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Before the Wind
Joshua Johannssen has spent his whole life among sailboats. His grandfather--Grumps, a.k.a. Bobo Sr.--famously designed them, his father--Bobo Jr.--raced and built them and his mother--enthralled by Einstein and mathematics--knows exactly how and why they work, or not. For Josh and his siblings, the Puget Sound is their backyard, used mostly for racing, and sailing their DNA. As a child, Ruby confounded not only her family (with magical feats no one could explain) but also the local and nationwide sailing community (by throwing a race that would've delivered her to the Olympic Games). But both she and her oldest brother fled over a decade ago to the ends of the earth, Ruby to Africa and elsewhere to do good works on land, Bernard to sea as a law-defying fugitive and pirate.
Now pushing thirty, Josh has set up shop in a marina an hour south of their Seattle home and repairs anything from abandoned wrecks to million-dollar yachts, pained daily by whatever it was that went wrong with his damn family. Plus he can't find a girlfriend to save his life, only one useless date after another. But suddenly the Johannssens reunite, at long last, for the most important race in these waters, all of them together on a historic vessel they made decades ago that will carry each to a destiny both individual and collective, and to a heart-shattering revelation.
Past and present merge seamlessly and collide surprisingly as Jim Lynch reveals a family unlike any other. He puts us all before the wind with the grace and magic of a master storyteller.
Now pushing thirty, Josh has set up shop in a marina an hour south of their Seattle home and repairs anything from abandoned wrecks to million-dollar yachts, pained daily by whatever it was that went wrong with his damn family. Plus he can't find a girlfriend to save his life, only one useless date after another. But suddenly the Johannssens reunite, at long last, for the most important race in these waters, all of them together on a historic vessel they made decades ago that will carry each to a destiny both individual and collective, and to a heart-shattering revelation.
Past and present merge seamlessly and collide surprisingly as Jim Lynch reveals a family unlike any other. He puts us all before the wind with the grace and magic of a master storyteller.
304 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 19, 2016
123 people are currently reading
1418 people want to read
About the author
Jim Lynch
27 books233 followersJim Lynch is the author of the novels The Highest Tide, Border Songs and Truth Like the Sun, all of which were performed on stage and won prizes, including an Indies Choice Honor Book Award, a Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award and a Dashiell Hammett Prize finalist. His next novel, Before the Wind, will be released in April 2016. As a newspaper reporter, Lynch has won national awards, including the Livingston Young Journalist Award. He lives in Olympia, Washington, with his wife and daughter.
Lynch's book tour with his next novel, "Before the Wind," will begin in mid-April 2016 and will feature visits to east and west coast bookstores and venues. Dates and locations will be available soon.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 189 reviews
April 28, 2016
"Families split over money, betrayal and abuse, over resentments, infidelities and misunderstandings, over people being jackasses. Most anything can rattle the fault lines. Yet I know of only one family torn asunder by a sailboat race."
Joshua Johannssen has sailing in his blood. It's virtually all he and his siblings have known basically since birth. His grandfather designed sailboats, his father designed and raced them, and the two passed down this fever to Josh, his older brother Bernard, and their younger sister Ruby, a true sailing prodigy. They knew sailing terms and how to race boats in every weather condition better than they knew the English language or how to relax with any other pastime. Even their scientist mother plays a role, teaching them about the disbursement of air and water molecules, and how to measure the wind.
But something happened and everything changed. Josh, now 31, lives on a boat and repairs boats at a marina not far from his childhood home in Washington State. The family sailboat business has hit hard times and faces bankruptcy after too many lawsuits caused by their father's cutting corners. Their mother is becoming obsessed with solving a series of scientific equations that promise a significant monetary reward. And both his siblings have fled far away, Ruby to Africa, where she helps care for the poor and sick, and Bernard to who-knows-where, as he has become a fugitive and a champion of the working class.
"...strains of this gentle madness course through my family the way diabetes or alcoholism clusters in others. For years, sailing bound us. We were racers, builders and cruisers. It was our family business, our sport, our drug of choice. Yet eventually, sailing blew us apart, too."
It is Swiftsure, a famed sailing race, that brings the entire Johannssen clan together for one last hurrah. Sailing an old family boat altered by Josh (following his father's orders) to allow it to compete with the newer, faster crafts, their father hopes that this will be the moment that repairs all of the damage done through the years (although he's not quick to acknowledge his role in all of that damage), and restores the Johannssen name, reputation, and business. But the entire family is unprepared for what occurs, and the revelations that are revealed.
Jim Lynch may be one of the best writers you might never have heard of, and Before the Wind is a pretty terrific book. Lynch again returns to his beloved Pacific Northwest, and has created an utterly compelling portrait of a dysfunctional family both brought together and torn apart by their mutual obsession with sailing. This is beautifully written, emotionally gripping, humorous, and insightful.
I have one caveat for you: Before the Wind goes heavy on sailing terms. You may not know spinnaker from starboard, or boom from boat, but in the end, this is a story about a family, and you can guess what most of the terms mean. The book starts a little slowly, but much like a sailboat, it picks up speed and emotion and heft, until you're completely immersed. While I'd recommend any and all of Lynch's books, this is a great one to start with. I loved this.
See all of my reviews at http://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blo....
Joshua Johannssen has sailing in his blood. It's virtually all he and his siblings have known basically since birth. His grandfather designed sailboats, his father designed and raced them, and the two passed down this fever to Josh, his older brother Bernard, and their younger sister Ruby, a true sailing prodigy. They knew sailing terms and how to race boats in every weather condition better than they knew the English language or how to relax with any other pastime. Even their scientist mother plays a role, teaching them about the disbursement of air and water molecules, and how to measure the wind.
But something happened and everything changed. Josh, now 31, lives on a boat and repairs boats at a marina not far from his childhood home in Washington State. The family sailboat business has hit hard times and faces bankruptcy after too many lawsuits caused by their father's cutting corners. Their mother is becoming obsessed with solving a series of scientific equations that promise a significant monetary reward. And both his siblings have fled far away, Ruby to Africa, where she helps care for the poor and sick, and Bernard to who-knows-where, as he has become a fugitive and a champion of the working class.
"...strains of this gentle madness course through my family the way diabetes or alcoholism clusters in others. For years, sailing bound us. We were racers, builders and cruisers. It was our family business, our sport, our drug of choice. Yet eventually, sailing blew us apart, too."
It is Swiftsure, a famed sailing race, that brings the entire Johannssen clan together for one last hurrah. Sailing an old family boat altered by Josh (following his father's orders) to allow it to compete with the newer, faster crafts, their father hopes that this will be the moment that repairs all of the damage done through the years (although he's not quick to acknowledge his role in all of that damage), and restores the Johannssen name, reputation, and business. But the entire family is unprepared for what occurs, and the revelations that are revealed.
Jim Lynch may be one of the best writers you might never have heard of, and Before the Wind is a pretty terrific book. Lynch again returns to his beloved Pacific Northwest, and has created an utterly compelling portrait of a dysfunctional family both brought together and torn apart by their mutual obsession with sailing. This is beautifully written, emotionally gripping, humorous, and insightful.
I have one caveat for you: Before the Wind goes heavy on sailing terms. You may not know spinnaker from starboard, or boom from boat, but in the end, this is a story about a family, and you can guess what most of the terms mean. The book starts a little slowly, but much like a sailboat, it picks up speed and emotion and heft, until you're completely immersed. While I'd recommend any and all of Lynch's books, this is a great one to start with. I loved this.
See all of my reviews at http://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blo....
June 27, 2017
I love books about dysfunctional families and while I enjoyed that aspect of the book, the boating references dominated the story. I love the water but mostly from the beach or balcony or walking along the beach....not from inside a boat. After owning two boats (my husband's idea, not mine), I can say with certainty that I dislike boating. So why did I read this book? I read it based on a recommendation and had hoped the quirky dysfunctional bits and the humor would be enough to overshadow the actual boating, but unfortunately, it didn't work out that way.
I would recommend this for ardent fans of boating/sailing. The audiobook's narrator was excellent.
I would recommend this for ardent fans of boating/sailing. The audiobook's narrator was excellent.
December 2, 2015
Four generations of the Johannssen family have built and raced sailboats around Puget Sound. Sailing is the adhesive that unites the Johannssens, and it is a sailboat race that destroyed them. Now the family comes together for the first time in twelve years for the Swiftsure race. Sailing a classic Johannssen-designed-and-built Joho cruiser, they hope to salvage the futures of both their company and their family. Before the Wind is the story of a family and an obsession, crafted with the same meticulous attention to detail that the Johannssens would bestow on one of their boats.
Jim Lynch is known for his novels full of the atmosphere of the Pacific Northwest. His latest book is no exception, with a focus on sailing and the people who are in its thrall, from the possession-obsessed who buy wrecks they cannot afford to refurbish and leave them in the moorings for years at a time to the young couples who put their all into their boats and take off for round-the-world adventures with neither the skills nor the resources they need for success. As narrator Josh says, “Running a boatyard is like working in a dementia clinic.”
The book is full of quirky but believable characters ( Skeptics should just hang around a marina for a while!). They are fully realized but, at the same time, pithily described. There is father BoBo,Jr. , “A leader and a lout, a gentleman and an ass, he never concedes a weakness, admits a sickness or says he loves anybody.” Mother is a high-school physics teacher who wrote an article for Sail magazine on the physics of sailing and who “might have understood Einstein better than she did us and never passed up an opportunity to explain and extol him.” Black-sheep brother Bernard is the sort who “If he saw signs warning that SHOPLIFTERS WILL BE PROSECUTED, he looked for something to steal.” Josh is in turn described by sister Ruby: “the one who thinks he can fix whatever’s broken even though he knows it’ll just break again.” And then there is Grumps (aka BoBo, Sr.), the boatyard crew, and the denizens of the rundown marina where Josh lives and tries to fix everything, even though he knows it will break again. Even the boats have personality, like Princess, a boat “so beloved by its owner that jealous neighboring boats wouldn’t speak to it.”
The chapter titles also display the whimsical feel but attention to detail, opening with “Sailing like Einstein, continuing through “The International Sign of Fornication”, and ending with “Nothing is Permanent”.
The pace is leisurely, but, as in sailing, it’s the full experience that matters. If you’re in a hurry, get yourself a “stinkpot” (motorboat) or its literary equivalent. If you want a really satisfying trip, try Before the Wind.
Jim Lynch is known for his novels full of the atmosphere of the Pacific Northwest. His latest book is no exception, with a focus on sailing and the people who are in its thrall, from the possession-obsessed who buy wrecks they cannot afford to refurbish and leave them in the moorings for years at a time to the young couples who put their all into their boats and take off for round-the-world adventures with neither the skills nor the resources they need for success. As narrator Josh says, “Running a boatyard is like working in a dementia clinic.”
The book is full of quirky but believable characters ( Skeptics should just hang around a marina for a while!). They are fully realized but, at the same time, pithily described. There is father BoBo,Jr. , “A leader and a lout, a gentleman and an ass, he never concedes a weakness, admits a sickness or says he loves anybody.” Mother is a high-school physics teacher who wrote an article for Sail magazine on the physics of sailing and who “might have understood Einstein better than she did us and never passed up an opportunity to explain and extol him.” Black-sheep brother Bernard is the sort who “If he saw signs warning that SHOPLIFTERS WILL BE PROSECUTED, he looked for something to steal.” Josh is in turn described by sister Ruby: “the one who thinks he can fix whatever’s broken even though he knows it’ll just break again.” And then there is Grumps (aka BoBo, Sr.), the boatyard crew, and the denizens of the rundown marina where Josh lives and tries to fix everything, even though he knows it will break again. Even the boats have personality, like Princess, a boat “so beloved by its owner that jealous neighboring boats wouldn’t speak to it.”
The chapter titles also display the whimsical feel but attention to detail, opening with “Sailing like Einstein, continuing through “The International Sign of Fornication”, and ending with “Nothing is Permanent”.
The pace is leisurely, but, as in sailing, it’s the full experience that matters. If you’re in a hurry, get yourself a “stinkpot” (motorboat) or its literary equivalent. If you want a really satisfying trip, try Before the Wind.
August 11, 2024
Was bookclubbing this with my sailing-crazy dad but wow I loved this so much more than I thought I would!! It was so zany and wonderful and danced around the heart of some things that have been the source of a lot of beauty in my life. The writing left something to be desired in places and I don’t think it would have the same effect on others if they haven’t grown up sailing in the PNW but I really enjoyed it :)
May 14, 2016
Such mixed feelings about this book. For me, it did not live up to Lynch's past efforts and that was a major disappointment. Not sure if it was his writing style or rather that this book really appears to be written to boating/sailing aficionados instead of the general readership. I got totally lost with all the boating phraseology and to me the emphasis on the boating took away from a pretty good story - not a great story. A dysfunctional family that may or may not have received healing by the end of the book really did nothing for me. If it was not a Jim Lynch book I probably would not have even finished it. Now there were good passages in the book and some interesting characters, but to me they took a back seat to the boats and the rigging and the jibs and everything else. Yes there are goodhearted people who work on boats, yes there are some nuts but the entire story just fell flat with regards to the elder Johannson's and Ruby, even though Ruby was one of my favorite characters the little bit she was in the book. Many others have praised this book, but for me it certainly did not life up to the levels Lynch achieved in his prior books which I really loved.
Read
February 12, 2018Lots and lots of boat and sailing terminology in ‘Before the Wind’ which for me was dull. (Once longtime ago and far away, my husband and I owned a boat for three years. I discovered boating really sucks by the end of the second year.)
There is a story too, about a family - a father, a boating enthusiast, who wants his three kids to love boating too, and I liked it as far as I got because there was a lot of humor and irony. However, there also are lots and lots of racing boats, boating accidents, boat handling, boats in storms, boat competitions, etc. etc. etc.
Bleh.
There is a story too, about a family - a father, a boating enthusiast, who wants his three kids to love boating too, and I liked it as far as I got because there was a lot of humor and irony. However, there also are lots and lots of racing boats, boating accidents, boat handling, boats in storms, boat competitions, etc. etc. etc.
Bleh.
February 23, 2017
I abandoned this book after a little over 100 pages. Just couldn't get in to it for many reasons.
June 7, 2016
Jim Lynch is known for novels that are fertile explorations of microcosms of humanity that blossom into reflections of the complex whole. In Before the Wind, Lynch applies this technique to a story about the world of sailing, and an examination of a family intimately involved with the sailing business, the Johannssens.
Josh Johannssen, 31, going back and forth in time in alternating chapters, narrates what happened the last time his family experienced any harmony, before, as he puts it, his family's "big bang." Most of the Johannssens were legendary in the sailing world and had outsized personalities, except for Josh. Josh’s father won a medal in the sailing Olympics, and raised his three children (Bernard, the oldest, Josh in the middle and Ruby the youngest) to be sailors as well, applying his perfectionist standards to their training. His unspoken goal, as Josh perceived it, was “to create a dynasty of Olympic-caliber racers….”
Ruby turned out to be the best sailor of all of them; she had a sense of the wind that inspired awe among other sailors. Bernard was more of a rebel with a temper he couldn’t always control, and he went on to live a somewhat spectacular life as a pirate and smuggler. Josh stayed behind to carry on in the boat-building business as the Johanssens had always done, albeit in an Olympia boatyard instead of with his father and grandfather back in Seattle. Josh was always smoothing things over, whether with his family or his acquaintances, much as he patched holes and sanded floors on boats, trying, according to his younger sister Ruby, “to keep everything and everybody intact.” It was his role in his family as well as in his career.
Josh lives on board a boat in the marina where he works, amidst a motley group of other “liveaboards.” The denizens of the marina and Josh's regular customers represent different visions of the quality and meaning of life. Josh thinks himself disappointingly ordinary, but like Doc in Steinbeck's Cannery Row, he is the glue that makes all of them into a “family.”
Josh’s original family scattered to the four winds after a big blow-up following a race in which Ruby was competing. Nevertheless, Josh's father gets a new boat for Josh to rehab just in case the whole family might come back together this year for one last race - the annual Swiftsure International Yacht Race that begins and ends near Victoria Harbour. But it is uncertain if they can all make it, for each has problems that even Josh can’t solve.
Discussion: This story considers the often overlooked difficulties that can ensue in trying to forge your own identity in light of the expectations of your family. Apt commentaries about family are occasionally made by Noah, a worker in Josh's boatyard and a one-man Greek chorus, in the form of quotations from the movie "The March of the Penguins."
Physics is also a strong motif. This is not only because sailing involves successful utilization of so many laws from physics, from the motion of sailboats, to how to adjust the sails to move through changes in the wind and water, to the effect of tides, velocity, and momentum. Josh’s mother was a high school physics teacher, and she influenced Josh as much as his dad did. Josh often thinks about the fact that sailing happened to be a favorite pastime of Albert Einstein. What was it about sailing that so appealed to this intellectual giant? Did the elemental meeting of land and sky inspire some of his ideas about the nature of the universe? Did it contribute to his understanding of gravity? Indeed, one might say the question of gravity, at least in its metaphorical sense, is one that preoccupies Josh, as he considers what it would take to pull the family back in one place again for another sailboat race. [Technically of course, according to Einstein's Theory of General Relativity, gravity is not a force but rather the result of space-time warping around massive objects. Nevertheless, the fact that it is commonly thought of as something that pulls on you makes it an appropriate way to explain Josh's concerns.]
Many sailors such as Ruby just have a “second sense” of forces acting on a sailboat without understanding the science behind it. But others, like Josh's mom, go to great lengths to understand these laws. In fact, she is striving to solve the Navier-Stokes equations that describe the motion of fluids, such as ocean currents, the effects of turbulence on waves, and chaotic water flow generally.
But “chaos” can affect families too. How best to understand the dynamics that pull people apart and bring them together? The basic forces of physics can all be applied metaphorically to relationships, as can the phenomenon of quantum entanglement, more popularly known by Einstein’s designation as “spooky action at a distance.” This means that once (quantum) particles have been together, they essentially thereafter behave in ways related to one another, even if they happen to be at the opposite ends of the universe. This is also an apt way to describe the effect family members have on one another, long after they have gone their separate ways.
And finally, there appears another common theme in Lynch's books: an appreciation for both the beauty of, and humor in, the teeming life on earth, with its many varieties, vagaries, and - among humans - struggles to find meaning within a limited lifespan in an aleatory world. Lynch, through Josh, makes of Capital City Boatworks a Cannery Row, with the Johannssens offering an even closer look at the chaotic fluid determination of morality, family, identity, and love.
Evaluation: Jim Lynch is an excellent writer. His books are not quick reads, but rather are thoughtful explorations of characters who, no matter their particularities, are limned with sympathy and affection. His stories are also meditations on the diversity of all life on earth, the wonder it holds, and the importance of paying attention to everything around you and appreciating it while you can.
Josh Johannssen, 31, going back and forth in time in alternating chapters, narrates what happened the last time his family experienced any harmony, before, as he puts it, his family's "big bang." Most of the Johannssens were legendary in the sailing world and had outsized personalities, except for Josh. Josh’s father won a medal in the sailing Olympics, and raised his three children (Bernard, the oldest, Josh in the middle and Ruby the youngest) to be sailors as well, applying his perfectionist standards to their training. His unspoken goal, as Josh perceived it, was “to create a dynasty of Olympic-caliber racers….”
Ruby turned out to be the best sailor of all of them; she had a sense of the wind that inspired awe among other sailors. Bernard was more of a rebel with a temper he couldn’t always control, and he went on to live a somewhat spectacular life as a pirate and smuggler. Josh stayed behind to carry on in the boat-building business as the Johanssens had always done, albeit in an Olympia boatyard instead of with his father and grandfather back in Seattle. Josh was always smoothing things over, whether with his family or his acquaintances, much as he patched holes and sanded floors on boats, trying, according to his younger sister Ruby, “to keep everything and everybody intact.” It was his role in his family as well as in his career.
Josh lives on board a boat in the marina where he works, amidst a motley group of other “liveaboards.” The denizens of the marina and Josh's regular customers represent different visions of the quality and meaning of life. Josh thinks himself disappointingly ordinary, but like Doc in Steinbeck's Cannery Row, he is the glue that makes all of them into a “family.”
Josh’s original family scattered to the four winds after a big blow-up following a race in which Ruby was competing. Nevertheless, Josh's father gets a new boat for Josh to rehab just in case the whole family might come back together this year for one last race - the annual Swiftsure International Yacht Race that begins and ends near Victoria Harbour. But it is uncertain if they can all make it, for each has problems that even Josh can’t solve.
Discussion: This story considers the often overlooked difficulties that can ensue in trying to forge your own identity in light of the expectations of your family. Apt commentaries about family are occasionally made by Noah, a worker in Josh's boatyard and a one-man Greek chorus, in the form of quotations from the movie "The March of the Penguins."
Physics is also a strong motif. This is not only because sailing involves successful utilization of so many laws from physics, from the motion of sailboats, to how to adjust the sails to move through changes in the wind and water, to the effect of tides, velocity, and momentum. Josh’s mother was a high school physics teacher, and she influenced Josh as much as his dad did. Josh often thinks about the fact that sailing happened to be a favorite pastime of Albert Einstein. What was it about sailing that so appealed to this intellectual giant? Did the elemental meeting of land and sky inspire some of his ideas about the nature of the universe? Did it contribute to his understanding of gravity? Indeed, one might say the question of gravity, at least in its metaphorical sense, is one that preoccupies Josh, as he considers what it would take to pull the family back in one place again for another sailboat race. [Technically of course, according to Einstein's Theory of General Relativity, gravity is not a force but rather the result of space-time warping around massive objects. Nevertheless, the fact that it is commonly thought of as something that pulls on you makes it an appropriate way to explain Josh's concerns.]
Many sailors such as Ruby just have a “second sense” of forces acting on a sailboat without understanding the science behind it. But others, like Josh's mom, go to great lengths to understand these laws. In fact, she is striving to solve the Navier-Stokes equations that describe the motion of fluids, such as ocean currents, the effects of turbulence on waves, and chaotic water flow generally.
But “chaos” can affect families too. How best to understand the dynamics that pull people apart and bring them together? The basic forces of physics can all be applied metaphorically to relationships, as can the phenomenon of quantum entanglement, more popularly known by Einstein’s designation as “spooky action at a distance.” This means that once (quantum) particles have been together, they essentially thereafter behave in ways related to one another, even if they happen to be at the opposite ends of the universe. This is also an apt way to describe the effect family members have on one another, long after they have gone their separate ways.
And finally, there appears another common theme in Lynch's books: an appreciation for both the beauty of, and humor in, the teeming life on earth, with its many varieties, vagaries, and - among humans - struggles to find meaning within a limited lifespan in an aleatory world. Lynch, through Josh, makes of Capital City Boatworks a Cannery Row, with the Johannssens offering an even closer look at the chaotic fluid determination of morality, family, identity, and love.
Evaluation: Jim Lynch is an excellent writer. His books are not quick reads, but rather are thoughtful explorations of characters who, no matter their particularities, are limned with sympathy and affection. His stories are also meditations on the diversity of all life on earth, the wonder it holds, and the importance of paying attention to everything around you and appreciating it while you can.
January 19, 2021
Tengo que reconocer que este libro no termino de engancharme. No logre conectar con los personajes, en realidad, un solo personaje habla de su vida en familia, recordando... No es lo mio. No me gustó el estilo. No digo que no sea un buen libro, tampoco niego la capacidad de Jim Lynch para contar una historia. Digo que soy yo la que no disfruta de ese tipo de narrativa y prefiero otra cosa. No me siento capaz de recomendarlo, como tampoco de negarle su valor. Pero yo, paso.
I have to admit that this book did not quite hook me. I did not manage to connect with the characters, in fact, only one character talks about his family life, remembering ... It's not my thing. I didn't like the style. I'm not saying it's not a good book, nor am I denying Jim Lynch's ability to tell a story. I say that I am the one who does not enjoy that type of narrative and I prefer something else. I do not feel able to recommend it, nor to deny its value. But I pass.
I have to admit that this book did not quite hook me. I did not manage to connect with the characters, in fact, only one character talks about his family life, remembering ... It's not my thing. I didn't like the style. I'm not saying it's not a good book, nor am I denying Jim Lynch's ability to tell a story. I say that I am the one who does not enjoy that type of narrative and I prefer something else. I do not feel able to recommend it, nor to deny its value. But I pass.
September 22, 2021
I sure do enjoy a good sailing story, as I miss my time out on the water. Lynch has a breezy writing style, perfect for this kind of book.
December 10, 2016
Behind the Wind is 100% up my alley and I have no idea why I’d never heard of it until Catherine at Gilmore Guide shoved it into my hands recently. It plops the dysfunctional family element of Ann Patchett’s Commonwealth into a sailing environment with brilliant results.
"For years, sailing bound us. We were racers, builders and cruisers. It was our family business, our sport, our drug of choice. Yet eventually, sailing blew us apart, too."
Within the first five pages, Lynch delves into the psyche of sailors and boaters in general and his writing about sailing is filled with “yes, that’s exactly how it is” moments.
"Sailboats attract the loons and geniuses among us, the romantics whose boats represent some outlaw image of themselves. We fall for these things, but what we’re slow to grasp is that it’s not the boats but rather those inexplicable moments on the water when time slows."
His sense of humor sparkles when making fun of sailing (i.e. a hilarious rant about the ridiculous sailing lingo) and when describing his family’s quirks (of which there are many), but a genuine love for both shines through it all.
"Nobody forgets meeting my father. Loud, tall and meaty, he invades your space and claims the right-of-way. There is nothing moderate about him. A leader and a lout, a gentleman and an ass, he never concedes a weakness, admits a sickness or says he loves anybody. Yet the flip side is that when you please him, your body temperature climbs a degree or two."
As with many books I love, the suspense lies in what ends up happening to these characters. The questions of what made Josh’s sailing prodigy sister (Ruby) abandon the sport, what shady antics are most of the family members up to now, and what incident figuratively blew up the family decades ago drove the novel’s suspense. Lynch does go on sailing tangents fairly often, but I found them interesting because he adopts the tone of the rare tour guide that uses dry humor to make something you’re not that interested in come alive. Before the Wind is an underrated gem that you should read immediately if you’re a fan of dysfunctional family stories…and, I can’t wait to read more of Lynch’s work.
For more reviews, visit my blog: https://www.sarahsbookshelves.com/
"For years, sailing bound us. We were racers, builders and cruisers. It was our family business, our sport, our drug of choice. Yet eventually, sailing blew us apart, too."
Within the first five pages, Lynch delves into the psyche of sailors and boaters in general and his writing about sailing is filled with “yes, that’s exactly how it is” moments.
"Sailboats attract the loons and geniuses among us, the romantics whose boats represent some outlaw image of themselves. We fall for these things, but what we’re slow to grasp is that it’s not the boats but rather those inexplicable moments on the water when time slows."
His sense of humor sparkles when making fun of sailing (i.e. a hilarious rant about the ridiculous sailing lingo) and when describing his family’s quirks (of which there are many), but a genuine love for both shines through it all.
"Nobody forgets meeting my father. Loud, tall and meaty, he invades your space and claims the right-of-way. There is nothing moderate about him. A leader and a lout, a gentleman and an ass, he never concedes a weakness, admits a sickness or says he loves anybody. Yet the flip side is that when you please him, your body temperature climbs a degree or two."
As with many books I love, the suspense lies in what ends up happening to these characters. The questions of what made Josh’s sailing prodigy sister (Ruby) abandon the sport, what shady antics are most of the family members up to now, and what incident figuratively blew up the family decades ago drove the novel’s suspense. Lynch does go on sailing tangents fairly often, but I found them interesting because he adopts the tone of the rare tour guide that uses dry humor to make something you’re not that interested in come alive. Before the Wind is an underrated gem that you should read immediately if you’re a fan of dysfunctional family stories…and, I can’t wait to read more of Lynch’s work.
For more reviews, visit my blog: https://www.sarahsbookshelves.com/
August 13, 2024
Story about a free-spirited family in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) whose lives revolve around sailing and specifically sailboat racing. Absurd, funny, technically accurate and a very entertaining story overall. I can imagine if you’re not a sailor, some of the terminology and nuances may not resonate. If you are a sailor, you will really enjoy this book. If you’re a sailboat racer, you’ll devour this book. The characters are entertaining and identifiable. The PNW’s most iconic sailing race (Swiftsure) is front and center in the story. Fair winds and following seas!
October 27, 2019
Do you ever read a book and go, this is just too much... something. This book was too much.
Too much sailing jargon.
Too many scattered plot lines all over the place (almost every character that has a name and speaks has their own little mini-plot).
Too many quirky characters (ALL of them were excentric weirdos).
I was skeptical about this book when it was selected for my book club, but I've often found myself pleasantly surprised by how much I've enjoyed a book that I previously thought I wouldn't enjoy. This was not one of those books.
I will say though, that apparently I was in the minority. This particular book club involved a visit with author Jim Lynch, and from the questions and response he got (as well as all the new people who attended his talk - our book club is open to the public) most people apparently loved this book, the sailing, and the weird characters. As a result, I've come to the conclusion this is just not the book/author for me.
I'm a person who 1) gets horrifically motion sick, and 2) has better sense than to sink (teehee) my money into a boat of any type, so I'm never going to be into sailing. As a result, reading a book about racing boats, living on boats, repairing boats, and waxing poetic about boats is dull dull dull.
I also took issue with a random, unnecessary, and totally unrelated to anything else in any other plot line bit of transphobia during Josh's online dating subplot.
Josh, the main character, was overall not particularly interesting. He had the smallest personality out of his bullying brother Bernard and his ethereal sailing savant Ruby, and the three of them together I suppose were believable as siblings (my own siblings and I all have vastly different personalities too) but they were all so over the top as to be charicatures of themselves. Spoilers about their respective endings:
Josh:
Ruby:
Bernard:
Too much sailing jargon.
Too many scattered plot lines all over the place (almost every character that has a name and speaks has their own little mini-plot).
Too many quirky characters (ALL of them were excentric weirdos).
I was skeptical about this book when it was selected for my book club, but I've often found myself pleasantly surprised by how much I've enjoyed a book that I previously thought I wouldn't enjoy. This was not one of those books.
I will say though, that apparently I was in the minority. This particular book club involved a visit with author Jim Lynch, and from the questions and response he got (as well as all the new people who attended his talk - our book club is open to the public) most people apparently loved this book, the sailing, and the weird characters. As a result, I've come to the conclusion this is just not the book/author for me.
I'm a person who 1) gets horrifically motion sick, and 2) has better sense than to sink (teehee) my money into a boat of any type, so I'm never going to be into sailing. As a result, reading a book about racing boats, living on boats, repairing boats, and waxing poetic about boats is dull dull dull.
I also took issue with a random, unnecessary, and totally unrelated to anything else in any other plot line bit of transphobia during Josh's online dating subplot.
Josh, the main character, was overall not particularly interesting. He had the smallest personality out of his bullying brother Bernard and his ethereal sailing savant Ruby, and the three of them together I suppose were believable as siblings (my own siblings and I all have vastly different personalities too) but they were all so over the top as to be charicatures of themselves. Spoilers about their respective endings:
Josh:
Ruby:
Bernard:
May 19, 2017
Josh's family is a sailing family. His father and grandfather designed and built a line of sailboats that was quite popular in it's time. They are now being replaced by faster, sleeker boats built out of more high tech materials. When they were little, Josh's younger sister Ruby had a magical touch with the wind and sails and was almost an Olympic contender. His older brother Bernard was the daredevil and would try anything when it came to sailing (and other things). Josh was often eclipsed by the other two, but now he is the one trying to hold the family (and the boats!) together.
If you like sailing, there are lots of sailing details here to keep you intrigued. If you like dysfunctional family drama, it's definitely in there. Seattle area setting was a bonus for me.
If you like sailing, there are lots of sailing details here to keep you intrigued. If you like dysfunctional family drama, it's definitely in there. Seattle area setting was a bonus for me.
April 18, 2019
This book made me laugh, smile, smirk, cry, and relate so hard. Lynch successfully captures and writes an endearing tribute to the sailing community of Puget Sound, so seamlessly evoking the insanity and the devotion, the fanaticism, the relationships and the characters who participate in this wildly wonderful sport and tradition. He's well researched in the language and technicalities of sailboat life and hits the nail on the head so many times describing sailing's superb idiosyncrasies. The sailing world of the Pacific Northwest is one that I've come to love and treasure, for all of its madness, beauty, grit, and courage, and I'm so glad that Lynch captured a bit of our spirit to share with readers everywhere.
August 11, 2016
I thoroughly enjoyed the book! It helped tremendously that I've sailed and even raced sailboats in a past life. It would almost take a sailor to enjoy this book I think, because of the specific lingo used. But note that I said 'almost'; the story line and the characters would hold the interest of just about anyone. It also helped me to have sailed in some of the same waters mentioned, the San Juan and Gulf Islands, etc. , and I've been a spectator of the Swiftsure from a hillside west of Victoria. Very good book and I look forward to reading others by the same author!
July 21, 2016
Great cast of characters and a good sense of place but the plot just didn't measure up. I expected a novel as wonderful as Border Songs but this wasn't it. It's definitely worth reading, especially if you've any interest in sailing, but otherwise adjust your expectations. Josh's dating reports are a hoot and provide needed humor.
April 1, 2018
My dad has been recommending this book to me for two years now. He finally bought it and threw it at me last visit. My husband and I purchased a sailboat years ago and fell in love so he was positive I would like Before The Wind. I wasn't so sure but I started reading anyway. Page 2, I was hooked.
This book, other than recounting the life of a dysfunctional sailing family, captures all the weirdness, close calls, zealotry, frustration, love and lunacy that is sailing. Sailing can either be a soul-cleansing experience, a study in terror or a cuss-filled meltdown when you swear to Almighty Jesus you will never sail again. The author captured all those moments perfectly with a keen eye for the absurd. As I read, I was positive the author based the MC's marina mates on the liveaboards at our marina. Sailing attracts all kinds.
It's a great book though those not sail-term-skilled will find themselves drowning in reefs, beams, knots, halyards, lines, jibs, jibes and "hard alee". It will be one of those reads when you skip over some words, like Russian names or space jargon or weirdly spelled magical kingdoms. Just remember that "port" is left, "starboard" is right, and the best way to remember is port and left both have four letters.
You will either love Josh's family with his sailing savant sister, Ruby, mathematician mom with her crush on Einstein, overbearing dad, anarchist brother and nordic god-loving grandpa, or you will not. At least enjoy Josh's colorful coworkers, fellow sailors, and his tales about Internet dating that he shares with them for their amusement.
There's no real plot, this is more like a memoir of a family that the author probably knows or a conglomeration of such. I can see that some readers might be bothered by a seeming lack of plot. In those moments when you think "what the hell...?" just reef your sails and enjoy the sensation of a windless day. When the wind picks up, tack along until you find yourself heeling, and laughing.
This book, other than recounting the life of a dysfunctional sailing family, captures all the weirdness, close calls, zealotry, frustration, love and lunacy that is sailing. Sailing can either be a soul-cleansing experience, a study in terror or a cuss-filled meltdown when you swear to Almighty Jesus you will never sail again. The author captured all those moments perfectly with a keen eye for the absurd. As I read, I was positive the author based the MC's marina mates on the liveaboards at our marina. Sailing attracts all kinds.
It's a great book though those not sail-term-skilled will find themselves drowning in reefs, beams, knots, halyards, lines, jibs, jibes and "hard alee". It will be one of those reads when you skip over some words, like Russian names or space jargon or weirdly spelled magical kingdoms. Just remember that "port" is left, "starboard" is right, and the best way to remember is port and left both have four letters.
You will either love Josh's family with his sailing savant sister, Ruby, mathematician mom with her crush on Einstein, overbearing dad, anarchist brother and nordic god-loving grandpa, or you will not. At least enjoy Josh's colorful coworkers, fellow sailors, and his tales about Internet dating that he shares with them for their amusement.
There's no real plot, this is more like a memoir of a family that the author probably knows or a conglomeration of such. I can see that some readers might be bothered by a seeming lack of plot. In those moments when you think "what the hell...?" just reef your sails and enjoy the sensation of a windless day. When the wind picks up, tack along until you find yourself heeling, and laughing.
January 20, 2024
Unbiased review. No spoilers.
I am a purely subjective human. Neither have I ever read a Jim Lynch novel before or held any interest in sailing. Ok I thought sailing was cool, but that’s it.
I’d rather not say much about the story. I’d rather you just read it. If you are fan of Seattle, sailing, or good books, just read it.
Do you like anything Vonnegut has ever written? I’d go as far as saying Jimmy brings the same quality of wit and humor to the table. If I have any complaints at all, it’s that there is just a tad bit more sailing jargon than we mortals are capable of handling.
Even then, the characters make up for it. Good characters always make a good book.
Nicely done Jimbo.
I am a purely subjective human. Neither have I ever read a Jim Lynch novel before or held any interest in sailing. Ok I thought sailing was cool, but that’s it.
I’d rather not say much about the story. I’d rather you just read it. If you are fan of Seattle, sailing, or good books, just read it.
Do you like anything Vonnegut has ever written? I’d go as far as saying Jimmy brings the same quality of wit and humor to the table. If I have any complaints at all, it’s that there is just a tad bit more sailing jargon than we mortals are capable of handling.
Even then, the characters make up for it. Good characters always make a good book.
Nicely done Jimbo.
October 5, 2022
surprisingly SOO much annotating ⚓️
January 30, 2021
Jim Lynch offre une très belle mosaïque familiale, avec des personnages touchants aussi bien dans leurs magies personnelles que dans leurs défauts, sur fond de voile et navigation. J'ai en particulier adoré Ruby, la petite soeur charismatique et enchantée, qui respire la joie de vivre et se révèle finalement le pilier de cette famille.
April 30, 2016
At the most basic level Jim Lynch’s new novel Before the Wind is the story of the Johannssens—a sailing family in Seattle, Washington. Or as Josh Johannssen’s younger sister Ruby liked to claim “And there’s a reason we’re so good with boats: we have a higher salt content in our blood!” A fact which his long suffering older brother Bernard would point out was based on “one misleading blood test that showed Grumps had high sodium levels.” His father and grandfather build and race boats and his mathematics loving mother uses the equations of physics and fluid dynamics to make them work best. In 2012 after a decade apart the family comes together again to compete in the Swiftsure International Yacht Race and there is nothing basic about their reunion.
A classic middle child, Josh is the fulcrum on which his family teeters. He’s as quiet and steady as Bernard and Ruby are mercurial and unpredictable. For Bernard the increasingly obvious reality of what’s wrong with the world leads him to take part in the WTO riots in Seattle after which he steals a boat and disappears. Years pass with random letters from other countries—he is taking on Japanese whaling vessels, selling pirated butterfly collections and sinking a greedy millionaire’s yacht. While Bernard fights for his truth, Ruby gives for hers. Imbued with a funky spirituality she finds the wind in a flat sea that makes a boat speed across the water and erases people’s pain with her massages. She is a gifted sailor, fluid and graceful on water, but clumsy as a toddler on land. In 1999 she throws the race that would have made her part of the 2000 Olympic sailing team and goes to South Africa as a volunteer on a medical ship.
A novel about a sailing family must include nautical terminology and references and Before the Wind does but not in a way that’s forced. Instead, Lynch surfs from the playful when he compares an older boat’s assessment to a doctor’s exam of a middle-aged patient.
You tap her decking to check for rot (bone loss) and listen for structural weaknesses (bum hip or shoulder). You hunt for deep blisters in the hull (skin cancer) and see how worn out her sails (lungs) are and make sure her engine (heart) sounds reliable and that she hasn’t been sailed so hard (lived so recklessly) that her rigging or mast step (adrenals) are fried.
The rest of my review can be read at The Gilmore Guide to Books: http://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2016/0...
A classic middle child, Josh is the fulcrum on which his family teeters. He’s as quiet and steady as Bernard and Ruby are mercurial and unpredictable. For Bernard the increasingly obvious reality of what’s wrong with the world leads him to take part in the WTO riots in Seattle after which he steals a boat and disappears. Years pass with random letters from other countries—he is taking on Japanese whaling vessels, selling pirated butterfly collections and sinking a greedy millionaire’s yacht. While Bernard fights for his truth, Ruby gives for hers. Imbued with a funky spirituality she finds the wind in a flat sea that makes a boat speed across the water and erases people’s pain with her massages. She is a gifted sailor, fluid and graceful on water, but clumsy as a toddler on land. In 1999 she throws the race that would have made her part of the 2000 Olympic sailing team and goes to South Africa as a volunteer on a medical ship.
A novel about a sailing family must include nautical terminology and references and Before the Wind does but not in a way that’s forced. Instead, Lynch surfs from the playful when he compares an older boat’s assessment to a doctor’s exam of a middle-aged patient.
You tap her decking to check for rot (bone loss) and listen for structural weaknesses (bum hip or shoulder). You hunt for deep blisters in the hull (skin cancer) and see how worn out her sails (lungs) are and make sure her engine (heart) sounds reliable and that she hasn’t been sailed so hard (lived so recklessly) that her rigging or mast step (adrenals) are fried.
The rest of my review can be read at The Gilmore Guide to Books: http://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2016/0...
February 25, 2016
Do you like to sail? I don’t mean lying in the sun on a sailboat while someone else steers. I mean rigging the boat, launching it, manning the sails. If so, you will thrill to Jim Lynch’s new novel, which is set in the world of boats driven by the wind. If not, prepare to be immersed as well as entertained.
Narrated by Josh, the adult middle child of the famous, boat-building Johanssens of Puget Sound, the central family story is surrounded by other quirky, sailing-related stories, such as Einstein’s love of sailing (who knew?) and the various dreamers and dropouts who want to sail around the world or live on moored sailboats.
There is copious detail about the sport, and I love the way Lynch delves into the topic and makes his protagonist family around it. I don’t sail, but I live with a racer of small sailboats, so I can’t be an impartial judge as to whether all the references to vangs and halliards and jibs will it be too much for the uninitiated.
I can say Lynch really captures sailors, even though the ones I know sail small boats and live on the east coast rather than big boats out west. Including anecdotes about Einstein, elements of physics, and a mathematics-obsessed character fit too.
For the family story, Lynch broadens some familiar roles--the domineering father who drives his children to excel and ends up driving them away, the hot-headed oldest brother, the peace-maker middle child--with others than go against type and a touch of magical realism in the person of Ruby, the youngest Johannsen who is a gifted sailor and healer bordering on the supernatural. Lynch also weaves humor throughout, including Josh’s recounting of his online dating experiences and a co-worker who likes to quote the movie March of the Penguins.
Before the Wind> is touched with both wonder and sadness and ultimately about finding one’s place in the world, which may mean leaving family or returning to it. The reader may need a little patience to read through the setup to get to the meat of the family story, but it is well worth it.
Narrated by Josh, the adult middle child of the famous, boat-building Johanssens of Puget Sound, the central family story is surrounded by other quirky, sailing-related stories, such as Einstein’s love of sailing (who knew?) and the various dreamers and dropouts who want to sail around the world or live on moored sailboats.
There is copious detail about the sport, and I love the way Lynch delves into the topic and makes his protagonist family around it. I don’t sail, but I live with a racer of small sailboats, so I can’t be an impartial judge as to whether all the references to vangs and halliards and jibs will it be too much for the uninitiated.
I can say Lynch really captures sailors, even though the ones I know sail small boats and live on the east coast rather than big boats out west. Including anecdotes about Einstein, elements of physics, and a mathematics-obsessed character fit too.
For the family story, Lynch broadens some familiar roles--the domineering father who drives his children to excel and ends up driving them away, the hot-headed oldest brother, the peace-maker middle child--with others than go against type and a touch of magical realism in the person of Ruby, the youngest Johannsen who is a gifted sailor and healer bordering on the supernatural. Lynch also weaves humor throughout, including Josh’s recounting of his online dating experiences and a co-worker who likes to quote the movie March of the Penguins.
Before the Wind> is touched with both wonder and sadness and ultimately about finding one’s place in the world, which may mean leaving family or returning to it. The reader may need a little patience to read through the setup to get to the meat of the family story, but it is well worth it.
May 25, 2016
In the hands of a more capable writer this could have been a much more interesting story.
I had two really big issues with this:
1.) The plot was dull and predictable. As a lifelong Seattle resident it was nice to hear names and places that were familiar, but that was where the fun ends. The idea of this families dramas spanning the first 2/3 of the book only to end in the "great race" felt too "movie-of-the-week" for me. There was never a moment where I settled into the current (see what I did there?) of the story.
And,
2.) The characters were not strong enough to keep the story afloat (ha) on their own. Grumps, Marcella and Bobo were woefully underdeveloped. Josh, likewise came across incredibly asinine, and was probably the least interesting of all the characters. The subplot of his internet dates only ever induced eyerolls. Bernard and Ruby were probably the most interesting, but neither were particularly flushed out. I personally remember the terror of the WTO Riots, and Bernard's involvement felt vaugly insulting, while Ruby's supernatural healing abilities felt strange and out of place.
Overall the whole story felt unfocused and unfinished.
I had two really big issues with this:
1.) The plot was dull and predictable. As a lifelong Seattle resident it was nice to hear names and places that were familiar, but that was where the fun ends. The idea of this families dramas spanning the first 2/3 of the book only to end in the "great race" felt too "movie-of-the-week" for me. There was never a moment where I settled into the current (see what I did there?) of the story.
And,
2.) The characters were not strong enough to keep the story afloat (ha) on their own. Grumps, Marcella and Bobo were woefully underdeveloped. Josh, likewise came across incredibly asinine, and was probably the least interesting of all the characters. The subplot of his internet dates only ever induced eyerolls. Bernard and Ruby were probably the most interesting, but neither were particularly flushed out. I personally remember the terror of the WTO Riots, and Bernard's involvement felt vaugly insulting, while Ruby's supernatural healing abilities felt strange and out of place.
Overall the whole story felt unfocused and unfinished.
June 14, 2019
J'avais adoré les Grandes Marées, alors quand j'ai vu que son dernier dans la collection Totem j'ai pas pu résister.
On retrouve l'univers marin avec cette fois une histoire de famille, une famille amoureuse des voiliers depuis plusieurs générations, une famille qui s'aime et se déchire, un peu folle, mais terriblement attachante !
Encore une fois, j'ai succombé à la plume de Jim Lynch, drôle et sensible. Chaque personnage a sa personnalité et l'auteur arrive à en faire des personnages passionnant que l'on a envie de suivre.
Comme pour les Grandes Marées, il y a un gros travail de recherches, l'auteur maîtrise son sujet et/ou est passionné par l'univers marin pour le retransmettre aussi bien.
J'ai pris un grand plaisir à suivre leurs pérégrinations et je continuerai à suivre avec un grand intérêt les futures publications de Jim Lynch.
Mention spéciale, car il évoque les bateaux construits à Granville, les voiliers Beneteau, donc près de chez moi, et que l'on retrouve dans cette Amérique. Pas peu fière ! ;)
https://pause-the.blogspot.com/
On retrouve l'univers marin avec cette fois une histoire de famille, une famille amoureuse des voiliers depuis plusieurs générations, une famille qui s'aime et se déchire, un peu folle, mais terriblement attachante !
Encore une fois, j'ai succombé à la plume de Jim Lynch, drôle et sensible. Chaque personnage a sa personnalité et l'auteur arrive à en faire des personnages passionnant que l'on a envie de suivre.
Comme pour les Grandes Marées, il y a un gros travail de recherches, l'auteur maîtrise son sujet et/ou est passionné par l'univers marin pour le retransmettre aussi bien.
J'ai pris un grand plaisir à suivre leurs pérégrinations et je continuerai à suivre avec un grand intérêt les futures publications de Jim Lynch.
Mention spéciale, car il évoque les bateaux construits à Granville, les voiliers Beneteau, donc près de chez moi, et que l'on retrouve dans cette Amérique. Pas peu fière ! ;)
https://pause-the.blogspot.com/
August 25, 2023
Les termes de voiles sont parfois un peu lourds sur le récit, mais les personnages sont foutrement bien construits
January 13, 2016
Laugh out loud moments pepper this novel which pulls back the curtain on an American family. The Johanssons look like they have everything -- successful dad and granddad doing what they love, brilliant mom, 3 great kids. They all apparently live for sailing. Ten-plus years later, middle kid Josh tries to figure out what went wrong. Lynch has clearly hung out with delusional boaters (is there any other kind?) and dysfunctional families because with all myriad characters in Before the Wind, not a one rings false.
Truly, there are hilarious passages in this novel, and there is also heart-breaking sadness.
Truly, there are hilarious passages in this novel, and there is also heart-breaking sadness.
May 13, 2016
I love this book. It is a fictional account of a dysfunctional sailing family that lives in the Seattle area. The grandfather and father of Josh, the narrator, built sailboats. Josh has an older brother and a younger sister and they are all avid sailors and misfits.
Josh’s sardonic commentary on the mystique of sailing will amuse even readers who can’t tell a jib from a spinnaker. The book builds up to a family reunion where everyone participates in a major sailboat race on a sailboat that the family designed decades ago. The book is an affectionate and very funny tribute to the gentle madness of sailing diehards.
Enjoy!
Josh’s sardonic commentary on the mystique of sailing will amuse even readers who can’t tell a jib from a spinnaker. The book builds up to a family reunion where everyone participates in a major sailboat race on a sailboat that the family designed decades ago. The book is an affectionate and very funny tribute to the gentle madness of sailing diehards.
Enjoy!
June 22, 2016
I thought I was in the target demographic for this book. I like the Seattle area, and our family used to go on boat trips in Puget Sound each summer. We have taken boats out of the Shilsole marina, which is mentioned in this book. This is my home turf.
But book never got off the ground for me. I never got excited about reading the next chapter.
If it hadn't had the local flavor and been written by a local author, I would have quit on it.
But book never got off the ground for me. I never got excited about reading the next chapter.
If it hadn't had the local flavor and been written by a local author, I would have quit on it.
May 19, 2016
The book started of super slow and kind of confusing. I think if your super into boats and sailig you would enjoy this book more but I kinda skipped over some of the boaty parts. Near the beginning I didn't think I would finish the book but I have to really not are for a book to stop reading it. As the book progressed and the reader gets to know the characters more, I started enjoying this book. I do think most of the first half of the book could have been taken out.
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