A Speck on the Sea: Epic Voyages in the Most Improbable Vessels

I was tickled to discover a couple of weeks ago that our 1980's voyage from Miami to Australia with 18' "Pere Peinard" made mention in Longyard's excellent compendium. I was suprised and grateful for the "1/15th second of fame" since it's mainly remarkable for being unremarkable! Nothing broke at all except the wallet and a world record (26 days, under 25' LOA) for the Galapagos-Marquesas crossing in 26 days, 1983. Is this still standing? (Ok, after 6 great years, the marriage broke up too, but hey. Not the friendship! No regrets!) We made every intended destination (except Sydney, had to settle for Brisbane. At 3 knots bare-pole:) Our 5 yrs under sail were remarkably easy and beautiful, thanks to a really solid boat, careful work, and the grace of god/dess. In oceanic terms, even the Titanic is but a Speck on the Sea. So, I very much appreciate the respect Longyard has conveyed towards the WHOLE spectrum of small boat sailors! Isn't that what we all are, really? On this planet? In this universe?

Okay, so there are no stories of trans-oceanic voyages on soap bars in this book; just needed a catchy rhyme for the title. But this fascinating seaman's yarn covers just about every other buoyant contrivance that went to sea, at least those twenty feet long or less. This limitation is my only slight quibble about the book. Although in the beginning some boats are covered which exceed the twenty-foot benchmark established by the author, it does seem a bit arbitrary. Why not include Josh Slocum's marvelous circumnavigation in a 37-footer that was already a century old when he obtained her? It should be noted that solo circumnavigations are covered by the 1974 book by Tod Holms (unfortunately long out of print and hard to obtain). That said, Longyard has provided a delightful compendium of seamanship in Lillipution craft. Many might be written off as publicity stunts and gimmicks, which they were. None could be duplicated by anyone other than the most intrepid and hardy sailor. Even then, the voyager turned up half dead, if he survived at all. This is not a dry technical manual on small boat seamanship, although there are a lot of nuggets for the sailor in the tales. Human interest predominates. There are tales of cruelty and chicanery as in the story of Voss's seagoing canoe, and those invoking great sympathy as in how Andrews enticed an advernturesome young New Jersey farm girl to join him in a transatlantic stunt which ended in the disappearance of both somewhere beneath the tempestuous waves. All in all, brisk and delightful reading cover to cover.

A great collection of tales of amazing small boat adventures and adventurers. I bought this book thinking I would be able to read a story at a time ad set the book aside inbetween - but it was too good to set aside. From way back in history and white slave escapes - to modern record setters. This book constantly made my jaw drop in awe and amazement.

For anyone desiring to leave it all behind for foreign lands in a boat less that thirty feet long, this is a MUST READ. It presents a long chronological set of stories, carefully researched by the author, of the miraculous and foolish in small boat passage making. Seventy voyages are examined, with many of them intertwined as the sailors were inspired by yet other sailors to take on the world and themselves. A great appendix is also included, with research sources, and practical advice on what it would mean today to take on such a voyage. Highly recommended, and well written.

If you sail in a small boat or paddle a kayak you MUST read this fascinating book. Although it is about the history of small boat voyaging there is a ton of practical information for small boaters that will make them better, safer, sailors. I've read through this book several times and each time I learn more that I can apply to my own sailing skills. I have read many maritime travelogues before and thought I knew most of the great small boat skippers, but I was surprised at how many voyagers I hadn't heard about before and how detailed the author was in his research about even the ones I thought I knew. This is a fun book that reads quickly, but leaves you wanting more. The voyages described are told with expertise, humor, and in such a way that one story leads into the next. You find yourself turning the pages to find out 'what happened next'. I liked the story about the Latvian sailor who sailed from Sydney to Los Angeles during the Depression using a homemade sextant he built out of old hacksaw blades. His boat had a leak in it when he started but somehow he managed to cross the Pacific Ocean in it anyway. I also like how the author corrected some long standing misconceptions about some famous sailors like John Voss, Franz Romer, and Robert Manry. I heartily recommend this book to new or old sailors.