Salt and Emerald: a hesitant solo voyage round Ireland and the Irish

'Don't hesitate to read this wonderful book! …That he's a writer of talent there is no doubt. This book is not just a travel story - this is a story spiced with zest and energy; each refreshing bite to be savoured to the last morsel.'

'This book is a Gem. Superbly written. Not a word or an image wasted. A sail around the seas, ports, islands and people of Ireland by an author with a sensitive, accurate, compassionate and humourous eye and ear for everything and everyone that he encounters. This will be a classic'

Alastair Scott, world-traveller by kilt, backpack, bicycle and dogsled, takes to the water on a voyage of revelations round Ireland. With only sixty miles solo skippering experience and one successfully laid (and recovered) anchor he takes on some of the most challenging waters in Europe in a sometimes tense, often hilarious personal odyssey.
Over 1,700 miles he confronts his temperamental ally, the sea, in sandbars, tidal sluices, the Atlantic swell of the exposed west coast and an injurious summer storm which leaves him, literally, single-handed.His discovery of this new form of exploration gets him into some classic sailing predicaments - and some unique ones! Yet this book is much more than a personal adventure. Scott's practised eye for the eccentric and wonderful roves over Ireland past and present revealing a brimming chalice of places, from the awesome to the terrifying, and characters as diverse as doyen of Irish sailing Wallace Clark, travel writing luminary Dervla Murphy, Fungi the dolphin and pilgrims on the summit of Croagh Patrick. Ever wondered why sea birds legs don't freeze? How to make illicit whiskey? What connection Ireland has to the mystery of the Mary Celeste? The answers are all here.
His idiosyncratic curiosity about everything he encounters leads the reader on a hugely entertaining voyage of discovery. It carries you along at a minimum of five knots.