Captain Mugford: Our Salt and Fresh Water Tutors
1880
Captain Mugford: Our Salt and Fresh Water Tutors
1880
The Cornish coast has never felt more dangerous or more delicious. When young Robert arrives at the isolated Tregellin estate with his cousins Walter and Drake, he finds himself at the edge of something vast and wild - the sea itself, waiting to be mastered. Their education falls to two remarkable men: the scholarly Mr. Clare for letters and numbers, and the weathered Captain Mugford for everything that matters on the water. Together with the eccentric caretakers Clump and Juno, the boys embark on a summer that will test their courage, their camaraderie, and their growing seamanship. Kingston weaves practical lessons in swimming, rowing, and sailing into a narrative that pulses with real danger - a ferocious storm that lashes the coast, tense encounters with smugglers whose shadowy vessels slip through the night, and the ever-present pull of the ocean that surrounds their isolated home. Yet this is never merely an adventure story. It's a portrait of how boys become friends, how discipline becomes respect, and how the natural world becomes the greatest teacher of all. For readers who cherish Swallows and Amazons, who dreamed of childhood summers spent on the water, Captain Mugford remains a small Victorian treasure - a story where learning to sail becomes learning to live.
