Rod Heikell

Biography

Rod Heikell was born in New Zealand in 1949 and sailed hesitantly around bits of it’s coast in a variety of yachts. He tried racing in the Hauraki Gulf but was really not much good at it. In England he abandoned academic life and for no good reason other than curiosity, he bought Roulette, a 1950’s plywood JOG yacht nearly 20ft long, and sailed it down to the Mediterranean. He worked on charter here and delivered yachts until, in ignorance of the scale of the task, he set off to write a yachtsman’s guide to Greece. This was followed by guides for other countries in the Mediterranean. He has sailed back and forth between England and the Mediterranean including a trip down the Danube and on to Turkey in Rosinante, an 18ft Mirror Offshore. In 1996 he took his fourth yacht, his beloved Tetra, to SE Asia and back for the research for Indian Ocean Cruising Guide. Apart from sailing the ‘wrong’ way and back again the ‘right’ way across the Indian Ocean in Tetranora, his beloved 31ft Cheverton New Campaigner, he has done two transatlantics in seven tenths and two transatlantics on Skylax, his present yacht. He has also cruised extensively in other parts of the world on other yachts. Skylax is now back in the Mediterranean after her circumnavigation being readied for new adventures. He always returns to the Mediterranean, his favourite cruising grounds, where with his wife Lu he updates his guides on the area.

Where to find Rod Heikell online

Where to buy in print

Books

By the Edge of the Sea
Price: $5.00 USD. Words: 39,790. Language: English. Published: July 28, 2020 . Categories: Nonfiction » Travel » Essays & Travelogues, Nonfiction » Travel » Specialties & interests » Adventure
Essays and semi-true tales after 50 years on the sea. For 50 years Rod Heikell has been living on and sailing boats around various bits of the world. In the process he has accumulated a little bundle of stories and often reflected on the places he has been to and on the people who live there. Some adventures, some history and some thoughtful reflection on a path less travelled.
Sailing Ancient Seas
Price: $4.50 USD. Words: 66,860. Language: English. Published: December 8, 2014 . Categories: Nonfiction » Travel » Specialties & interests » Essays & Travelogues
This is a story of a voyage in an old wooden sailing boat from the Mediterranean to Southeast Asia and back. It is a story of the love of a boat and along the way it explores ancient sailing routes from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean. This book tells not only of life after love and of the love of an old wooden sailing boat, but of the adventure of the voyage and of ancient voyagers as well.
The Accidental Sailor
Price: $4.50 USD. Words: 60,090. Language: English. Published: August 22, 2013 . Categories: Nonfiction » Travel » Trip Journals, Nonfiction » Sports & outdoor recreation » Sailing
In 1976 Rod Heikell set off in Roulette, a 20 foot boat that should probably have never left the Solent, for the Mediterranean. Via the French Canals and Biscay he somehow got to the Mediterranean and sailed to Corsica, Italy and onto Greece. It records the near disasters and highs and lows of a voyage which shaped his life in ways he never imagined.He became the accidenta