Jeff Ragan’s Reviews > The Eight Sailing/Mountain-Exploration Books > Status Update
Jeff Ragan
is on page 801 of 956
"Bread is no great problem on a Greenland voyage. Bread taken at the start will last nearly ten days before going mouldy and after that we go on to twice-baked, sliced bread re-baked, which if properly done and kept in a plastic sack lasts indefinitely...on arriving in Greenland one has rye-bread which again lasts for months...[and] also has the advantage that the crew find it less palatable and eat less..." (797).
— Jul 15, 2025 08:21AM
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Jeff’s Previous Updates
Jeff Ragan
is on page 951 of 956
"As my birthday is in February it would be difficult to celebrate my eightieth north of the Arctic Circle...steeply rising costs & waning strength had already inclined me to call a halt, & now with the boat lying at Reykjavik, together with the frightening possibility that one might again be stuck with a similar crew, the decision is no longer in doubt" (947).
— Jan 08, 2026 07:20AM
Jeff Ragan
is on page 938 of 956
"For some odd reason the use of a telephone to obtain information about ice conditions seemed to me a little underhand. The early seamen explorers, whose experience it has always been my aim in a faint and feeble way to recapture, had to go and find out; and in spite of ice reports, which are out of date by the tie one is on the spot, this is what the man in a small boat had nowadays still to do" (932-3).
— Jan 04, 2026 11:21AM
Jeff Ragan
is on page 929 of 956
"Jim...at once protested, calling it an 'undemocratic' decision, & at the sailor's Soviet he presently convened David & I found ourselves in a minority. Had I had any eloquence now was the time for an appeal to their better natures...but I felt mere disgust & no doubt allowed it to show...the voyage had now no aim & I could not feel much regard for those who had so tamely abandoned its objective" (926).
— Dec 24, 2025 05:16AM
Jeff Ragan
is on page 923 of 956
"Enthusiasm was rife as it always is either when fitting out for a long voyage, at the start of a mountaineering expedition, or even at the start of a war. A mountain expedition is usually short enough for enthusiasm to be sustained right up to the end. Wars may last for years but even for voyages that are reckoned in months enthusiasm at the start is not enough. More solid...qualities are needed..." (920).
— Dec 16, 2025 09:01AM
Jeff Ragan
is on page 917 of 956
"For this kind of yachting, where comfort and the care of the stomach have priority over progress, some wag has recently coined the word 'gastronavigation'" (909).
— Dec 09, 2025 11:24AM
Jeff Ragan
is on page 909 of 956
"There is nothing more distressing as running ashore, unless it be a doubt as to which continent the shore belongs" (905).
— Dec 01, 2025 09:10AM
Jeff Ragan
is on page 903 of 956
"Then we had sanitary problems. The outlet pump on the lavatory broke down and, as we soon discovered, Baroque is not well adapted for business over the side. the double guard rails made things difficult except for a contortionist. Working up till midnight Nicholas and Andrew repaired the pump. At Godthaab I bought a galvanised bucket in case it happened again" (896).
— Nov 22, 2025 11:30AM
Jeff Ragan
is on page 896 of 956
"I cannot remember ever making a kindlier start in more benign weather, yet with the needles still in sight astern Alec and Nicholas were communing with the sea over the rail, the latter not sufficiently overcome to forget to tell us in his querulous voice what he wanted for supper" (892).
— Nov 16, 2025 09:09AM
Jeff Ragan
is on page 891 of 956
"Nicholas, our bird-man, had a habit of whistling or breaking into loud song...Like the poet Gray who could stand only the hissing of the tea-kettle, I am averse to noise. It was like living in the monkey-house or an aviary...devoted mainly to the keeping of whooping cranes, whistling ducks, & macaws...we are all as God made us, some of us much worse, & he who will have eggs must bear with cackling" (891).
— Nov 10, 2025 08:36AM
Jeff Ragan
is on page 884 of 956
"Big mountains are seldom climbed at the first attempt which is more often a pioneering effort, breaking the trail for those who follow. Whether successful or not, on these voyages of mine there is a little of the pioneer's reward as well as four months sailing to look back on with pleasure, four months of endeavor to mull over, and that much more experience to store away" (882-3).
— Oct 30, 2025 09:37AM
