Crockett, Rigel 1974-

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CROCKETT, Rigel 1974-

PERSONAL: Born December 15, 1974, in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada; naturalized U.S. citizen. Education: Mount Allison University, B.S., 1997.

ADDRESSES: Home—Savannah, GA. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Rodale, 33 E. Minor St., Emmaus, PA 18098-0099. E-mail—rigel@tallshipadventure.com.

CAREER: Writer and sailor.

WRITINGS:

Fair Wind and Plenty of It: A Modern-Day Tall Ship Adventure, Knopf (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS: In 1997, Nova Scotia native Rigel Crockett set out on a sailing adventure that would, over the course of the next two years, take him around the world and teach him much about discipline, perseverance, and human nature. The son of a boat-builder father and a sail-maker mother, he first took to the water at age nine and began sailing professionally at age twelve. Crockett chronicles the crew's experiences during the Picton Castle's maiden voyage in Fair Wind and Plenty of It: A Modern-Day Tall Ship Adventure. In addition to depicting exotic ports of call and interactions with natives, Crockett documents the complex relationships between the ship's captain and the thirty-odd crew members, many of whom left the trip prematurely as a result of continued conflicts. His motivation for writing the book, he shared with Mount Allison University Alumni Online, was "to exorcize some of the memories … [and] to chronicle the adventure so it wouldn't be forgotten and so others could have the experience."

A reviewer for Publishers Weekly called Fair Wind and Plenty of It "an engrossing memoir," adding that "Crockett vividly portrays the difficulties of living and working with others in cramped quarters, as well as the feeling of abandon that comes upon arrival on land." A Kirkus Reviews contributor commented that "anyone who regularly hugs the coast in a smaller craft will enjoy Crockett's tale and find reason to envy him." In an online review for Four-eyed Frog Book Reviews, Iris Lorenz-Fife wrote: "Crockett proves himself as keen observer of human foibles and ship life, and as fine a storyteller as he is helmsman."