Desperate Voyage

[Rumata]

I read Desperate Voyage quite a while ago and enjoyed it.  His courage and persistence were phenomenal.  I've wondered why he was always trying to harpoon the biggest, baddest creatures of the deep?  The shark really destroyed a good portion of his boat!

The comments he made about, uh, Dutton (no relation) and Bowditch, have always made me laugh.  I have a copy of Dutton, 1943?, and have found it to be only confusing.  It looks really good on my book shelf.  The effect both books had upon him is that they put him into a "navigational fog".  I'm not sure but I think he said he did use Bowditch (or Dutton?) to start his Primus gas stove.

R. Dutton

Well, I didn't find his comments about Dutton/Bowditch laughable. Those were the comments of a person who wasn't afraid to show his monumental ignorance, but he showed it in the middle of the real real Nowhere. Not in t the community pool. ;> ;> You and I know that there are not too many hard-boiled professionals, including Sir Francis ( not Drake, of course ;>) who performed similar trips and it was no fun. Yes, I agree, it was a pure adventure which had every chance to finalize in a total disaster.  But by luck, and damned determination that guy did a lot. I'm not trying to make him a saint, of course not.   If he would take anyone without any knowledge of blue water navigation on board-it would be so irresponsible that I'm sure we wouldn't talk about him.  You are right about his unique determination.  Agree.

I also have a copy of 1943 edition of Dutton and found it quite interesting, far from confusing. For instance, its description of basic techniques to create deviation tables , or usage of Napier diagram, or even its Navigational Work at sea I read with interest and found quite a lot of interesting details.  But maybe because I'm not practicing navigator. Anyway, this is the way I see the book by Coldwell and 1943 edition of Dutton.  Just very subjective.  I know.
Sorry for the wordy reply.



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