Last Sail Of The Year???

[Dirk Visser 166]

Can't comment on Herrreshoff's book except to venture that his boat must have been two or three times as long, and outwieghed Buckman's modest sloop by many tons..that might go a long measure to explain the different takes on wind and sea state.

As you have no doubt discovered, Buckman's sea salt encrusted and curiously ballasted sentences weave a certain unique and highly accessible magic. I have read a lot of cruising narrative and sea stories in my time, but never anything quite like this!

Are you up to his description of Stonington yet?...
....("Nothing became Stonington quite as much as leaving it.")
Or his hour with Cal Winslow?....
....("With a "Good luck to you," he gave me a pat on the shoulder that I felt long afterward.")

.....Check Buckman's picture at the oars on the back cover.
That might be all the validation we need, along with his current ticket as "folkboat" skipper..

Looks and reads "muy authentico" to me...glad you got ahold of a copy!

[lustyslogger]

Can't comment on Herrreshoff's book except to venture that his boat must have been two or three times as long, and outwieghed Buckman's modest sloop by many tons..that might go a long measure to explain the different takes on wind and sea state.

As you have no doubt discovered, Buckman's sea salt encrusted and curiously ballasted sentences weave a certain unique and highly accessible magic. I have read a lot of cruising narrative and sea stories in my time, but never anything quite like this!

Are you up to his description of Stonington yet?...
....("Nothing became Stonington quite as much as leaving it.")
Or his hour with Cal Winslow?....
....("With a "Good luck to you," he gave me a pat on the shoulder that I felt long afterward.")

.....Check Buckman's picture at the oars on the back cover.
That might be all the validation we need, along with his current ticket as "folkboat" skipper..

Looks and reads "muy authentico" to me...glad you got ahold of a copy!

Yes, I was thinking the same thing. The boat in Herreshoff's book was 35 ft or so, or twice the length of Buckman's, not to mention half again as wide and probably 20 times the displacement. I am about half through the book at this point. His writing style is interesting. One thing I do find annoying is that he does not segue into the next "adventure. In the last paragraph on page 40 he is sailing alone off the cost. In the first paragraph on page 41 he is sailing with Cleve. No explanation as to what happened between those two events (I am using those page numbers as examples since I don't have the book in front of me). He does it again later when in Maine. First he is with Cleve and then the next page he is sailing with his wife. You have to go back to make sure you didn't miss something! He also has a habit of getting rather preachy. I guess that goes along with living in New Hampshire and having the hair and beard that he does! (My son lives in New Hampshire and is unfortunately covered in tattoos to the point of looking like Yakuza, they tend to go their own way up there). For example he takes umbrage at Europeans hunting whales off the coast of MA. The fact is the Native Americans hunted whales for centuries before the white man arrived, we were just better at it.

Other than that I recommend the book so far. I have a very healthy respect for those misguided souls who go out in small boats in weather that he describes. For me, 80 degrees and 8 kts of wind is more my speed.

[Michel]

I read "The Compleat Cruiser" a few years ago. English is only my second language and I had a few problems with the particular style of the book but I loved it anyway. As long as it creates dreams in my head during the long winter and tells truths about small boat sailing and cruising, I'm OK!

We only need a cozy small cabin with a good place to sit away from the weather.

[Michel]

I read "The Compleat Cruiser" a few years ago. English is only my second language and I had a few problems with the particular style of the book but I loved it anyway. As long as it creates dreams in my head during the long winter and tells truths about small boat sailing and cruising, I'm OK!

We only need a cozy small cabin with a good place to sit away from the weather.

[Michel]

That post repeating was not intentional!

[lustyslogger]

That post repeating was not intentional!

We just thought you were trying to get your monies worth on that post!!!!!

[lustyslogger]

I am just a little past the segment of the book where he visits Stonington ME and his description of the nature of the commercial watermen there. I can attest to the fact that commercial fisherman are the same where ever they ply their trade. I have sailed in three areas where I have come into contact with these folks, the St John's River in Jacksonville, FL, the harbor in Fernandina Beach Florida and surprisingly Cherokee Lake in Jefferson City TN (my current home port). In each case the commercial fishermen have a pronounced disdain for pleasure boaters and in the case of Fernandina Beach appear to go out of their way to attempt to swamp small boats. The other two locations are more of the rude and aloof variety of human. Say hello to one of them and you would get more of a response from your tiller. Perhaps they spend so much time on the water alone they don't really know how to relate to other humans but I am more inclined to think they are just anal orifices.

[Dirk Visser 166]

Ha, ha!!

If I had not lived both sides of that equation for the past 45 years, I might be inclined to believe you !
But no, when it comes to us humans the answers are never so simple..

That's part of what I like about Buckman though, his writing manages to capture both sides of the breadth of our cultural character as people simply doing what they must in their surroundings and circumstances. During the six summers it is fascinating to witness the author learn to "let go" as his experience deepens.

On other parts on the coast, such as Jonesport and Beals Island , further East, he gets a lot of sympatico and support from people in the same industry.
("Scooping up three big handfuls of his catch, fresh from the mud of Eastern Bay, he piled them on the deck and would not hear of accepting a few dollars for them.")

But you have a couple of the best chapters still ahead.
The sailing accident in a Lake Winnepausakie flashback, and his Utopian meandering finale up New Brunswick's St. John's river are armchair sailing at its memorable best...

[lustyslogger]

I read "The Compleat Cruiser" a few years ago. English is only my second language and I had a few problems with the particular style of the book but I loved it anyway. As long as it creates dreams in my head during the long winter and tells truths about small boat sailing and cruising, I'm OK!

We only need a cozy small cabin with a good place to sit away from the weather.

This book was written in the 50's by a man who was probably educated in the early 1900's. His style was very formal and stilted. In his world children would mind their manners and respected their elders. Strangers and casual acquaintance followed certain social customs and didn't have a whats in it for me attitude.

I'm afraid L Francis would take the vapors if he saw the design of current boats or came into contact with the rainbow haired, tattooed, profanity laced youth of today.

[Michel]

IMHO, the whole "experience" of sailing and cruising has turned into a kind of extreme sport for many. It goes with the present era but the old ways are not dead and buried also. Not yet anyway!