Seaspray and Whisky
by Norman Freeman

Review by Sam Barnes

Though I’m a fan of books with a maritime theme I didn’t quite know what to expect from Seaspray and Whisky. It is based on the true story of an eventful voyage across the Atlantic, delivering cargo to various ports on the west coast of America in an old shabby vessel – as told by the new radio officer. The majority of the plot recalls the unfolding events as some of the cargo, whisky from ‘Vat 69’, is stolen in increasing amounts.

The story moves quite slowly at first, because of the detailed descriptions and background, but within a chapter or two I found I was hooked. This detail should help anyone to read the book without any prior knowledge of boats or seafaring lingo. The book relates to the funny incidents and great characters found onboard the Allenwell.

It gives a great insight into what it was like to serve onboard a commercial ship in the 1960s as the industry has changed vastly since – nowadays ships being ‘dry’ with no alcohol at all and stays in port reduced from up to 2 weeks on this voyage to 12 or 24 hours. Overall, I found it an easy and entertaining read throughout.

Paperback book
Published by Ian Allan Publishing
ISBN 9780711035324
Price: £9.99