Put On Your Sailin’ Shoes

by | May 19, 2005

Savannah is Georgia’s first city. It’s also a place with a lot of character, and such places draw characters to them. This topic could surely serve as a cultural geography doctoral thesis, but for our purposes here, allow me to point out that Savannah is a port city. Port cities import people, and ideas carried by these people, from near and far. One such person Savannah has attracted is tall ship sailor and storyteller, Rigel Cockett.

Crockett’s book, Fair Wind and Plenty of It chronicles his year-and-a half circumnavigation of our watery planet.

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According to his web site, Crockett grew up in Rose Bay, near Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, and has sailed professionally in tall ships from the age of twelve. A graduate of Mount Allison University, he also holds a 100-ton master’s license and a 1600-ton mate’s license in sailing and motor-ships, issued by the US Coast Guard. At the end of his twenty-six-month tour aboard the barque Picton Castle, he was awarded the title of Best Shipmate through a nearly unanimous vote. He lives in Savannah, Georgia, where he does editing work, plays bass guitar in a band and is at work on his first novel.

His site was designed by Savannah graphic artist, Ariel Janzen, who also attended Mount Allison University, leading me to believe the two may be a couple. Like I said, Savannah attracts characters.