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The Unlikely Voyage of Jack De Crow: A Mirror Odyssey from North Wales to the Black Sea
Equipped with his cheerful optimism and a pith helmet, this Odysseus in a dinghy takes you with him from the borders of north Wales to the Black Sea - 4,900 kilometers over salt and fresh water, under sail, at oars, or at the end of a tow rope - through twelve countries, 282 locks, and numerous trials and adventures, including an encounter with Balkan pirates.
356 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2002
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About the author
A.J. Mackinnon
3 books44 followersA.J. Mackinnon is the author of The Unlikely Voyage of Jack de Crow and The Well at the World's End. He was born in Australia in 1963 and he spent his childhood between England and Australia, traveling as a small boy with his family on the last P&O liners to sail between the two countries.
His interests include painting, philosophy, writing, conjuring and home-made fireworks. He is currently a teacher at the Timbertop campus of Geelong Grammar.
His interests include painting, philosophy, writing, conjuring and home-made fireworks. He is currently a teacher at the Timbertop campus of Geelong Grammar.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 122 reviews
June 7, 2013
This is the true story (give or take some artistic licence) of an impossible trip which is radically under-planned and supremely under-resourced in a totally inadequate piece of equipment, beginning on a river in North Shropshire England, and ending at the blunt end of Bulgaria on the Black Sea. The stuff of every small boat sailor's dreams.
The charm of the book is partly in the self-effacing humor of our lone adventurer, and his capacity to portray the daily improbabilities of his task as minor glitches caused by personal failure, when in reality his blind faith and complete commitment to living out a boyish dream as an adult is an absolute triumph of the adventurous spirit that most of us would dearly love to have, or never have lost.
This is Wind In The Willows on steroids, with the most charming hand drawn illustrations, and some really powerful and evocative prose smudged within the mishaps. I will really miss this book, and I have been reading it as slowly as dignity will allow...and I'm determined to read it again ( I never do that normally).
It is one thing to take a boat on a wild and exciting adventure, it is quite another to have the ability to tell the story so sweetly and with such humility and humor.
The charm of the book is partly in the self-effacing humor of our lone adventurer, and his capacity to portray the daily improbabilities of his task as minor glitches caused by personal failure, when in reality his blind faith and complete commitment to living out a boyish dream as an adult is an absolute triumph of the adventurous spirit that most of us would dearly love to have, or never have lost.
This is Wind In The Willows on steroids, with the most charming hand drawn illustrations, and some really powerful and evocative prose smudged within the mishaps. I will really miss this book, and I have been reading it as slowly as dignity will allow...and I'm determined to read it again ( I never do that normally).
It is one thing to take a boat on a wild and exciting adventure, it is quite another to have the ability to tell the story so sweetly and with such humility and humor.
January 13, 2015
Sandy Mackinnon sets out at the end of his teaching contract in England to travel home to Australia. He decides to borrow a small sailing dinghy from the school and follow the river into the village, a distance of about 10km. He arranges for the boat to be collected and he will catch the train to London to fly home to Australia.
What follows is a remarkable journey told remarkably well. He arrives in the village with time to spare and as it was pretty easy going he decides to go a bit further. He can catch the train just as well in the next town. And so on. Two years and several thousand km later he has still not adequately explained the point of his journey other than this 'a few more miles'. But we don't care, for it is with such humility that he sets off to see what is 'around the next bend', and he writes about it so well, that we are on the voyage with him.
The popular story is that when asked why he climbed Everest, Edmund Hillary said, 'because it is there.' This is a good answer but were it not for the fact that he was the first at something so difficult we would be unlikely to remember it. Why do we do things?
We do things because we are alive, we are curious, we do not wish to be idle, and because we did them before we sat down to think about the reasons not to. And so, Sandy Mackinnon is in a small boat, crossing the channel. In the canals of France, into Eastern Europe. That is what he did, but it is how that becomes important, and how he tells it becomes the reason for us to care. Another adventure story? So what.
In travel writing is difficult to rise above the Tuesday in Amsterdam level. Adventure writing is even more fraught with difficulty because unless something incredibly dramatic happens - such as we cut the rope and survive a plummet into oblivion (Touching the Void), or hack our own arm off when trapped by a rockfall (Between a rock and a hard place)- we are really not interested. We've seen too many movies for the step by step description of how I climbed Everest to be of much interest.
Sandy Mackinnon manages to get us wet when he is wet, we are cold when he is cold, cramped and sleepless in a stupid small dinghy when he is. Time and again he builds the tension and releases it. He is a master storyteller. That this story is true? Irrelevant. This is great writing.
'The well at the worlds end' deals with the time before the Jack De Crow voyage, but was written some time after the first book. It is every bit as entertaining. That all these things could happen to one man on one trip is perhaps unbelievable, but I think it is more a reflection of how most of us, day to day, fail to notice the unusual and the magnificent happening around us all the time. And we are also loath to say, 'Yes!', when offered a crew position on a small yacht sailing to Komodo Island.
These two books are also ultimately so wonderful because as you read them you know, you dream. 'I could do that!' Never does Sandy Mackinnon play himself up to be a hero, someone more skilled than you yourself could be. He is just your average bumbling idiot. He is all of us. Read his story, and then go out into the world and even if it is only next door, look for all the wonderful things that are going on everyday. Or say yes to an offer that might just take you somewhere interesting.
What follows is a remarkable journey told remarkably well. He arrives in the village with time to spare and as it was pretty easy going he decides to go a bit further. He can catch the train just as well in the next town. And so on. Two years and several thousand km later he has still not adequately explained the point of his journey other than this 'a few more miles'. But we don't care, for it is with such humility that he sets off to see what is 'around the next bend', and he writes about it so well, that we are on the voyage with him.
The popular story is that when asked why he climbed Everest, Edmund Hillary said, 'because it is there.' This is a good answer but were it not for the fact that he was the first at something so difficult we would be unlikely to remember it. Why do we do things?
We do things because we are alive, we are curious, we do not wish to be idle, and because we did them before we sat down to think about the reasons not to. And so, Sandy Mackinnon is in a small boat, crossing the channel. In the canals of France, into Eastern Europe. That is what he did, but it is how that becomes important, and how he tells it becomes the reason for us to care. Another adventure story? So what.
In travel writing is difficult to rise above the Tuesday in Amsterdam level. Adventure writing is even more fraught with difficulty because unless something incredibly dramatic happens - such as we cut the rope and survive a plummet into oblivion (Touching the Void), or hack our own arm off when trapped by a rockfall (Between a rock and a hard place)- we are really not interested. We've seen too many movies for the step by step description of how I climbed Everest to be of much interest.
Sandy Mackinnon manages to get us wet when he is wet, we are cold when he is cold, cramped and sleepless in a stupid small dinghy when he is. Time and again he builds the tension and releases it. He is a master storyteller. That this story is true? Irrelevant. This is great writing.
'The well at the worlds end' deals with the time before the Jack De Crow voyage, but was written some time after the first book. It is every bit as entertaining. That all these things could happen to one man on one trip is perhaps unbelievable, but I think it is more a reflection of how most of us, day to day, fail to notice the unusual and the magnificent happening around us all the time. And we are also loath to say, 'Yes!', when offered a crew position on a small yacht sailing to Komodo Island.
These two books are also ultimately so wonderful because as you read them you know, you dream. 'I could do that!' Never does Sandy Mackinnon play himself up to be a hero, someone more skilled than you yourself could be. He is just your average bumbling idiot. He is all of us. Read his story, and then go out into the world and even if it is only next door, look for all the wonderful things that are going on everyday. Or say yes to an offer that might just take you somewhere interesting.
June 9, 2019
I thought hard and long about what my rating of this book should be. There were times I thought he was a complete idiot as yet another accident, borne of poor planning, occurred. There were times he waxed much too lyrical with his choice of poetry, for my taste. I didn’t laugh out loud more than once; that ‘once’ being when he sailed uncontrollably through a school group of kayakers, causing a few to capsize. See? He was a careless idiot more than a few times. But I guess that makes it an adventure for him and any unsuspecting bystander.
There were moments of beautiful descriptive writing, good humour and developed tension, which I really enjoyed and respected; but there was a lot of dribble too. There were lost opportunities when he could have drawn out more detail on the personal encounters with the people of the rivers and canals.
Was it a travel book of the geographic sort, or a book of adventure, or an autobiography? I still haven’t made up my mind on most of it, but as an autobiography it lost out in my mind: he deflected from personal honesty with a lot of poetic quotes.
I mostly enjoyed reading this book but wouldn’t seek out any more of this ilk from him, and, like the author I was pleased to finally reach the Black Sea.
There were moments of beautiful descriptive writing, good humour and developed tension, which I really enjoyed and respected; but there was a lot of dribble too. There were lost opportunities when he could have drawn out more detail on the personal encounters with the people of the rivers and canals.
Was it a travel book of the geographic sort, or a book of adventure, or an autobiography? I still haven’t made up my mind on most of it, but as an autobiography it lost out in my mind: he deflected from personal honesty with a lot of poetic quotes.
I mostly enjoyed reading this book but wouldn’t seek out any more of this ilk from him, and, like the author I was pleased to finally reach the Black Sea.
May 21, 2013
If you've ever felt like you wanted to climb aboard a boat and sail off into the sunset then this is the book for you! I really enjoyed this book! It was humorous and informative and I really liked A J Mackinnon's style of writing. If only we all had the means and opportunity to cut loose from our day jobs and embark on an adventure like this! However, the next best thing is to enjoy the adventure vicariously through the engaging writing of an author like A J Mackinnon. I'm definitely going to get my hands on a copy of his other book, The Well at the World's End.
January 7, 2023
A brilliantly written travelogue of a very unlikely journey across Europe in a tiny Mirror sailboat. Some of his stories remind me of Bill Bryson, but not quite as funny.
I thought he was grossly under prepared for the journey with regard to food,money ,back up plans etc,but found his descriptions of Nature to be very compelling and not something to skip over.
The second half of the book dragged a little for me (and Jack as well!!). However I would still strongly recommend this book for anyone who who has a little adventurous streak in their make up.
I thought he was grossly under prepared for the journey with regard to food,money ,back up plans etc,but found his descriptions of Nature to be very compelling and not something to skip over.
The second half of the book dragged a little for me (and Jack as well!!). However I would still strongly recommend this book for anyone who who has a little adventurous streak in their make up.
March 14, 2024
This is one of the funniest and fascinating memoirs I've ever listened to. It's hard to believe in some respects that it all took place. Sandy Mackinnon is totally bonkers but somehow survives his "Mirror Odyssey" and kept bobbing to the top with much help from the kindness of strangers along the way.
July 19, 2013
You know how sometimes you’re in the mood for some light reading, but you don’t want any dross that insults your intelligence? After The Unknown Industrial Prisoner and a most disappointing foray into the first 50 pages of James Salter’s All That Is, I wanted something that would amuse me. I predicted, on the basis of my reading of The Well at the World’s End in 2010, (see my review) that The Unlikely Voyage of Jack de Crow was the perfect book – and I was right.
The Unlikely Voyage of Jack de Crow was A. J. Mackinnon’s first book, and it is a delight. The story of his voyage from North Wales to the Black Sea in a mirror dinghy, it’s the most whimsical travel book I’ve ever read, written by a true eccentric.
The facts of the voyage are bizarre enough. I have briefly sailed in a mirror dinghy – which I thought was great fun until we capsized it in the middle of Port Phillip Bay and then I remembered the sharks and decided that sailing was maybe not for me. These boats are very small, and they lack refinements such as padded seats, outboard motors and any protection from wind and rain. They don’t have any navigation equipment either, but Sandy Mackinnon eschewed such modern contrivances as a compass or GPS, not even when he was scampering across the Channel. Even though the reader knows he must have survived this folly, it’s still pleasurably alarming to find him astray on the world’s busiest waterway, in real peril from its massive ferries and tankers, and he with no idea in which direction Calais lay.
To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2013/07/27/th...
The Unlikely Voyage of Jack de Crow was A. J. Mackinnon’s first book, and it is a delight. The story of his voyage from North Wales to the Black Sea in a mirror dinghy, it’s the most whimsical travel book I’ve ever read, written by a true eccentric.
The facts of the voyage are bizarre enough. I have briefly sailed in a mirror dinghy – which I thought was great fun until we capsized it in the middle of Port Phillip Bay and then I remembered the sharks and decided that sailing was maybe not for me. These boats are very small, and they lack refinements such as padded seats, outboard motors and any protection from wind and rain. They don’t have any navigation equipment either, but Sandy Mackinnon eschewed such modern contrivances as a compass or GPS, not even when he was scampering across the Channel. Even though the reader knows he must have survived this folly, it’s still pleasurably alarming to find him astray on the world’s busiest waterway, in real peril from its massive ferries and tankers, and he with no idea in which direction Calais lay.
To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2013/07/27/th...
November 29, 2013
This is a light-hearted, engagingly written tale of a fascinating and most unusual modern voyage. An Australia man, just finishing a teaching stint in England decides to take an unpowered dinghy for a short trip down the river. Somehow, he never quite stops going and ends all the way from the UK to the Black sea.
The writing style is enjoyable though I found a lot of the early adventures a little difficult to follow because I am not terribly familiar with UK geography. This did not significantly detract from the story, it just left me occasionally a little at sea (pardon the pun). Overall it is a rather overwhelming story; that anyone would actually decide to do this.... But the narration is so very matter of fact and underwhelmed, that only thinking back over the story do you see the magnitude of it all!
I like the fact that the writing glances over or totally ignores a lot of day to day practicalities, though at times I burned to know small details (like is it even legal to do this?) I think the story flowed the better for not getting caught up in small details.
The writing style is enjoyable though I found a lot of the early adventures a little difficult to follow because I am not terribly familiar with UK geography. This did not significantly detract from the story, it just left me occasionally a little at sea (pardon the pun). Overall it is a rather overwhelming story; that anyone would actually decide to do this.... But the narration is so very matter of fact and underwhelmed, that only thinking back over the story do you see the magnitude of it all!
I like the fact that the writing glances over or totally ignores a lot of day to day practicalities, though at times I burned to know small details (like is it even legal to do this?) I think the story flowed the better for not getting caught up in small details.
January 19, 2014
This crazy, crazy man rows and sails a Mirror dinghy from Lancashire to the Black Sea with less planning apparently than goes into the average school run. He seems happy enough, which is strange for a guy who clearly doesn't value his own life too greatly, as he is happy to test his right of way with Rhine barges, row against the stream for tens of miles at a time, enter ex-Soviet countries without a visa and make a plan that involves only needing to tow for three more days and he will be able to get some food. Eccentricity meets the milk of human kindness and makes a funny and engaging travel story which could be better written, but wouldn't be much better for it.
April 7, 2015
Sometimes not knowing what you're doing means that you have adventures that more knowledgeable people would never contemplate. There's a bumbling innocence to this book which adds to the enjoyment and the constant sense of "I can't believe he's doing that" which, as the book develops, becomes "I can't believe he survived that."
Lots of fun.
Lots of fun.
December 18, 2009
Basically I LOVEd this book. MacKinnon is hailariously funny and I was hysterical through practically every page. I know that he really made the voyage but since he was drunk a lot of the time, by his own admission, some parts are embellished. It doesn't matter. It's a delightful fun read.
April 5, 2021
This book is truly a gem. I dipped in and out of it over a period of months. It's the sort of book that can be picked up and savoured at any time. The dry humour is delightful and there are many reminders of the benefit of slow travel.
October 29, 2022
Probably the best book I've read this year. A delightfully bright and fun account of an amazing adventure across Europe in a small dingy. Well written and humorous throughout. Has definitely given me the travel bug again, there is a new trip to be planned!
September 3, 2018
One of my favourite books of all time!
January 25, 2022
I've had this book sitting on my shelf for... maybe a decade? It was a gift, I'm pretty sure. I always intended to read it, but it just didn't grab me. I maybe thought that it seemed a bit too... serious, perhaps. Although exactly why it would be serious with quite such a title, and a dinghy with a bright red sail on the cover, don't ask me to explain. At any rate I thought I wasn't going to love it, and I'd have to psych myself up to finally get through it. And I finally got to that point this week, as well as a desire to get through some of Mount ToBeRead.
And of course, I loved it.
In 1997, the Australian author is an English teacher in England. After 6 years, he decides that it's time to do something different, and to help figure out what that is he borrows the school's Mirror dinghy - which has been sitting abandoned for some time - and sets out to sail for a few weeks, over to the border with Wales. Predictably, given it's now a book (and quite a thick one - 348 pages), that's not the end of it. In three stints, with a fair gap between the first two because of the weather, Mackinnon ends up at the Black Sea. Yes: he sails through England to Dover, across the Channel, and then via canals and rivers and many, many locks, he gets to the Black Sea. Yes, it's incredible; it takes about a year of travel.
One of the things that really worked for me, here, is the prose. Mackinnon is an English and drama teacher and it absolutely shows because he's got literary and musical references coming out of his pores. He sings hymns and musical numbers to while away the hours, he compares himself to Odysseus, and he decides to commit all of Keats to memory while sailing the dinghy. He describes the scenery he passes and his various adventures, mishaps, and joys with great humour and a great eye for detail.
Another thing that's a great joy here is that Mackinnon balances the travel-as-place aspect with the travel-as-people part. There's a lot of description of the natural and industrial landscape he moves through, and occasionally runs into (rapids, derelict ships, willows, etc). And it's very evocative. At the same time, the people he meets are a huge part of the adventure. Mackinnon had the most outrageous luck the whole way along - something he himself acknowledges, and admits that he has to work to convince his friends back home that these things really happened. (Yes, I did stop to wonder whether this was all completely made up... and I guess that's possible. But there's no way to prove it, so I'm happy to take it on a little faith.) He meets people who feed him, give him a bed, give him directions, and - most importantly - help him to fix the boat when it's in direst need. The journey would have been much, much shorter if serendipity hadn't been on his side.
This was a delightful read; and selfishly I'm glad it happened when it did, because this would have been completely different with a mobile phone.
And of course, I loved it.
In 1997, the Australian author is an English teacher in England. After 6 years, he decides that it's time to do something different, and to help figure out what that is he borrows the school's Mirror dinghy - which has been sitting abandoned for some time - and sets out to sail for a few weeks, over to the border with Wales. Predictably, given it's now a book (and quite a thick one - 348 pages), that's not the end of it. In three stints, with a fair gap between the first two because of the weather, Mackinnon ends up at the Black Sea. Yes: he sails through England to Dover, across the Channel, and then via canals and rivers and many, many locks, he gets to the Black Sea. Yes, it's incredible; it takes about a year of travel.
One of the things that really worked for me, here, is the prose. Mackinnon is an English and drama teacher and it absolutely shows because he's got literary and musical references coming out of his pores. He sings hymns and musical numbers to while away the hours, he compares himself to Odysseus, and he decides to commit all of Keats to memory while sailing the dinghy. He describes the scenery he passes and his various adventures, mishaps, and joys with great humour and a great eye for detail.
Another thing that's a great joy here is that Mackinnon balances the travel-as-place aspect with the travel-as-people part. There's a lot of description of the natural and industrial landscape he moves through, and occasionally runs into (rapids, derelict ships, willows, etc). And it's very evocative. At the same time, the people he meets are a huge part of the adventure. Mackinnon had the most outrageous luck the whole way along - something he himself acknowledges, and admits that he has to work to convince his friends back home that these things really happened. (Yes, I did stop to wonder whether this was all completely made up... and I guess that's possible. But there's no way to prove it, so I'm happy to take it on a little faith.) He meets people who feed him, give him a bed, give him directions, and - most importantly - help him to fix the boat when it's in direst need. The journey would have been much, much shorter if serendipity hadn't been on his side.
This was a delightful read; and selfishly I'm glad it happened when it did, because this would have been completely different with a mobile phone.
December 4, 2021
In this travelogue an expatriate Australian school teacher finds an old sailing dinghy, Jack de Crow, at a nearby lake in southern England and decides to sail her to the sea. What starts out as a few weeks of adventure soon turns into a year of rowing and sailing the canals and rivers of Europe.
Mackinnon's writing style is humorous and he describes himself in a self-deprecating and eccentric way which is endearing. My favourite chapters were near the end where Mackinnon and Jack sail down the Danube to the Black Sea.
But Unlikely Voyage is too long a tale fo me. I found the middle chapters tedious. The challenges that Mackinnon and Jack face become too repetitive and I had to resist the urge to skim sections of text.
Another issue was the lack of depth in the characters we meet throughout the voyage. They all come across as the same jovial, salt of the earth type. There is very little sense of discussion and dialogue with others. I really didn't come to know well any of the river people who help Mackinnon and Jack on their way. Mackinnon certainly doesn't have the same fascination with others that comes through so clearly in Least Heat-Moon's Blue Highways.
If you're into boats, especially one's with sails, I'd recommend it.
Mackinnon's writing style is humorous and he describes himself in a self-deprecating and eccentric way which is endearing. My favourite chapters were near the end where Mackinnon and Jack sail down the Danube to the Black Sea.
But Unlikely Voyage is too long a tale fo me. I found the middle chapters tedious. The challenges that Mackinnon and Jack face become too repetitive and I had to resist the urge to skim sections of text.
Another issue was the lack of depth in the characters we meet throughout the voyage. They all come across as the same jovial, salt of the earth type. There is very little sense of discussion and dialogue with others. I really didn't come to know well any of the river people who help Mackinnon and Jack on their way. Mackinnon certainly doesn't have the same fascination with others that comes through so clearly in Least Heat-Moon's Blue Highways.
If you're into boats, especially one's with sails, I'd recommend it.
December 31, 2017
A. J. McKinnon sets of in his Mirror dinghy from North Wales and travels through canals and rivers, and across the English channel to reach the Black Sea without much planning aforethought. It is the sort of adventure that many of us dream of doing but few get around to. And this is what makes it such an enchanting and quirky travel story. This is not some professional explorer with a train of porters or a celebrity with a television crew in tow. He is just an ordinary guy who has a sense of adventure in him.
Mckinnons writing demonstrates great turn of phrases and a vast vocabulary. However, he can be over descriptive employing too many similes. I found myself longing for more simple sentences at times just to keep the narrative going. His account is also studded with literary allusions which I felt added nothing to the story.
For all of that, The Unlikely Voyage of Jack de Crow is an inspirational story of risk taking and persevering after endless setbacks. I recommend it to anyone with even the slightest interest in travel, sailing or adventure.
Mckinnons writing demonstrates great turn of phrases and a vast vocabulary. However, he can be over descriptive employing too many similes. I found myself longing for more simple sentences at times just to keep the narrative going. His account is also studded with literary allusions which I felt added nothing to the story.
For all of that, The Unlikely Voyage of Jack de Crow is an inspirational story of risk taking and persevering after endless setbacks. I recommend it to anyone with even the slightest interest in travel, sailing or adventure.
March 31, 2022
Well I don’t need to sail through Europe now- I honestly felt like I was there reading this book. As well as being hilarious and excellent- this author picks the exactly correct word, which only makes the book that more satisfying to read.
September 21, 2010
By the time I'd reached page 20 I was hooked on Jack de Crow. Mackinnon's style is both charming and humorous. The very idea of setting sail in the river 'at the bottom of the oval' simply because he found a boat and becuase he could, is what we would all like to do but never actually get around to. Jack de Crow is the perfect antidote to the repetition and obligations of everyday life. When he reaches his target destination he decides to go to the next one, simply because it seems like a good idea - a good definition of real freedom.
His journey through the canals of England are fascinating, particularly as he learns how to handle his tiny sail boat in such a restricted space. One of the best passages, I found, was after London. He decides to cross the Channel - in a Mirror dinghy! Is he mad?
Once in Europe I found the narrative slowed and became occassionally repetitious; until he reaches Serbia. The ending I thought was a bit flat, but perhaps that was because I wanted Jack de Crow to keep sailing.
MacKinnon's style reminds me of William Dalrymple's travel books, engaging, informative, adventurous, yet sufficiently plausible that the reader can identify with the author, and enjoy the ride in comfort.
Geoffrey Lambert - author of "The Morozov Inheritance"
His journey through the canals of England are fascinating, particularly as he learns how to handle his tiny sail boat in such a restricted space. One of the best passages, I found, was after London. He decides to cross the Channel - in a Mirror dinghy! Is he mad?
Once in Europe I found the narrative slowed and became occassionally repetitious; until he reaches Serbia. The ending I thought was a bit flat, but perhaps that was because I wanted Jack de Crow to keep sailing.
MacKinnon's style reminds me of William Dalrymple's travel books, engaging, informative, adventurous, yet sufficiently plausible that the reader can identify with the author, and enjoy the ride in comfort.
Geoffrey Lambert - author of "The Morozov Inheritance"
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April 28, 2022Sandy Mackinnon sets out from North Shropshire, England, in a Mirror dinghy, then can't quite give up the sailing bug so ends up sailing all the way to Sulina, on the Black Sea.
The Mirror is way too small to do some of the sailing it does. Look at it!
https://www.sailsmagazine.com.au/refl...
And yet ... Every challenge, from those Sandy could have prepared far better for, to the completely out of his control, *Jack de Crow* rises to the challenge!
I found it slow but after a couple of false starts I really got into the narrative and appreciated his dry wit and interesting turns of phrase (mostly). I wanted to find out what would happen next, and who he would meet next. It's not a quick read, as it's highly descriptive, and even though it's only 350 pages, the font is quite small.
I really enjoyed all the line drawings along the way, they helped me picture the scene more accurately, and were a lovely touch.
My favourite part was all the wonderful stories of good people being kind. It was a beautiful reminder that there are many people who are decent and thoughtful. It was a delight to read about them :)
The Mirror is way too small to do some of the sailing it does. Look at it!
https://www.sailsmagazine.com.au/refl...
And yet ... Every challenge, from those Sandy could have prepared far better for, to the completely out of his control, *Jack de Crow* rises to the challenge!
I found it slow but after a couple of false starts I really got into the narrative and appreciated his dry wit and interesting turns of phrase (mostly). I wanted to find out what would happen next, and who he would meet next. It's not a quick read, as it's highly descriptive, and even though it's only 350 pages, the font is quite small.
I really enjoyed all the line drawings along the way, they helped me picture the scene more accurately, and were a lovely touch.
My favourite part was all the wonderful stories of good people being kind. It was a beautiful reminder that there are many people who are decent and thoughtful. It was a delight to read about them :)
December 25, 2014
It is 1997-98 and we are voyaging from the headwaters of the Severn to the mouth of the Danube in a 12 foot dinghy - a route that takes us through often ravishing scenery and fascinating history. The dinghy's captain has a keen visual sense, a mind stocked with poetry and song, a nice turn of phrase, a readiness to be pleased and an engaging personality which wins him many friends on the way. The text is helpfully and attractively illustrated with the author's own line drawings.
The numerous hazards faced by this intrepid sailor include crossing the English Channel, battling the currents of great rivers, negotiating hundreds of locks (including a fearsome monster lock on a Slovakian stretch of the Danube) and finding himself penniless and hungry in Milosevic's disintegrating and outlawed Serbia. He also has the occasional distasteful encounter with thugs and inflexible lock keepers.
I felt as though I was actively journeying myself, with my old travel guides to France and Germany and google enhancing the pleasure and the fun.
The numerous hazards faced by this intrepid sailor include crossing the English Channel, battling the currents of great rivers, negotiating hundreds of locks (including a fearsome monster lock on a Slovakian stretch of the Danube) and finding himself penniless and hungry in Milosevic's disintegrating and outlawed Serbia. He also has the occasional distasteful encounter with thugs and inflexible lock keepers.
I felt as though I was actively journeying myself, with my old travel guides to France and Germany and google enhancing the pleasure and the fun.
June 28, 2013
This has to be my favourite of all the new books I have read in the last couple of years. I thoroughly enjoyed it and had to only read a chapter at time to make it last longer. Thankfully my birthday is coming up soon and I am looking for a copy of the Well at the Worlds End. Being the same age as the author, sharing a love of classics, recently having been to England and having a taste of some of the places he went and overall thoroughly appreciating his sense of humour all made this book a chuckle out loud, feel good tale that I will return to(the mark of a good story!).
August 2, 2014
Enjoyed absolutely every single page.
Do not hesitate for a second to read this book, you won't be disappointed (as long as you like awesome, hilarious accounts about normal people undertaking really very unlikely and frankly, slightly stupid adventures of brilliant-ness).
The story of this guy's deranged trip from the UK to the black sea in a boat about the size of a sofa is a glorious, Technicolor shambles from start to finish. I am amazed that he didn't die.
Jack and Mr. Mackinnon, I salute you.
Do not hesitate for a second to read this book, you won't be disappointed (as long as you like awesome, hilarious accounts about normal people undertaking really very unlikely and frankly, slightly stupid adventures of brilliant-ness).
The story of this guy's deranged trip from the UK to the black sea in a boat about the size of a sofa is a glorious, Technicolor shambles from start to finish. I am amazed that he didn't die.
Jack and Mr. Mackinnon, I salute you.
December 29, 2017
Loved this book! A wonderful read for anyone who loves sailing.
Must add that my Dad had a Mirror dinghy built in 1970 & taught us to sail when I was 12 & my sister was 6. This same boat stayed with me for 30 years, in the meantime I advanced to bigger boats & more serious sailing. When I eventually sold her she was pristine; her sails were as new. I still hear my Dad saying
'fold the sails along the fold-lines, Les' & 'Dont scratch the car!' when we heaved her up onto the roof-racks. Fond memories indeed.
Must add that my Dad had a Mirror dinghy built in 1970 & taught us to sail when I was 12 & my sister was 6. This same boat stayed with me for 30 years, in the meantime I advanced to bigger boats & more serious sailing. When I eventually sold her she was pristine; her sails were as new. I still hear my Dad saying
'fold the sails along the fold-lines, Les' & 'Dont scratch the car!' when we heaved her up onto the roof-racks. Fond memories indeed.
June 8, 2020
What a rollicking, raucous, hilarious, unpredictable adventure! Sandy MacKinnon is a Swallows and Amazons and Narnia loving man with a disregard for planning and safety, which took him, and therefore his readers, on an extraordinary journey from Wales to the Black Sea in a dinghy called Jack de Crow. I loved every minute of it.
June 8, 2011
A delightful journey with a wonderful sailing companion. As a complete land lubber I enjoyed learning all the sail boat vocabulary and seeing Europe from this vantage point. Inspired me to go read Swallows and Amazons. And the author lives in Geelong!!
August 27, 2017
Funny, informative, entertaining account of author sailing a dingy from the borders of North Wales to the Black Sea. Delightful characters and beautiful scenery with a frisson of danger and a touch of stupidity.
January 7, 2022
A delight from beginning to end. Thanks to Bec for loaning this gem of a book. Whimsical, funny and insightful. His journey took place around the same time as my own travels through Europe and reminded me of the joys of that time.
November 8, 2016
One of the best books I've read lately. A.J Mackinnon is an enchanting story weaver!
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October 27, 2020Amazing story of an Australian's journey from north west England to the Black Sea in a small training sailboat. Evidence that if your heart is good, you will meet good people. Enjoyed it to the end.
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