Once is Enough

by Miles Smeeton

Release Date: 30 April, 2003

Edition: Paperback

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Ship of fools.

The first half of this book is an enjoyable read, even if like me, you feel that the Smeeton's goal to round Cape Horn in a yacht is foolhardy. And sure enough, the Southern Ocean serves up the house specialty for them right on cue, pitchpoles their boat, and they narrowly escape with their lives.

By the time I got to the second half of the story, I was disgusted with their pointless and quixotic drive to try to round the Horn again after they had spent half a year in S. Chile begging, borrowing, and stealing parts and labor to rebuild their nearly-demolished yacht. At this point I could not enjoy any more of Mile's detailed descriptions of their jury rig or navigational efforts.

The Smeetons deluded themselves into believing that they were some sort of noble adventurers, striking out where less daring people feared to tread. The truth was that they were fools; their experience and knowledge provided them with ample reasons why people should not attempt the Horn in a small boat. But they just did it anyway. A lot of their folly was driven by this pride. Miles even admits that they did it BECAUSE they feared doing it. To his credit, at one point he confesses that they were not thinking rationally when they decided to make the second go at it (which ended disastroulsy, same as the first).

Years later the CCA awarded the Smeetons the Bluewater Medal, but it wasn't in recognition of this particular voyage, but rather for their lifelong accomplishment of cruising nearly the entire globe in Tsu Hang. On the voyage detailed in Once is Enough, their culpability in repeatedly putting themselves in such unnecessary risk was anything but seamanlike.

Seamanship

Once Is Enough is more than enough, especially south of Cape Horn.

Perserverance and seamanship at its best!

Allows you a third chance at a successful attempt.