Rating: 
Summary: very boring!
Review: i found this book to be very boring. it was the same thing over and over for almost 300 pages.. i would highly not reccamend this book..
Rating: 
Summary: not to bad at all
Review: I had to read this book for one of my english subjects at school where we had to then choose a book of our own choice. one of my friends said that his mum had read it and that it was not to bad. i thought that the book was a bit long but all of the day to day accounts gave a good review of the trip and how it affected the lifes of these two people that wanted to follow their dream
Rating:
Summary: A Good Sailing Yarn
Review: I liked this book and found it to be a good sea story. It is well written and interesting. I especially enjoyed the father's recounting of his memories of boating with his own father before WWII and other random tales. And while I admire the courage of David and Dan's low-tech approach, I do not think this is something for us sailors to emulate; and indeed much has changed in the few years since the book was written due to GPS and improved communications. The book has its faults. There is a bit too much patronizing half-baked philosophy and sentimental cogitating about personal relationships for my tastes, and the father/son-love-discovery bit gets to be cloying. The title is an indication of much of the off-the-wall, Woody Allen type humor that characterizes their writing. Sometimes their recounting of the jokes they play on each other, and the witty observations they make seem to be aimed at impressing the reader with how clever the authors are. I know they are wittier than I am, but instead of being entertaining, their superior wit left me brooding about my own inadequecies. (Note: Although Bill Bryson is very witty he never leaves the reader feeling inferior or inadequate.) The actual voyage that the father and son made is not that remarkable and has been done by dozens of yachties. Nevertheless there are details, such as managing with a small motorless yacht, that make the story interesting. Dan and David are expert sailors and boatbuilders and there is much for the weekend sailor to learn from this book about boat handling and managing. Also I found the descriptions of the off-the-beaten-track places that they visited to be perceptive and engaging. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in books about voyaging in small boats (and who has a tolerance for BS).
Rating: 
Summary: My old Man and the Sea
Review: I listened to the audio version during a cross country drive with a friend. Along the way, we found ourselves laughing at times, crying at others. Our trip had a lot of ups and downs, much like their travels- of course the amenities of driving a car cross country cannot compare to sailing a boat around the horn!Anyway, my friend identified a little more with the older character, while I identified with his son- it made us think a little more about each others perspective. Definitely the best book on tape I've ever heard.
Rating:
Summary: A great story that encouraged me to sail!
Review: I listened to this book on tape on a driving vacation through coastal British Columbia, and it fed my desire to try sailing. I loved the justapositon of sailing information with the internal personal journey. Made me wonder what happened afterwards, too. So glad to see Dan's update. Solitude seems to fit you. Hope you will share more of your journals in the future. Am jealous of your wife!
Rating: 
Summary: Mildly interesting, turned off by language
Review: I was enjoying this moderately until right about midway (between Galapagos and Easter Island) when the language got rougher than the seas and I deep-sixed it. After reading Joshua Slocum's "Sailing Alone Around The World", (a tremendous story!) this book seemed crude and sophomoric.
Rating:
Summary: both an adventure tale and a family story
Review: I'm on somewhat of a sailing/adventure kick these days, and this book is full of great adventure. Unlike The Godforsaken Sea which is populated by hugh and high tech yachts, this book features the Sparrow, a tiny 25 foot sailboat built by the father and son who sail it. Therefore, their adventure is even more incredible. Lundy even refers to it in The Godforsaken Sea with some awe. Occassionally, you may get sick of some of the personal reflections of the son, but overall, I enjoyed their personal reflections. More than the family bonding, I enjoyed the day to day details: the huge lists, the small tasks that fill the sailing day, the meticulous descriptions of storms and weather -- this is what made the book vivid. For anyone who enjoys this kind of sailing adventure, this book is a must read. I'm still amazed that they made it with some of the tremendous risks they took. An enduring tale of man against nature.
Rating:
Summary: How not to sail around the Horn
Review: In a time where science and technology fill our every space, it is refreshing to know there are those who still want to live life without all those encumbrances. However, I am growing a little tired of reading adventures of those who made unwise sailing decisions that could have been avoided. It makes those of us who have made equally adventurous voyages (with much more intelligent sense) uneasy about the picture of sailing world being painted today. In my sailing community, things like not wearing a harness, or beaching unexpectedly, or sailing a different float plan (on purpose!) would not be looked on lightly. None of us would likely choose to adventure with the likes of Dan and David. For all their reading and preparation, my image of their trip is much like the all too familiar car we've passed on the freeway: turn signal on (no turn in sight), blue smoke coming out the exhaust, radio blaring with windows rolled down (no air conditioning), driver in animated conversation with passenger, oblivious to the fact they're tailgating a Mack truck down a five mile hill. Dan and David, while lucky, were clearly an accident waiting to happen. To the non-sailor, My Old Man and the Sea makes great reading. The father/son relationship is enlightening if not introspectful. On the plus side, I took particular amusement in their ability to describe situations at underway (when nature calls, pg. 156, laundry in port, pg. 140, and a perfect checklist, pgs. 142-145). I laughed out loud at several analagies and even dog-earred a few pages for future reference. The myriad of quotes from famous sailors of old were equally enlightening. Sorry to say, this is not a crew I would have sailed with, but happy to say, I'm glad they lived to tell about it. P.S. I'll never take a cat aboard a boat after readig this book. NEVER!
Rating:
Summary: the handbook for the true sailor
Review: In one book how to sail through the sea and the human relationship
Rating:
Summary: Good Father and Son Adventure
Review: My father bought and read the book this last fall, when finished wanted me to read it. I enjoyed living this adventure vicariously through Dave and Dan. The only down point of the book was the son appears to be somewhat flakey, perhaps it's just my homophobic fears, there were just some parts of the book I didn't care to know. However, letting the cat chew through the electrical cables was cool. The book made me think of my own relationship with my father
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