Humphrey Bogart spent some 40 weekends a year sailing his Olin Stephens designed yacht Santana, and earned a well-deserved reputation as one of the most accomplished racers and skippers in Southern California. Be it a long race around the islands or at anchor off some pebbled beach, Bogie felt at ease amongst sailors, whose respect he had earned both on and off the waters. He referred to Santana as "the other world" and revealed a side of himself to his sailing friends that no one else saw.
"Sailing means something different to everyone who does it, from a casual flirtation with the wind to a deeply important, essential part of life," writes Bogart's close friend and sailing and racing-partner Larry Dudley. "Bogart already had a full life when he bought Santana - success in his profession, a beautiful young wife whom he adored, a family to start and raise, but there was something unique that sailing Santana gave him, [becoming] a sailor among sailors, master of a finite but complete world where he was at ease, accepted as a skilled helmsman, boat handler and sometime competitor."
In this intimate portrait, Dudley recounts a Bogart little known to others, and in the process spins wonderful, previously untold stories about a remarkable human being at sea and on shore.
