In the 1950s, Jocelyn Greenway wrote about her family’s adventures taken in a 22-foot-long wooden sailing boat called Puffin. In February this year, after a long search, her daughter, Cathy Woodhead, discovered Puffin in Underfall’s Boatyard in the Bristol Docks.

Cathy, a University of Bristol graduate, is now publishing her mother’s articles about their adventures in a book called Puffin’s Log. The book is illustrated with her father’s sketches, photographs and maps. Sadly, neither parent is still alive.

Sir Chris Bonington, the famous mountaineer, said of the book: "What a lovely and very special book.  It's one that all generations can enjoy - the older, like myself, with nostalgia, and the younger, as an inspiration to go out and adventure.  I love the illustrations and the freshness of the narrative - it takes me back to my own childhood and the adventures that I enjoyed."

Puffin had a small cabin and all the family – Cathy’s parents, plus her brother Simon (also a Bristol University graduate) and sister Jill – enjoyed many adventures sailing to France, Belgium and Holland. Drying out clothes and bedding after the wake of a tug washed over them; the drama of when the jibsheet broke in a gale, and the day they were chased by a policeman on a bicycle, were all just part of the fun and the stories are engagingly told in Puffin’s Log.

Cathy well remembers those holidays: “I have fond memories of Puffin – the musty smell of paint, salt water and petrol,” she said. “Sometimes a sudden squall meant we had to get below quickly. Then it might be too rough to use the bucket (our toilet) – even if we were sea-sick!  It was at times like that I just wanted to be like my friends who had ‘normal’ holidays.”

Local man, Jasper Loveless, the current owner of Puffin, has the major task of renovating this very old classic wooden boat built by Hillyard of Littlehampton sometime between 1910 and 1930.

The Underfall Boat Yard was rescued from dereliction in the 1990’s, with support from Bristol City Council, the Heritage Lottery Fund, the South West Regional Development Authority and volunteers. Following restoration, the yard was set up as a working boatyard with individual tenants and businesses, many of whom are focused on restoring classic boats like Puffin.

Later this year Cathy is publishing a second book by her mother, Australia Bound and Other Family Adventures. It tells the story of the family travelling 2,000 miles round Europe on Lambretta scooters in the 1950s, emigrating to Australia and helping out on an island sheep station.