Award-winning author, sailor and storyteller Wyl Menmuir is a writer based in Cornwall. His book The Draw of the Sea is a beautifully crafted portrait of the sea and people whose livelihoods revolve around it, examining the universal pull the sea holds over the human imagination.
While exploring what it is that draws us to the waters' edge, Wyl tells the stories of the people whose lives are entwined with the coastline and all it has to offer. This must-read book, which won the Roger Deakin Award for nature writing, will delight anyone familiar with the powerful pull the sea holds over us.
Wyl is currently restoring a 1962 wooden Wayfarer dinghy called Eleana in the Museum's boatbuilding workshop, as the heart of his next book Seaworthy, published by Picador in 2028.
Could you tell us a little about yourself and your connection to Cornwall and the sea.
I grew up in Stockport, which is about as landlocked a place as there is in England. I think we often value what we don’t have so, moving to Cornwall, I felt entirely drawn to the sea and still do. I love pretty much anything to do with the sea, whether that’s sailing, surfing (gloriously badly), swimming or freediving. And, if I’m not in or on the sea, I’m often by the water, watching surfers, walking my dog, collecting shells, or doing mini beach cleans. I get so much out of being on, in and by the sea, in terms of my mental health, inspiration for writing, fitness, enjoyment, challenge. When I’m feeling low, I head for the sea. When I’m happy, I head for the sea. When I have a puzzle I can’t figure out in my office, I head for the sea. It’s good for whatever ails you and, in Cornwall, the sea is only ever a few miles away at most, and I feel lucky to be able to make a life here.
Image: Oliver Udy
Your first non-fiction book The Draw of the Sea, is stocked here in the Museum Gift Shop. Why or how did the sea draw you in to write this one?
My first novel, The Many, was set in a small fishing village, much like many of those you find around the Cornish coast. My research for that was to walk around these villages and talk to fishermen and people who had lived in those villages for years. I heard so many fascinating stories, I knew I wanted to write a non fiction book about the various ways people relate to the sea around the same coastline. That’s where The Draw of The Sea came from, a fascination with how other people relate to the coastline and the waters around Cornwall and Scilly - it’s an endlessly rich subject, not least because the sea is so different depending on where in Cornwall you are, and so different depending on what your interest in it is.
Can you tell us a little about your next project, Seaworthy?
Seaworthy builds on my passion for, and knowledge of, sailing. I have raced catamarans and dinghies, sailed traditional Cornish boats and modern yachts, though I have never created or recreated something capable of sailing. There I am starting from a zero point and this book will chart the journey, teamwork, persistence and resilience necessary to create a seaworthy boat, one that will keep me and my crew safe in an unpredictable environment, exactly the skills we desperately need in today’s world.
The idea to restore a boat and take it to sea, and to explore ways we might navigate uncertain waters, both literal and in our own lives, is one I hope will resonate with those living through anxious times. The challenge is a very real one. I struggle to navigate life’s choppy waters myself, and to add to that, I’m not the most practically minded person and who knows where the story will go?
There's something very fitting about restoring a boat here, in a place that exists to celebrate our relationship with the sea, can you tell us more about why being based at the Museum felt right for the project?
There are so many reasons why working in the museum is perfect for this project and I’m thrilled to be here. Working in the open boat workshop, right in the heart of the museum, I’m alongside expert boatbuilders and boat volunteers, who have been hugely generous in sharing their time, their expertise and their stories. It means I’m not working alone, but as part of a community and the more I think about the idea of seaworthiness, the more I think it has deep connections to community and place. I also get to talk to visitors as I work and I love hearing different people’s takes on what it means to be seaworthy while I’m working. It also means I’m working alongside the small boats collection, which is full of stories that have inspired me for years. The boat I’m restoring is a 1962 wooden Wayfarer, and I’m working on it just a few metres from the most famous of all Wayfarers, the one owned by Frank and Margaret Dye, whose adventures and stories are hugely meaningful to so many people, me included.
We’re going to be launching the boat from the museum in early summer, and when the book comes out I’ll be bringing her back to launch the finished book here too.
