[Paddlewise] Commitment and Open Crossings

Chuck Holst recently recommended Bill Taylor's book Commitment and Open
Crossings. While the actual trip that Bill and his two companions undertook
was very impressive, I actually found this book to be one of the most
tedious 'got up - had breakfast - heroically paddled - ate dinner - slept -
got up - had breakfast - heroically paddled etc etc etc' monologues that I
have had the misfortune to read. After the incredibly depressing ending
where Bill rues the fact that the paddling community didn't dish out the
quantity of praise that he felt he deserved, I got the impression that the
participants were in it for the glory and not the paddling, and had had
about as much pleasure out of the fantastic coastline they paddled as I did
reading their story - ie not a lot.

As the nights are drawing in, (unfortunately its dark here before 4pm and
will get darker), I'd be interested in anyone's recommendations for paddling
literature. I finished reading Brian Wilson's 'Blazing Paddles' a few weeks
ago and highly recommend it - a truly entertaining account of his 1984 solo
paddle around Scotland, which he was clearly doing because he enjoyed it.
This book has everything: humour, epic paddling, and informative travelogue,
and would be just as enjoyable if you had never wielded a paddle in anger.
Blazing paddles may be a bit tricky to get hold of, but it has just been
reprinted. If anyone is interested I'll dig out my copy and get the
publishing details. I'm also half way through Brian Wilson's second book
'Dances with Waves' which was published in September by O'Brien Press ISBN:
0862785510. This is the story of Brian's solo circumnavigation of Ireland,
and if you ingore the cheesy title, it is so far equally as good as 'Blazing
Paddles.

So any recommendations for paddling/nautical books ... what's everyone
reading ?

Cheers

Colin Calder
57º19'N  2º10'W

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