There's more to come Danny!
You mentioned Eric Newby - while I enjoyed his "Love and war in the Apennines", to me, his best book was his first: "The Last Grain Race". In it, he describes the deep sea voyage he made at the age of 18 in "Moshulu", a Finnish 4 masted barque, out to Australia for grain and back via Cape Horn.. He was the only Brit on board and he grew up fast in the School of Hard Knocks.. I made the mistake of lending it to someone..
I can't recommend it highly enough.