THE ACCIDENTAL SAILOR
Sailing was a very different sport 40 years ago. There was no GPS, no chart-plotters, no AIS, no EPIRBs, and no Gore-Tex. What was also lacking, at least for Mediterranean waters, were proper sailing guides with maps of harbours and details of local facilities. There was of course Henry Denham but, wonderful as they were, his books were more romantic narratives than practical guides.
That all changed when the first Greek Waters Pilot appeared in 1982. In one move, Rod Heikell transformed the parameters of the cruising guide and created a modern, fit-for-purpose, comprehensive pilot that anyone could access. It’s no exaggeration to say that his pilots (for the Greek edition was soon followed by editions for Italy, Turkey and France) helped democratise the sport and encouraged a new kind of sailor to get out and explore these idyllic areas. It’s perhaps no coincidence that the first Rough Guide came out in the same year, for what the Rough Guide did for land travel, Heikell did for the sea.
It’s an extraordinary achievement for a man brought
