Book Review - Farley Mowat: The Boat Who Wouldn't Float

The Boat Who Wouldn't FloatThe Boat Who Wouldn't Float by Farley Mowat

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Farley Mowat writes, always, it seems, with wry wit and love in his heart.  This book was handed down to me (an autographed copy, no less, with dust jacket intact) by my Mother.  Billed as a must-read for any wooden boat owner, the real star of the book is Newfoundland and her people.  The sailing in this area sounds challenging to say the least.  The climate is dominated by fog that can be brutal and deadly, in combination with lee shores that admit few mistakes. 
Exploring the places Mowat writes about on Google Earth gives one a perspective and a hankering to visit, and while it would be a long sail from Seattle, it would not be impossible.  [Interesting to sail to within 150 miles of Columbus, via the St. Lawrence Seaway.]
The characters Mowat invokes are wonderfully independent, living still on the frontier of a continent not so very far from its first colonizers, but still about as remote from the rest of the continent as can be found by car.
I can't wait to go!



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