Atlantic Journeys

Having spent a year kayaking the Atlantic coastline from Shetland to Cornwall – which resulted in his acclaimed book The Frayed Atlantic Edge – writer, historian, sea kayaker and human seal David Gange is now exploring further afield for a new book project that uses traditions of boat building and travel by small boat alongside the folklore of coastal communities to explore the ocean-going cultures of the North Atlantic. David comes to Peebles between boat journeys in the Faroes and Greenland and will weave together pictures and stories of people, place, ecology, adventure and history. As he says about his new project:

“There’s something uniquely evocative about tiny boats afloat on oceans. Despite their fragility, these small shells of wood, seal skin, cow hide or canvas can cross vast seas in any weather. In isolating their occupants amid the mightiest forces on the planet they reveal humanity at its smallest and most delicate. They immerse humans in the wild worlds of whales, sharks and shoals that are, despite their size and charisma, among the least understood species on our planet. They spell adventure and exploration – but also risk and hardship – on exceptional scales.”