simmerman's review
2.0
Love the idea of giving up everything and going sailing for a few months. However, I found much of the premise to be unbelievable with quitting your job and giving up your retirement fund, all for a boat that is barely staying afloat. I found her comments about her sexuality out of place and not connected with the rest of the book. The last fifty pages seem out of place.
liralen's review
3.0
At forty, South chose to set aside her conventional life and follow her dream—which led her to Florida to buy a trawler, into which she moved. She had no boating experience, just a nine-week course under her belt. No real crew, just a friend from that course to help her get the boat to Massachusetts. And she had no plan about what to do when she got there.
Premise, yes. Execution, hmm. Most of the book is devoted to that trip north—or rather, first to that seamanship course and then to the trip north. It's fun, yes, light and humorous; she's gaining her sea legs on that trip and learning what it means to captain her own small boat. But I found myself hoping for more: for that trip to be only the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, and for the book to cover more of the then what. And we really don't get that. We get an affair, and we get a season in Massachusetts, and we get a promise that she found the love of her life (who is not described, unlike all of South's exes), and the book flap tells me that when she's not on the Bossanova, she lives in New York. But doing what?
I am left with the sense that this is less a story of casting off from one's life to build a new one and more a story of a break before the next thing. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, of course. It's just not really what I expected. Some of it (details of previous relationships and her lone fling with a man, for example) felt more like padding than like fully realised narrative.
Not as much depth as I had hoped, then, but an enjoyable and quick read.
Premise, yes. Execution, hmm. Most of the book is devoted to that trip north—or rather, first to that seamanship course and then to the trip north. It's fun, yes, light and humorous; she's gaining her sea legs on that trip and learning what it means to captain her own small boat. But I found myself hoping for more: for that trip to be only the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, and for the book to cover more of the then what. And we really don't get that. We get an affair, and we get a season in Massachusetts, and we get a promise that she found the love of her life (who is not described, unlike all of South's exes), and the book flap tells me that when she's not on the Bossanova, she lives in New York. But doing what?
I am left with the sense that this is less a story of casting off from one's life to build a new one and more a story of a break before the next thing. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, of course. It's just not really what I expected. Some of it (details of previous relationships and her lone fling with a man, for example) felt more like padding than like fully realised narrative.
Not as much depth as I had hoped, then, but an enjoyable and quick read.
skjacksontum's review against another edition
3.0
I don't mind personal life stuff at the the beginning to set the tone and why someone would decide to undertake the kind of life change necessary to do a 180, sell everything and buy a boat to live on and cruise. However, found the intermixing of her past relationships to take you out of the story. There really wasn't a point.
Also, a lot of build up to buy the boat, go through the classes and take the first trip... I guess I expected more than just the first cruise up the Eastern seaboard.
I liked it, but it was underwhelming.
Also, a lot of build up to buy the boat, go through the classes and take the first trip... I guess I expected more than just the first cruise up the Eastern seaboard.
I liked it, but it was underwhelming.
flyingsails's review against another edition
2.0
Not as much about the sea and changing/growing as I had hoped. The author seemed stuck in the past, and would then tell you something about what she was doing aboard Bossanova.
chriswolak's review
2.0
Enjoyed reading about the author's experience and greatly admire her courage. I expected more emotional depth and self-reflection (rather than simple rehashing of the past) that I assumed would be included in a book with such a promising title.
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