Honey, Let's Get a Boat... A Cruising Adventure of America's Great Loop Review
I read the book because I wanted to learn more about the Great Loop. I wanted to know why this journey is so popular among so many and why so many boaters tell me that doing the Great Loop is their ultimate goal as boat owners. Well, I am very impressed Mr and Mrs. Stob! Although, I have to say that you had to navigate through some bad weather, the journey really offers the variety that we are looking for in a boating adventure. I am also pretty impressed that Eva and Ron managed to squeeze almost a year of adventures and over 5500 miles in such a small book. When I finished reading I said to my husband: "Honey, let's save!" They helped me understand more of the day to day life on the Great Loop. I liked the fact that they focused on regular people that they met along the way. They are not talking about huge adventures but little fun things that make our lives so full on daily bases. Only when reading the book I realized that I could coordinate this journey with my family's and friends' vacation time and spend even more quality time with them on our boat while away from home. I also want to thank them for starting the America's Great Loop Cruisers' Association that has been incredibly helpful in getting more information about the journey.
Honey, Let's Get a Boat... A Cruising Adventure of America's Great Loop Overview
This is the story of a couple's travels on a forty-foot trawler cruising 6300 miles and 145 locks around the eastern part of North America known as America's Great Loop or the Great Circle Cruise. Their nautical ineptitude is evident from the beginning, but pulling from their personal and collective strengths, the authors overcome doubt, a lack of experience, and real and imagined horrors. The odyssey is told the way life hands out its adventures -- sometimes humorously, sometimes tragically, but always memorably. The writing is light and appealing, but there is a serious strain running through the book for those who relish history and descriptions of the landscape. Astute and attentive to detail, they chronicled events and kept an account of expenses, equipment and charting. As a result, the appendix/guidebook is worth the price of the book for anyone interested in planning their cruise. Topics include necessary charts and guidebooks, information on locks, sett! ing an itinerary, resource addresses and websites, details on equipment and the best place to be educated about boating. The book has full-color inserts with black and white photographs interspersed throughout.
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Customer Reviews
Honey, Let's Get a Boat - Rayman -
A must read for anyone thinking of taking this adventure on. Written in a down home way that makes you feel you are on the boat with them. Lots of valuable info, you just need to inflate some of the costs to today's numbers.
My hubby read the whole thing! - Alison S. Dittmar - u.s.a.
All I can say is, he hardley EVER reads books (magazines, newspapers, techno stuff-yes) and he read and read and talked and pointed and LOVED this book!
Great story tellers these folks!
The call of The Great Loop - Teri Mathis - Texas
I read this gem a while ago, but I can't get the imagery out of my mind. Gliding along waterways in a comfortable trawler, with everything you could possibly need on board, at your fingertips. Putting up at night in exciting or quiet venues, watching nature up close or meeting new people along the way who are making this joyous trip around The Great Loop. It's for you water people, boaties, and those slightly bored with life. You'll adore the writing -- heavy on the fantasy of it, light on the work and problems inherent in this kind of undertaking. Read it and you will soon be planning your own Great Loop trip.
Why does he have to be a BLACK peanut vendor? - Jonathan Witmer - Muskegon, MI
I started out really enjoying this book as I too have dreams of completing the Great Loop when I retire. However, the more I read, the more I became annoyed by the authors writing style or storytelling. Some things that really annoyed me, noting the black people he came into contact with - the black students near Savannah State or the black boiled peanut vendor. I don't remember him writing about the white dockmaster or the fellow white boat owners. It seemed odd to me and made him somehow less credible. Also, referring to his wife as "toots" or "m'lady"? Ugh. And the part about his wife claiming she will become "flat chested" by leaning over the sink to do dishes? What was that about? I guess he tried to add a personal touch to the story with these things, but like I said, I just ended up being annoyed.
I also found myself wishing he did a better job of letting the reader know what time of year it was while he was in each place. He would say things like "the beginning of the season" or "it is common this time of year", but that has drastically different meanings for different geographic regions.
If you can sift through that kind of stuff, I think he did a pretty good job of pointing out places of interest along the Great Loop. While some other reviewers said it was like reading a tourist pamphlet, I found myself mentally adding those places to my list of stops in a few years.
*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Sep 04, 2010 10:40:05
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