Cold Oceans: Adventures in Kayak, Rowboat, and Dogsled

Rating:
Summary: get a life!
Review: ...but if you don't have time for that right now- at least read about Jon Turk's. A directionless adventurer motived by his own virtually rootless existance and a desire to keep it that way. The only thing that bothered me about this book is it made me feel guilty for toiling in an office 10 hours a day instead of going out and risking my life on an adventure. Then again I can do without the freezing, and the injuries, and the hassles, and the cold, and the often times miserable existance. Judge for yourself. read this book!

Rating:
Summary: Cold Oceans are chilly & fine!
Review: A wonderful read! Great for those long winter evenings beside a warm fire, a cup of tea & Jon Turk as he candidly recounts some of his solo & fascinating sea-going adventures of shipwrecks off Cape Horn to the seas of the Northwest Passage; from Arctic blizzards to an ancient Inuit migration route to Greenland - all by kayak, rowboat or dogsled. Jon Turk is also well-versed in the history of the places he is drawn to which gives us a broader perspective. A pleasant & pensive read. Makes a great gift! ..............................

Rating:
Summary: Great adventures but...
Review: Cold Oceans has a lot of potential but the author reveals too much of himself. Constant references about his personality and details of his outbursts are a downer. He relies on luck and risk taking as opposed to planning and knowledge of his surroundings and means of travel. For a much more enjoyable read with better emphasis on local knowledge try "Homelands" or "On Celtic Tides." I certainly won't buy another Jon Turk book.

Rating:
Summary: I lost my place and time in the world while I read this book
Review: COLD OCEANS is a story so engrossing that at one point, while I was reading about the author and his companion's journey toward the Northwest Passage, I got "trapped" inside the book. I looked up from my chair and into the kitchen where my son's friend stood shirtless, wolfing down some raspberry muffins. I couldn't believe he wasn't wearing a heavy sweatshirt, that's how lost I had become in this wonderful book. It was summery. All our windows were open. But I had slipped into a different climate. A good read...a book that keeps you there until the final page.

Rating:
Summary: egomania on three continents
Review: When thinking of adventure travel, one may think of a fierce wind almost ripping our grip from the climbing rope, or a sudden decision that turns out to be just the right thing to do, or some semi-profound recollections after letting the dust and the tequila settle for a bit. One often forgets the mosquitoes, the smelly socks, the disgust at seeing a minor lapse of attention turn into a major problem, or a miserable and exquisitely annoying travel companion. This book gives a superb illustration of the latter danger in adventure travel. The writer is annoyingly and gratingly obsessed with his own ego and "the trip," whatever he wants that to be. With a blatant disregard for the sensitivities of his companions or the dictates of common sense and good judgment, the author relates four journeys. Three turn out to be failures, thankfully with no loss of life. At least he is commendably honest about that. Lesson learned, in capital letters and boldfaced type: Be fairly careful about whom you choose to journey with.