ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the small number of sailors who apparently have radical politics. Some of these are complex figures, involved in rebelling against their family background. Others are inspired by religious ideals. This includes Quakers who are committed to direct action, for example, to protest the testing of nuclear weapons over the ocean. The chapter ends with a discussion of Jonathan Raban’s sailing books, which are unique in questioning the conservative values of many sailing writers. Raban is one of the few writers to combine a cruising narrative with an awareness of the history of colonialism and the presence of indigenous peoples.
