension and joys of 4000-mile blue water passages. Come along!
Frank Blair served in the US Navy for five years as a fighter pilot flying single-seat fighters off of carriers in the Mediterranean and the Western Pacific, and received five Air Medals for low-level reconnaissance over North Vietnam. Flying skills honed sailing skills: radio, navigation, meteorology and appreciation for Bernoulli’s Principle. His love of sailing began in childhood and he worked Hurricane Island Outward Bound School for 20 years teaching seamanship. The US Coast Guard licensed him as a Master for Sail and Power. He became a Shellback en route to Australia from Vietnam and has served as a Stand-In for Neptune twice since. He lives in Maine and on his new schooner, FARFARER.