To the Baltic with Bob

Vid

Active member
Joined
29 Apr 2002
Messages
262
Location
SE London
Visit site
Just finished reading this book by Griff Rhys Jones (he of the Alas Not the Nine O'Clock Restoration tv).

I really enjoyed it - not exactly three laughs a page as the blurb from the Daily Mail thought, but v.humourous, some great passages about passages (sea going ones) and deftly observed crew behaviours I readily identified with.

Makes me want to buy an old boat and do the trip myself. Now, where did I put that media production company I could sell off to raise a quid or two....
 

lockwood

New member
Joined
19 Dec 2004
Messages
329
Location
Cardiff
www.craiglockwood.co.uk
Spooky, I bought this book today.

His mate Bob is not what I would call 'ideal' crew, but Ricky would be handy at the chart-table. (well, I have only read the first 100 pages so far).

I have had a number of these spooky coincidences this week - must be the weather.
 

WayneS

Active member
Joined
21 Jan 2002
Messages
1,035
Location
Hampshire
Visit site
Read is a year or so ago and found the first half very good but the second half got a bit tiresome I thought.

Like so many books about an adventure, the fist 2 3rds of the book covered the first 3rd of the adventure and the last 3rd of the book covered the rest in very scant detail.

Same seemed the case in Ellen's and Pete Goss's.

Pete's book had me rather gripped. I bought in at Heathrow on the way out to Finland for an overnight bus trip. The book was finished by the time we touched down back at Heathrow. Not a lot of sleep of work done on that trip.

Wayne
 

castaway

New member
Joined
31 Dec 2001
Messages
1,573
Location
Solent
uk.groups.yahoo.com
I got this book the Xmas b4 last and thoroughly enjoyed it. I think Grif RJ is the same age as me and I rather enjoyed and share his slightly jaundiced view of things. (must be a 50s thing!)

Nick

[ulr]www.yachtsite.co.uk/fairweather[/url]
 

BigLes

New member
Joined
14 Jul 2001
Messages
259
Location
Chichester
Visit site
Read this book last month, and although it was quite interesting and sometimes funny it did 'fizzle out' a bit.

I'm now reading The Last Voyage of the Lucette by Douglas Robertson. About a his father Dougal Robertson, his wife and their four kids who set off around the world in 1971, were holed by killer whales in the Pacific and survived in a GRP gdinghy for 38 days before being picked up!

I'm only as far as them heading for the Panama Canal so far, but in my opinion a much better read.
 

Sgeir

Well-known member
Joined
22 Nov 2004
Messages
14,791
Location
Stirling
s14.photobucket.com
Pete Goss

I agree - a really well written book that's properly paced throughout. I have a lot of admiration for him. As usual, don't the press love failure/defeat/setback?
 

knotgood

New member
Joined
17 Jun 2004
Messages
231
Location
Surrey, UK
Visit site
I have to admit, (I am now reading Castaway's copy!) that I have found it a bit Tiresom following the boat race, and can't really be bothered to finish it! (Means you might get it back soon Nick!!).

A shame really, as I feel i have been "Trying" to like it more that genuinely enjoy it.
 
Top