Letters from the Med launched in Auckland

by Richard Gladwell Sail-World NZL on 8 Jun 2006 Ian and Andrea Treleaven held the New Zealand launch of their book 'Letters from the Med' at Auckland’s Tamaki Yacht Club, last night.

As Ian Treleaven pointed out, the occasion was doubly significant, as Tamaki YC is where he and Andrea met 30 years ago.

'Letter from the Med' started out as a series of emails written by Andrea to Sail-World.com which ran for a number of years on a weekly basis. At the urging of friends the material which comprises of reports of their cruises around the Med, superb photos and recipes from the localities, was spliced together into a book, published by New Holland.

The three year cruise has taken the Treleavens to some exotic locations, in 11 countries on an 8,000nm. Each stop is faithfully recorded. However it is the way the material has been assembled that really makes this book. An unusual, rather casual layout style, will turn this into a very well thumbed, coffee table book. It is a very high quality publication.

Not surprisingly it is selling extremely well, often within days of coming onto the market. It is not hard to see why.

Running to 144 pages of traveller’s anecdote, seamanship and recipes, Letters from the Med is probably most notable for its photographs.

Taken by Andrea Treleaven, these are striking firstly for their professionalism. There is not an average shot in the book. Secondly the images are notable for the way in which Andrea has been able to capture the Mediterranean scenery and history. This is a very old part of the world, where buildings merge with the landscape to form some unique scenery, and she has captured it perfectly.

It seems a little strange that after all these hundreds of years, a couple from a relatively recent land of Australia, are cruising these waters in a fibreglass boat, where previously ancient galleys sailed. However maybe that is part of the timelessness of the place and the Treleaven’s voyage which they share with us.

Letters from the Med is first and foremost a cruising book, however its style and layout is quite different from the usual narrated log, and it is a very enjoyable read – either to flick through and gain a quick appreciation for the Med and their voyage in the Cadiz, or to settle back in a quiet warm spot, and allow yourself to be transported to a far off land.

In undertaking their cruise of the Med, the Treleavens followed a few simple rules. 'We never frighten ourselves, and don’t set deadlines for a passage', explains Ian. 'We always have a big anchor which is well dug in, and we never arrive in port in the dark'.

Surprisingly the Treleavens have not spent more than 10 nights at sea in the three years. Their longest sail was 380nm from Malta to Crete, which accounted for three of those ten nights.

Cruising in the Med is not an expensive exercise, with costs including maintenance being about the same as keeping a boat in Westhaven.

The next book will probably be derived from Treleaven’s next cruise – around the Caribbean and once again, Andrea will be sending regular reports to Sail-World.