''Racundra's First Cruise'' is the first book about sailing written by
Arthur Ransome, author of the
''Swallows and Amazons'' series. It describes a trip he made across the
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...
from
Riga in
Latvia to
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...
in
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
and back in a 9 metre sailing boat that he had built.
Background
During the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, Ransome had spent much of his time as a news correspondent in
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
, where he covered the
revolution
In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
and its aftermath. He was living in Moscow when he approached the designer Otto Eggers in
Reval
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ''m ...
(Tallinn) in Estonia to build him a sturdy cruising boat. He planned to sail ''Racundra'' back to England, but delays in finishing her meant that there was only time for a proving trip in 1922 before the winter and the return to England had to be put off. The six-week trip took till nearly the end of September and much of the account was written on board. He was to marry Evgenia Petrovna Shelepina, the ex-private secretary of
Leon Trotsky
Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...
two years later when his divorce papers came through, before Racundra's third cruise.
:"''Racundra'' turned out to be all that I had hoped. We took her to sea in the Baltic autumn; we had her at sea when big steamers reported damage from the heavy weather, and never once did she show the smallest sign of disquiet. Weather that was good enough for us was good enough for her, and when the Equinox flung her home with a last flick of his mighty tail, she sailed through the rollers on the bar and the troubled
Dvina, serene, neat, as if she was returning from a day's trip in June."
The voyage
Ransome set out with two crew whom he doesn't name directly. One is simply called "The Cook", in actuality his lover and later wife Evgenia Petrovna Shelepina, but he says that she takes "most of the credit for the ease and pleasantness of the voyage. She can take her trick at the tiller if need be, but that, for her, is holiday. All the hard work was hers."
The other is called the "
Ancient Mariner", an old sailor who Ransome had met in Riga living in a small hut on a raft and who had sailed in the
tea clippers including
''Thermopylae'', and been harbourmaster of the "Lilliput port". When he begged Ransome to take him, "I, of course, agreed with joy, as there is no such rigger in the Baltic as the Ancient Mariner". His real name was Captain Carl Sehmel and his character is also featured in several of the
Swallows and Amazons
''Swallows and Amazons'' is a children's adventure novel by English author Arthur Ransome and first published on 21 July 1930 by Jonathan Cape. Set in the summer of 1929 in the Lake District, the book introduces the main characters of John, S ...
books as
Peter Duck
''Peter Duck'' is the third book in the ''Swallows and Amazons'' series by Arthur Ransome. The Swallows and Amazons sail to Crab Island with Captain Flint and Peter Duck, an old sailor, to recover buried treasure. During the voyage the ''Wildcat ...
and Simon, a wherry sailor in ''
Coot Club
''Coot Club'' is the fifth book of Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books, published in 1934. The book sees Dick and Dorothea Callum visiting the Norfolk Broads during the Easter holidays, eager to learn to sail and ...
''.
Sequel
A sequel, ''Racundra's Third Cruise (Racundra Goes Inland)'', was compiled by Brian Hammett from Ransome's unpublished typescript and published in 2002. It details a cruise inland on the same boat, up the river
Lielupe
The Lielupe ( in Latvian literally: ''Large River'', lt, Lielupė, german: Kurländische Aa) is a river in central Latvia. Its length is (the length would reach if the Mēmele River were counted as part of the Lielupe). The surface area o ...
(then known as the Aa) from Riga to
Jelgava
Jelgava (; german: Mitau, ; see also other names) is a state city in central Latvia about southwest of Riga with 55,972 inhabitants (2019). It is the largest town in the region of Zemgale (Semigalia). Jelgava was the capital of the united Du ...
, taken in late summer 1924, as a honeymoon cruise after his marriage to Evgenia Shelepina.
References
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*{{citation, title=The Life of Arthur Ransome, first=Hugh , last=Brogan , year=1985, publisher=London: Hamish Hamilton
1923 non-fiction books
Sailing books
Works by Arthur Ransome