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A complicated and tragic legacy

A complicated and tragic legacy

September 30, 2024 at 12:00 am

Fall 2024 “The Wide Wide Sea” by Hampton Sides. Doubleday. 2024; 408 pps. $20.49. Reviewed by Robert Beringer As I began reading Hampton Sides’ latest offering, “The Wide Wide Sea,” which vividly captures the third voyage of Captain James Cook, I couldn’t help but admire the man who achieved soRead More

A long, soggy romp to London

A long, soggy romp to London

May 20, 2024 at 12:00 am

June 2024 “The Worst Journey in the Midlands” by Sam Llewellyn. Macmillan Publishers. 1994. 192 pps. $8.36. Reviewed by Randy Randall I recently read “The Worst Journey in the Midlands” by Sam Llewellyn on the recommendation of Nim Marsh, the former editor of Points East and someone I consider aRead More

The saga of an American boatbuilder

The saga of an American boatbuilder

May 20, 2024 at 12:00 am

June 2024 “Born to Build: Cape Dory . . . A Standard of Value” by Andrew C. Vavolotis and James L. Nelson. ACV Boatworks, LLC, Publisher. 217 pps. $44.95. Review by Bob Muggleston Sailors in New England are well familiar with the many Cape Dory offerings that still, some 30Read More

No good deed goes unpunished

No good deed goes unpunished

April 22, 2024 at 12:00 am

“Left for Dead: Shipwreck, Treachery, and Survival at the Edge of the World” by Eric Jay Dolin. Liveright Publishing Corporation. 2024. 314 pp. $24.25.   Reviewed by Bob Muggleston The Falkland Islands, for those of us of a certain age, are generally the place of an undeclared war that tookRead More

The many guises of adventure and obsession

The many guises of adventure and obsession

February 5, 2024 at 12:00 am

Winter 2024 Reviews by Sandy Marsters There are many ways to write a story, put a cover on it, and call it a book. In the case of the following three books, we look at a chilling fiction fashioned from whole cloth, a book of historical mystery/fiction about something weirdRead More

We’re gonna need a bigger boat

We’re gonna need a bigger boat

November 20, 2023 at 12:00 am

December 2023 By Randy Randall Four Months in a Sneak-Box by Nathaniel H. Bishop. Lee & Shepard Publishers. 1879. 348 pp. $19.13. Kindle Edition free. When it comes to cruising, how small a vessel is too small? Extraordinary voyages in ridiculously small boats, it seems, have been a maritime traditionRead More

Simplicity and out-of-the-box thinking

Simplicity and out-of-the-box thinking

September 25, 2023 at 12:00 am

Fall 2023 Boats with an Open Mind: Seventy-Five Unconventional Designs and Concepts by Phil Bolger. McGraw Hill, LLC. 1994. 432 pp. $22.   Reviewed by Randy Randall “Boats with an Open Mind: Seventy-Five Unconventional Designs and Concepts” is Phil Bolger’s last published book. He died in 2009, but his influenceRead More

Jack of all trades, master of some

Jack of all trades, master of some

August 21, 2023 at 12:00 am

How To Build a Tin Canoe: Confessions of an Old Salt by Robb White. Hyperion Books. 2003. 228 pp. $45 (Hardcover). September 2023 Reviewed by Bob Muggleston Ever meet someone who might have missed his calling? After reading “How to Build a Tin Canoe: Confessions of an Old Salt,” byRead More

‘Swallows and Amazons’ still delights

‘Swallows and Amazons’ still delights

June 19, 2023 at 12:00 am

July 2023 By Randy Randall We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea (Swallows and Amazons) by Arthur Ransome, Jonathan Cape Ltd. 1937; 333 pp, $15. If you didn’t happen to grow up in the UK, you might not know about a series of children’s books called “Swallows and Amazons.” IRead More

A love song to home waters

A love song to home waters

May 22, 2023 at 12:00 am

June 2023 Still Water Bending by Wendy Mitman Clarke, Head to Wind Publishing 2017; 351pp, $17. Reviewed by Christopher Birch There’s been a lot of rumbling lately about the elusive work/life balance. For Jines Arley Evans, that issue is not a concern: The man just fishes. His boat is hisRead More