Just started reading "Blokes Up North". So far I can say that of all the adventure books (Bucking the Tide, 500 Days, etc) this one is one that I am least likely to even consider following!! Two British Royal Marines head out in an open Norseboat to sail and row the Northwest Passage (not to give anything away, apparently they succeeded or wouldn't have been able to write the boat). I am reading this in the dead of an East Tennessee winter and it makes the 20 degree temps around here seem like the middle of the summer!!
So far its a very good read.
Another book report
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lustyslogger
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lustyslogger
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Re: Another book report
Still reading this book. Like the trip itself its very slow reading. Its interesting but very plodding. I am about 3/4's of the way through it. Normally I read a book in about two days but this one is now three months into it (almost as long as the trip itself!) I still recommend it but for me it is very slow moving
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Timo
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Re: Another book report
Sorry to read that you find it bit boring. I read the book over one year ago and liked it a lot. Maybe that's because of my draw to remote places, who knows... The description of the visit in Pierce Point Harbour, getting through the pack ice, encounters with polar bears and meeting Octopus are just some of the highlights. The only negative was that the book ended bit too early. On Youtube there is a less well-known video of their adventure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQUP3T79DmY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQUP3T79DmY
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lustyslogger
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Re: Another book report
Timo8188 wrote:Sorry to read that you find it bit boring. I read the book over one year ago and liked it a lot. Maybe that's because of my draw to remote places, who knows... The description of the visit in Pierce Point Harbour, getting through the pack ice, encounters with polar bears and meeting Octopus are just some of the highlights. The only negative was that the book ended bit too early. On Youtube there is a less well-known video of their adventure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQUP3T79DmY
I don't have the ice packs to worry about here but I live in the woods (literally) and have my share of bears, deer, snakes, mice (they eat the wiring off my car, I have to replace my wiring harness about once a year) and other varmints. Not saying my experiences are nearly as exciting as theirs however.
The book is good, just slow in my humble opinion.
I will also have to say that watching the video puts a much different perspective on it. Perhaps they made it seem too easy in the book.
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Dirk Visser 166
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Re: Another book report
You guys might enjoy another well written polar adventure from back in the day..
It's called "Northwest Passage" by the Belgian, Willy De Roos, late 70's time frame, but no one had sailed it since Asmundsen, so he was a bit of a pioneer. Gjoahaven was his intermediate goal, but he ended up successfully completing the entire route to Alaska and beyond, in one season.
His boat was a 42 foot steel ketch, the "Williwaw", which he singlehanded for major portions of the trip.
I still remember early in the trip, when his green crewman got gluttonously into the precious Italian Parma ham that Willy was carefully conserving..
His anger was expressed in a pithy and bitter quote:
" I always cut the ham thinnest for myself!"
It's called "Northwest Passage" by the Belgian, Willy De Roos, late 70's time frame, but no one had sailed it since Asmundsen, so he was a bit of a pioneer. Gjoahaven was his intermediate goal, but he ended up successfully completing the entire route to Alaska and beyond, in one season.
His boat was a 42 foot steel ketch, the "Williwaw", which he singlehanded for major portions of the trip.
I still remember early in the trip, when his green crewman got gluttonously into the precious Italian Parma ham that Willy was carefully conserving..
His anger was expressed in a pithy and bitter quote:
" I always cut the ham thinnest for myself!"
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Timo
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Re: Another book report
Lustyslogger, great to know that you like to book despite of all the slowness. It's one of my favorite modern adventure books. Well, maybe that's because arctic waters and dinghy sailing isn't that common combination.
It's also true that you don't need to travel in middle of ice and polar bears to have great time. Actually I prefer warm fresh waters that let you have a swim around the boat couple of times if the wind dies.
Dirk, thanks for the hint. It's always good to learn about interesting voyages. In early 2000's an Irish group sailed both the Northwest and the Northeast Passage in an aluminum keelboat. Still, their story was bit boring compared to that of the Arctic Mariners in a 17.5 ft sailing dinghy.
Amundsen was the Last Viking, but Gjøa wasn't a small craft nor an open boat...
It's also true that you don't need to travel in middle of ice and polar bears to have great time. Actually I prefer warm fresh waters that let you have a swim around the boat couple of times if the wind dies.
Dirk, thanks for the hint. It's always good to learn about interesting voyages. In early 2000's an Irish group sailed both the Northwest and the Northeast Passage in an aluminum keelboat. Still, their story was bit boring compared to that of the Arctic Mariners in a 17.5 ft sailing dinghy.
Amundsen was the Last Viking, but Gjøa wasn't a small craft nor an open boat...
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Dirk Visser 166
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Re: Another book report
Hi Timo,
Enjoyed your site again the other day but had trouble posting a second comment, will make another attempt soon, good stuff over there, reminds me of the twenty summers I did in Alaska . I came to think of high latitude summers as a life extension program, every day is like two days down below in more temperate or tropical locales!
Had not heard of the Arctic Mariner story but their effort sounds exciting for the size of their craft, along the lines of Howard Rice's "Southern Cross" order of magnitude?
Is the Gjoa now in some museum in Norway, I seem to recall?
Some of the best stuff I ever read were the mid-century sailing- mountaineering books by H.W. Tilman, and his Bristol Channel cutter the "Mischief". Greenland, Patagonia, Heard Island, the final slow motion shipwreck on Jan Mayan.
The guy was "Old School" in the most fascinating and inspiring of ways, in word and deed!
Enjoyed your site again the other day but had trouble posting a second comment, will make another attempt soon, good stuff over there, reminds me of the twenty summers I did in Alaska . I came to think of high latitude summers as a life extension program, every day is like two days down below in more temperate or tropical locales!
Had not heard of the Arctic Mariner story but their effort sounds exciting for the size of their craft, along the lines of Howard Rice's "Southern Cross" order of magnitude?
Is the Gjoa now in some museum in Norway, I seem to recall?
Some of the best stuff I ever read were the mid-century sailing- mountaineering books by H.W. Tilman, and his Bristol Channel cutter the "Mischief". Greenland, Patagonia, Heard Island, the final slow motion shipwreck on Jan Mayan.
The guy was "Old School" in the most fascinating and inspiring of ways, in word and deed!
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Timo
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Re: Another book report
Hi Dirk,
Thank you. You should definitely retry. I think Finland is very much like Canada but with more lakes and without any mountains. Not sure how the high latitudes extend your life, but at least you learn to love sunlight and summer.
I feel that the voyages of the Southern Cross and the Arctic Mariner have a lot in common but still many things distinctively different. Single-handed vs. double-handed. Penguins vs. polar bears. Patagonia vs. The Canadian Arctic. Plywood vs. fiberglass. Eleven foot eleven inches vs. seventeen foot six inches. Oranges vs. apples.
Yes, Gjøa is in a museum in Oslo, Norway. Would be worth visiting sometimes. Amundsen is such a flawless example of solid planning and preparations before an expedition. Starting from his early twenties he even slept the windows open in winter to condition his body for cold. Nowadays that's known as stimulation of brown fat growth.
Thank you. You should definitely retry. I think Finland is very much like Canada but with more lakes and without any mountains. Not sure how the high latitudes extend your life, but at least you learn to love sunlight and summer.
I feel that the voyages of the Southern Cross and the Arctic Mariner have a lot in common but still many things distinctively different. Single-handed vs. double-handed. Penguins vs. polar bears. Patagonia vs. The Canadian Arctic. Plywood vs. fiberglass. Eleven foot eleven inches vs. seventeen foot six inches. Oranges vs. apples.
Yes, Gjøa is in a museum in Oslo, Norway. Would be worth visiting sometimes. Amundsen is such a flawless example of solid planning and preparations before an expedition. Starting from his early twenties he even slept the windows open in winter to condition his body for cold. Nowadays that's known as stimulation of brown fat growth.
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lustyslogger
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Re: Another book report
I'm done finally. Finished it last night. I can fully understand the sentiment of being glad and sad at the same time the adventure is over. The end always seems so anticlimactic even when the hardships have been great.
Oh, well, now on to some light reading. I think I will try Moby Dick next!
Oh, well, now on to some light reading. I think I will try Moby Dick next!
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lustyslogger
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Re: Another book report
Just started "A Little Breeze to the West". I was in the Navy and sailed (steamed) the opposite direction, from Honolulu to Long Beach. While the ocean was not overly rough for that trip (just a few days) I was on a 365 foot vessel. Not sure I would want to try it on a 15 foot boat!!! My hats off to those who would do this.