Ostensibly the tale of his 1980 voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic High is William F. Buckley's extended meditation on the pleasures of sailing and good company. Not surprisingly, as much thought seems to have gone into stocking the wine cellar as to charting out the route. Kon-Tiki, this is not, but nor is it meant to be. Instead, it is an essay on appreciation, and a chance for Buckley to share his spirited point of view and exercise his unique sense of humor. After a leisurely, aside-filled discussion of other trips, Buckley sets out with several close friends and a photographer to make his second trans-Atlantic crossing. The first provided the basis for his popular book, Airborne. When asked by People magazine why he chose to make the journey again, Buckley replies with characteristic drollness, "the wedding night is never enough." It is a passion for sailing that motivates Buckley and enlivens his pages. The book ranges fluidly from observation to speculation, from humorous character sketch to wry editorial commentary. It is peppered with anecdotes, including one in which Buckley, armed with a hacksaw, breaks into a boatyard to steal his own boat back from an unscrupulous repairman. In another, an aide to president Reagan calls to discuss a conflict brewing in Africa, and all Buckley can think about is the weather ahead of him and his crew. The real focus of Atlantic High, however, is the voyage and the crewmembers who share it. From the Mujeres Islands to Fiji to Bermuda, to Sao Miguel and Gibraltar and beyond, the reader is treated to Buckley's observations of the places he visits and the people he encounters. A work as hard to categorize as Buckley himself, Atlantic High offers a glimpse into the good life on the high seas.

Prologue

It was 11:30 at night and I was sprawled in the recesses of an armchair, in the living room of the hotel suite, doing a little listless reading, a glass of vodka and grapefruit juice at hand (the ingredients are packed by my wife when I tour); heavy with the fatigue that always hits after your hosts have finally returned you to your quarters -- after the reception -- after the question period -- after the speech -- after the dinner: a fatigue to which you don't want instantly to surrender by sleeping, because the sweetness of decompression is too keen. You are alone! You aren't talking! You will be able to sleep seven hours, before rising to go on to the airport for the next engagement. The telephone rang.

"This is Christopher. Christopher Little. Gee I'm terribly sorry to ring you so late--"

Christopher regularly apologizes when he calls, as if his presence were somehow burdensome. In fact it brings pleasure.

"Apologize to me?" I said. "God," I looked at my watch, "it's two-thirty in New York! You are in New York?"

"Yeah. I know. But the editors of People are going wild. They want just one line from you -- there isn't room for more than one line -- on why you did it again."

"Did what again?"

"Sail across the Atlantic."

"What do they have surrounding the blank line?"

"Shall I read you the whole thing?"

"Shoot."

"The big headline says, 'WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY, JR. BRAVES THE HIGH SEAS, IN HIS FASHION, WITH CHAMPAGNE & SCARLATTI.' "

I groaned, but not noisily -- and anyway, it was largely my fault. Nobody made me mention champagne or Scarlatti.

"Then they have the lead, in italics. It says: 'William F. Buckley, Jr., 54, is well-known as a conservative (TVs "Firing Line") and best-selling author (Who's On First). His reputation as an adventurer is less appreciated. Last month he set out from the Caribbean island, of St. Thomas to sail the Atlantic with four friends, four paid crew members and one intrepid photographer, Christopher Little--' "

"Who said you were intrepid?"

He laughed, Christopher laughs like a shy teenager, at once appreciative and self-effacing. "You did, in the story."

"Okay. Go ahead."

" ' -- aboard the 71-foot ketch Sealestial. It was Buckley's second such crossing; the first was the subject of his 1976 book, Airborne. Why would he try it again?' -- that's where they need the line."

"What comes after the missing line?"

" 'After 30 days at sea the Sealestial landed in Marbella early this month. Before beginning a book about the voyage -- Atlantic High, to be published by Doubleday next year, with photographs by Little -- Buckley wrote this account of the trip for People.' " Christopher paused. "That's it."

"Say: 'Buckley answered, "The wedding night is never enough." ' "

Christopher laughed. But he'd have laughed if I had said, " 'Buckley answered, "Toasted Suzy is my ice cream.

 

Author, public speaker, political candidate and television personality, William F. Buckley, Jr. is one of this country's most prominent public figures. Born in 1925 in New York City, Buckley graduated with honors from Yale University. In 1955 he founded the conservative journal National Review and seven years later launched his syndicated column On the Right. Today it appears in over 300 newspapers. In 1966, he began hosting Firing Line on PBS. Buckley has won numerous awards for his journalism, including an Emmy and a TV Guide award for best interviewer on television.

In addition to his work as pundit and political analyst, Buckley has made more direct forays into political life. He made an unsuccessful bid for mayor of New York City in 1965 and has been a presidential appointee to the United Nations and National Security Council.

Buckley's work as an author has been wide-ranging. Perhaps his most well-known work is 1951's God and Man at Yale, but he has also written novels including Saving the Queen (1976), A Very Private Plot (1994), and a fictional account of Senator Joseph McCarthy, The Red Hunter (1999) which, perhaps not surprisingly, portrays the former Senator in a largely positive light. His spy novel Stained Glass won the American Book Award for Best Mystery in 1980. He has also written two accounts of his sailing voyages, Airborne and Atlantic High.

Buckley is the 1992 recipient of the National Institute of Social Sciences Gold Medal Award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded by former President George H.W. Bush in 1991.

 

Atlantic High by William F. Buckley, Jr.
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