Once is Enough (The Sailor's Classics #6) [Hardcover]

Miles Smeeton (Author), Jonathan Raban (Introduction)

Book Description

Series: Sailor's Classics | Publication Date: August 30, 2001

In late December 1956, the 46-foot wooden ketch Tzu Hang sailed from Melbourne, Australia, bound for England by way of Cape Horn. Aboard were Miles Smeeton; his wife, Beryl; and their friend John Guzzwell. At that time only a very few small sailboats had ever rounded Cape Horn, and none had sailed as far south as the route the Tzu Hang followed from Australia, just north of the Antarctic iceberg limit. Mountaineers as well as sailors, the Smeetons epitomized the adventurous spirit of the postwar years. Raban's introduction to pays homage to this fine story and explores its genesis. Miles Smeeton had been an officer in the British army in World War II and was among the many British veterans who could not adjust to home and career after the war. Unlike so many others whose marriages fell apart, however, he found that his wife's wanderlust and love of adventure exceeded his own.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Unique among books of maritime adventure." - Times Literary Supplement "They are the first people ever to return alive to tell the story of a boat being somersaulted....And they certainly make fascinating company for a reader with his eyes on the heights of human endeavour." - Sunday Times Jonathan Raban, Series Editor, says this about The Sailor's Classics: "After nearly two hundred years, the literature of small-boat voyaging is enormous. It is the function of The Sailor's Classics to recognize and celebrate the small number of truly important books in this library. Some have been chosen because the voyages they describe are themselves of unignorable merit; some because the sheer brilliance of their writing demands their inclusion. Most combine in equal parts serious nautical interest with literary excellence. These are books whose vigor has not dimmed with the passage of time, whose voice is as alive and meaningful now as it was on their first publication - the books that should be essential reading for every literate sailor. It is from the interweaving of discovery, emotion, adventure, peril, and repose that the pattern of sailing literature is made, and we shall do our best to honor each and every one in our selection of the best books ever written about life aboard small boats at sea.

From the Back Cover

"Unique among books of maritime adventure."--New York Times Book Review

"There was a sudden sickening sense of disaster. I felt a great lurch and heel, and a thunder of sound filled my ears. I was conscious, in a terrified moment, of being driven into the front and side of my bunk with tremendous force. At the same time there was a tearing, cracking sound, as if Tzu Hang was being ripped apart, and water burst solidly, raging into the cabin."

When Tzu Hang, a 46-foot ketch, set sail from Melbourne in December 1956 bound for England, Miles and Beryl Smeeton, their Siamese cat, Pwe, and their friend, John Guzzwell, had little concept of the challenges or the terrors that awaited them. At that time very few small sailboats had successfully rounded Cape Horn, and none had sailed as far south as Tzu Hang--just north of the Antarctic iceberg limit.

Six weeks later, on the night of February 12, in the icy, angry seas several hundred miles west of Cape Horn, Tzu Hang was caught from astern by a huge wave that somersaulted her. Beryl Smeeton, who had been alone at the tiller, was thrown thirty yards into the sea. Her lifeline broken, and suffering a scalp wound and a broken collarbone, she managed to swim to the wreckage of the mast and rigging in the water and pull herself close to the boat where Miles and John could heave her on board. Tzu Hang was a shambles: the tiller, rudder, doghouse, anchor, compass, and dinghies had all been ripped away; the masts had broken off level with the deck, and a tangled mass of wire shrouds, the masts, and the booms spread over the deck and into the water; and Tzu Hang was half-filled with water and close to sinking. The pumps were clogged with debris, so the laborious process of removing water from Tzu Hang--twelve hours of near-constant bailing--had to be done bucket by bucket. Working beyond exhaustion, the crew salvaged what they could, built a new doghouse and masts, fashioned a jury rig, and five weeks later sailed into Arauco Bay on the Chilean coast.

After ten months of making repairs to Tzu Hang in a Chilean navy yard, Miles and Beryl Smeeton (with Pwe but without John Guzzwell) sailed again toward Cape Horn and once again were capsized, dismasted, and nearly sunk by a rogue wave. Again, they survived the disaster and sailed 2,000 miles to Valparaiso, Chile.

One of the most gripping sea stories of all time, Once Is Enough recounts the adventures of Tzu Hang's crew. When it was first published in 1959, this tale of struggle and determination electrified the sailing world. What keeps it fresh and captivating is not just Smeeton's vivid re-creation of the sea's fury; his eloquent descriptions of life at sea and his colorful observations of the many people and places encountered during their journey make Once Is Enough timeless reading for sailors and armchair adventurers alike.

"Once Is Enough--the story of a catastrophe twice over--was Miles Smeeton's first book. It is also his best. He never wrote again with quite such compelling candor, allowing the reader to be the fourth crew member aboard Tzu Hang on the most grueling and disaster-ridden voyage in the boat's long history. . . . The strangest and most memorable thing about Once Is Enough is that it's not a heroic tale of survival, but--of all things--an idyll."--from the introduction by Jonathan Raban

"Brigadier Smeeton's saga is the very essence of authenticity. Its message is clear and simple: Beware the sea in anger, for no small boat can conquer it, however expertly sailed."--New York Times Book Review

"It is the struggle of these three indomitable sailors for survival and their extraordinary resource . . . that makes their taut journal unique among books of maritime adventure. . . . Tzu Hang and her crew add up not only to survival but to a tale full of sound and fury told by an intrepid but eminently sane survivor."--Times (London) Literary Supplement

They are the first people ever to return alive to tell the story of a boat being somersaulted. . . . And they certainly make fascinating company for a reader with his eyes on the heights of human endeavor."--Sunday Times

"Well and forthrightly written . . . full of real adventure and suspense. . . . One reading is not enough."--Libary Journal

The Sailor's Classics recognizes and celebrates the best books ever written about life aboard small boats at sea:

Alone through the Roaring Forties, Vito Dumas
40,000 Miles in a Canoe, John C. Voss
Gipsy Moth Circles the World, Francis Chichester
The Saga of Cimba, Richard Maury
The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst, Nicholas Tomalin and Ron Hall

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: International Marine Publishing (August 30, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071382194
• ISBN-13: 978-0071382199
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,274,575 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A "must read" for aspiring blue water cruisers, November 5, 2006

By 

Tucson Sammy (Tucson, Arizona, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Once is Enough (Paperback)

This is a first hand account of two thwarted attempts to round Cape Horn from the west. It is written by Miles Smeeton, the skipper of the forty two foot ketch, Tzu Hang. It is not for sailors only, and if all you want is sailing, you may end up bored. Much of the book takes place in a port town in Chile, where the Smeetons and John Guzzwell (Trekka Round the World) put in for repairs. The Chilean section is interesting in that it is about the people who end up involved in helping to restore the yacht - some of whom are real characters.

Be sure to read the forward, which provides a brief expalnation of who these people were, and how they ended up spending their retirement sailing the worlds oceans.

Smeeton is not a professional writer, but he writes well, with good descriptions of the people they met, his own impressions, and sensory detail, all of which combine to make the book readable.

There is an historical angle as well. It takes place in the mid-1950's. Smeeton and his wife, Beryl, retired after World War II, Smeeton being an Btritish Army officer and veteran of that war. They are virtually never freaked-out, and always find time for tea.

If you like Brits, if you like sailing, or if you just like a first hand account of some of the original adventure travelers, you will like this book.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars anold set of friends reviseted.., July 8, 2006

By 

David M. Parker "Old sailing writer" (Oxford Ar.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Once is Enough (Paperback)

Miles and "B" Smeton, along with John Guzzwell were all members of the same sailing organization with me, and we shared some exciting and happy times cruising Hawaiian waters..and meeting up from time to time..
While many writers have attempted to explain the incredible shambles of a rollover at sea, I think Miles, in his rather old school British style, has done it best.
This is reality in cool, understated British Brigadier style that every sailor should read, not just for the adventure, but for the example of coolness under duress, inventiveness, and determination that it represents,,
David M. "DR Dave" Parker

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Once is Enough" a Cautionary Tale, March 2, 2009

By 

Jenifer Reinhardt "SeattleRainyDayBookBlog" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Once is Enough (Paperback)

The book "Once is Enough" by Miles Smeeton is fine narrative of a bordering on insane adventure. Miles describes how he and his wife Beryl, and their great friend John Guzzwell take on the southern oceans around Cape Horn. Originating in Melbourne, Australia after the end of the 1956 Olympics, the Smeetons waved goodbye to the great yacht Brittania and prepared for their own journey.

With their daughter Clio now safely in England attending school, Miles and Beryl chart a very southern route around Cape Horn. They have notched a few miles in their 46 foot yacht, Tzu Hang, but nothing as dangerous as this trip. Many a larger ship than theirs had been lost in the waters of the southern ocean. So with enough food and water to last a year the 3 of them sail away just days before Christmas.

Their first thousand miles they experience rough seas despite being in the southern hemisphere during summer. But what would make dread build in me seems to simply egg these people on. The rougher the better they seem to be saying, with John and their Siamese cat Pwe going along for the rugged ride. Miles describes the white capped waters surrounding their yacht in the manner of somebody who is in awe of what he is witnessing and not afraid.

His skill as a writer leads to equally impressive descriptions of his wife Beryl's breakfasts every morning. In whatever kind of weather she always pulled off porridge, bacon and eggs, and burnt toast with marmalade and in that order. Whenever I despaired of understanding these people during the reading of this book, I recalled these breakfasts to remind myself that they were not complete hair shirters.

I don't want to reveal the incredible things that happen to the crew and their ship during this voyage but I will say that it is a page turner. You will be riveted by the extreme nature of their peril and astounded at how they manage themselves and their boat. You do not have to be a sailor to appreciate this story but you better love adventure. "Once is Enough" is a book that you will want to read again.