By Mahmoud Zakaria If you are looking for excitement and adventure, the story of the “Sons of Sindbad” will thrill you to the core. The Sons of Sindbad were Kuwaiti sailors skilled in the arts of sea navigation, as described by Alan Villiers. Villiers (1903-1982) was an Australian marine scientist and the author of the book “The Sons of Sindbad”.
He undertook a long voyage with Kuwaiti sailors that lasted approximately nine months, from the port of Aden in Yemen to Kuwait between 1938 and 1939. Villiers boarded a Kuwaiti dhow called Bayan, captained by al-noukhada Ali Al-Najdi. Villiers admired the Kuwaiti sailors and was eager to learn the arts of sea navigation from Captain Najdi.
He spent the entire voyage learning from him, writing and recording the events of the journey on a daily basis throughout the nine months as the boat moved from one port to another. Sometimes the dhow carried passengers; other times, it traded various goods. After the end of the trip and the boat’s return to Kuwait, Villiers stayed in Kuwait for another four months before leaving for London.
The following year, in 1940, Villiers published the events of the trip in a book called “The Sons of Sindbad”. The ministry of information translated this valuable book in 1981. The book is considered to be of great historical value because it documents the maritime, social and even political history of Kuwait.
Villiers writes in the book: “The boat pushed from Bahrain across the coral reefs to.
