Three Ways to Capsize a Boat - An Optimist Afloat

About Chris Stewart

Chris Stewart shot to fame with Driving Over Lemons – Sort Of Books’ launch title in 1999. Funny, insightful and real, the book told the story of how he bought a Spanish peasant farm on the wrong side of the river, with its previous owner still resident. It became an international bestseller and together with its sequels – A Parrot in the Pepper Tree and The Almond Blossom Appreciation Society –has sold more than a million copies in the UK alone.

Chris prepared for life on his Spanish farm with jobs of doubtful relevance. He was the original drummer in Genesis (he played on the first album), then joined a circus, learnt how to shear sheep, went to China to write the Rough Guide, gained a pilot’s license in Los Angeles, and completed a course in French cooking. Three Ways to Capsize a Boat fills in his lost years as a yacht skipper in the Greek islands and dodging icebergs in the Atlantic. It is that rare thing: a book about sailing equally fun for people without a trace of sea legs.

Chris, his wife Ana and their daughter Chloë continue to live on their farm, with their numerous dogs, cats, chickens, sheep and misanthropic parrot.