Customer Rating:      Summary: armchair cruising enjoyment Comment: The other reviewer makes valid points. But to be fair, the author was single-handing when he would have rather made the trip with his wife. Hence, the seeming rush, a marriage of his desire to sail to the Virgin Islands, but combating loneliness. Not much real fun can be had by one's self. It's so much better to have someone to share the experience.
I thoroughly enjoyed making the trip with him.
Customer Rating:      Summary: a good reference for those contemplating Caribbean Cruising Comment: If you've read Tristan Jones, Harry Pigeon, Joshua Slocum or Frank Mulville, you may be disappointed in this one. Harris' account has plenty of factual detail that would be useful as a cross-check to other Caribbean cruising guides, such as the Van Sant he mentions. Unfortunately, I got the feeling he was more interested in getting the voyage over than savoring the experieces and people he meets. The sailing purist will wince at the author's persistant reliance on power in anything less favorable than a beam reach. Also, I was surprised that he would knowingly attempt a Gulf Stream crossing with an inadequate reefing system and a defective auto pilot. This is not a book for cruising beginners (like myself) looking for pointers on seamanship. I found the book stylistically monotonous with its persistant use of present tense, active voice and picture captions that are direct quotes from the text. A good, frank editor could have made this account more enjoyable.
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