5 comments about Paddle to the Amazon: The Ultimate 12,000-Mile Canoe Adventure.

1. This is a great book. It is also an easy read. I have had many friends & co-workers curse me for lending them "this stupid book I can't put down" ...and then they ask if they can lend it to another friend. Pages are falling out in the middle becuase it is so well used.



2. I read this about 8 yrs ago,found it in a used book store.I still think about it.A wonderful fish-eye view of a long journey with good and hard memories.The dynamics between father and sons juxtaposed with vibrant scenery make this a book you wont want to put down.Bravo!



3. I felt like I went to the Amazon with these guys without the bugs, dirt, starvation, and near death experiences. I enjoyed every page, the good and the bad. I think most people have the dream to do something like Don Starkell but few of us actually do it. It's been about a month since I read the book and I'm still thinking about all they went through. He doesn't sugarcoat details, he just tells it like it was. I'm glad you went Don, and took your sons with you, but more than that, I'm glad you wrote a book a about it!



4. What a great read. The author, fresh from a devastating divorce, started planning this epic father-and-sons canoe journey from Canada to Brazil. After some years of cooling off and preparation, amid the usual hail of well-deserved dire warnings such adventures generate, he actually pulled it off.
   
   From the cover blurb, I assumed I'd be reading another insipid, feel-good father-son story, and I was prepared to dislike it. Boy, was I wrong. Most of the text is pulled directly from Don's actual journals written during the trip, words he appears to have kept for himself and only later decided to share with the world.
   
   The tale is heart-wrenchingly frank about everything from the constant physical and emotional challenges to Don's personal doubts to occasional and agonizing strife with his sons. Rather than distracting, it richens his descriptions of the journey itself--filled with colorful notes about the terrain, animals, plants, and (especially) bugs along the way--and helps point the harsh light of reality on the adventure. Particularly delicious are his observations on the ever-changing nature of local human behavior along the 12,000 miles. Also, Don's references to tales of the long-ago explorers who visited parts of the journey's route have given me a wealth of new books to put on my reading list.
   
   By no means would I call this a feel-good book, though I finished it feeling inspired and delighted--and yes, good. Though an easy read, the book did no hand-holding through any of the journey's rough spots; the story is regularly gruesome, occasionally hair-raising, now and again embarrassing, but through it all jaw-dropping. This is as real as it gets.
   
   Like adventure? Read this.



5. I started reading this book with high expectations based on the other reviews posted here and Don Starkell's reputation as an outstanding adventurer. I was disappointed in both the book and the author. In fact, many stretches of this book left me completely dumbfounded, unable to believe that this is not a comedy.
   
   For example, I thought it was a funny idea of Don Starkell to paddle into the center of the Colombian drug trade while displaying big US Coast Guard decals on his canoe. Even funnier was that he started wondering why that made people slightly suspicious and they subsequently intended to kill him. It was a bit repetitious, though. I guess after he unsuccessfully tried to get himself killed by paddling into Honduras and Nicaragua at a time of political unrest, he probably thought that this could be accomplished in Columbia.
   
   Completely immune to reason, this "world class paddler" obviously thinks that safety gear such as personal floatation is only for whimps and just keeps relying entirely on his luck to be rescued, e.g. after capsizing and being swept out to sea in a turbulent river mouth. Much to his surprise, the next river mouth is just as turbulent and he faces similar problems on the next, and the next, and the next...
   
   One particularly hilarious moment ensues when Don Starkell harasses a 20ft, 300 pound Anaconda for kicks, which he mistakenly believes to be a Boa Constrictor, falsely relying on the water-avoiding behaviour of the "Boa" for protection. Or, imagine Don Starkell's surprise after entering Brazil, where sometimes he was able to understand the Brazilians with the Spanish he learned along his trip, but more often than not, it appeared to him "as if they were speaking an entirely different language". I think he might still be trying to figure this one out...
   
   This list goes on and on - and in what appeared to me as a bad mixture of the "Three Stooges" and "National Lampoon" the Starkells clown their way down the coast and finally, against all odds make it to the mouth of the Amazon.
   
   On the downside, I thought that the way Don Starkell, a well-off Canadian, relied on mooching supplies and shelter from some of the poorest people in the countries they visit was just sickening. He proudly writes about his method of identifying a leader in a group of strangers and wooing him or her with golden Canada Maple Leaf pins to gain access to the supplies they need. He could as well have brought glass pearls. Don Starkell aptly named his canoe 'Orellana' after "the first white man to navigate the Amazon River in 1541". And quite often his behavior seems to be that of a modern-time Francisco Orellana, who gained a sorry reputation for raiding settlements along the river for supplies and burning down entire villages, including their inhabitants. I was left with the impression that most of the people the Starkells "visited" were rather happy when they were gone again.
   
   I was most interested in Mr. Starkell's motivation for performing this trip. He writes at the beginning of the book that he mainly did it to compensate feelings of insufficiency after a rough childhood and a painful divorce. As a consequence, his interest in this journey is mostly centered on gaining bragging rights. He doesn't actually seem to enjoy any of this trip, other than the four-month long stay in Veracruz, Mexico. His only drive to get up in the morning is mileage. Because of this, Starkell's saga is often not much more than the description of a "canoe treadmill" experience. It remains obscure to me why somebody would think that spending two years on such a lost quest for psychological completeness would be a sane idea. It probably did for him what a big truck or butt-implants did for many midlife-crisis shaken fellows, i.e. nothing. Therefore, the almost complete lack of reflections or attempts to find meaning in this journey came as no surprise.
   
   To add [..] to [..], [...]seems to regard his son's as mere paddling power - motors desperately needed by him to complete his insane task. As for the father/son dynamics in a small boat over two years: we can only guess about this complex and intricate topic, because the author doesn't really write anything about that, which is probably the greatest disappointment of the book.

No comments about Rock 'n' Road, 2nd: An Atlas of North American Rock Climbing Areas.

5 comments about People of the Deer (Death of a People).

1. A truly insightful story of the inland eskimo people of the Canadian Arctic. It details not only their day to day survival in a harsh land, but also tells of their myths, legends, and history. It also tells of the whiteman's interference with their culture and how that affect may ultimately lead to their extinction. The book sincerely takes the reader into the lives of the People of the Deer.



2. First published in 1947 and available in a wide variety of editions since then, Farley Mowat's first and most distant book is still remarkably readable in the world of the 21st century. It concerns one of the stranger human sagas of the last century, that of the discovery and destruction of a remote Inuit society, the Ihalmiut, in Canada's north. The setting of the book is far enough away in time for us to marvel at how little things have changed since. The contemptuous attitude of European man for the aborigine seems hardly to have altered over the years. We are still hard put to understand the needs of the first peoples and how to answer them.

   Farley Mowat has combined a fine sensitivity for the natural environment with a sharp eye for the details of man's place within it. It must be exceedingly rare in the history of anthropology that such an inexperienced investigator has taken such pains to get to the source of his information. Mowat lived among the Ihalmiut for over a year to write the book. During that time he witnessed the rapid deterioration of the small group which remained, and tried to examine the causes of their decline. With very deft prose for such a young writer, he points out the difference between the intentions and the actions of the European discoverers of The People (as they refer to themselves) and the consequences of such disparity. The Ihalmiut were exploited in much the same way as any other tribal band found wandering by the early explorers. However, as Mowat points out, this was an exceptional group which had survived the extreme rigours of a barren land (known to us simply as The Barrens) for so many generations, only to be felled by contact with the very race which might have provided them with so much assistance.

   The Ihalmiut are long gone from their homeland but their story serves to remind us of our often difficult relationship with the land and the people on it. Perhaps, as a race of city-dwellers, we need to consider our place in the natural environment more than ever. Mowat's work is a just accounting of where we stand in relationship to nature. Nor does he suggest that we should all go and live in the tundra. Yet People of the Deer is a source of considerable inspiration for those now ready to reflect on the unbalancing effect of contemporary values.




3. This book is magic. You will never think about a small band of Indians as statistics again. This book does volumes to make people of our society really feel what goes on in traditional societies. To feel jealous of their solidarity. To feel unloved by our own. It's great! READ IT.



4. What ever you do, do not waste your precious life reading this book...



5. The concept is correct anyway. These people were led to their demise by three factors: the church, commercialization (HBC), and the Canadian government. Mowat claims he spent two years living among these people. This is doubted by some. I've traveled in some of the areas that this book takes place. Not everyone has great things to say about this author. One person I talked to called him a historical novelist. He has other nicknames.
   
   But while it is questionable that all the events described in this book and its' successor (The Desperate People) actually took place, at least he got the main theme correct.

5 comments about Riding with Rilke: Reflections on Motorcycles and Books.

1. Although there were portions of this book that were good, many of them seemed uninteresting to me. I had hoped it would be a story that provided interesting details of both a bike journey and book collecting. In the end I feel like a got less than I hoped for either. He seems to gloss over many of his actual riding journey but spends a lot of time on details that added nothing to the story for me. Perhaps I am spoiled by Peter Egan.



2. As a reader and rider, I enjoyed this book as a motorcycle travelogue with all its arcane bits of literary data strewn throughout.
   If I have a small complaint it is that Bishop spends too much time in Austin and not exploring more of the places he is terrific at writing about. When we were traveling with him, he made some of those stops come alive and gave the book some fun and substance. When he halted (as he had to in order to do the archive research), so did the cycle action.
   However, with that being said, some of the book's best and most poignant passages are his ruminations on reading and riding - his description on p. 112 about the "readiness of books" has been accurate in my reading life. And the couple of pages (p. 124-6) about silence and listening were memorable.
   So is the line: "I wrote on the bike and I rode in the reading room. I'm sure it's the same in offices everywhere." He's right, of course, as I work while I ride and ride while I work in the form of a quick daydream. Nice to know others have the same feelings.



3. Not a mere travelogue or another bike adventure...Bishop escorts the reader through the very essense of riding in the most spiritual, thoughtful and surprisingly, visceral treat of a book...yes, this little book travels well: I took a ride to New Mexico and there it sat patiently on my nightstands in all the different hotels, motels and inns along the way...then, upon opening the book's pages, it (the book) merrily displayed its well-crafted prose to bring together this joy of riding a motorcycle and the sheer bliss at reading the power and majesty of word after word, woven together into images and concepts of both of these Life-sustaining activities...OK, so it is not for everyone, it is for me and that's what we're talking about here...if you Love either, read it, if you Love both, devour it...if you Love neither, God help you, 'cause you are missing out on Life at its finest and the "Now," the moments...love of riding, love of words, love of Life...another tapestry to bring form and content to our Loves...live on that edge and slip back to write about it...darn, I'm going for a ride now: "four wheel move the body, two wheels move the soul" and I feel the call of the wind...



4. When reading RIDING WITH RILKE it is easy to see that Ted Bishop, a good writer, loves books and Ducati motorcycles but for me this book felt a little flat. There are too many pages about minor characters and minor events that add nothing to the story. The book would be helped if the 261 pages were cut back by a quarter. I too love books and ride a motorcycle, a Harley Road Glide, so it gives me no joy not to rave about the book but still, I would recommend it even if you feel like skipping a few pages.



5. Disclaimer: I have been a librarian for 35 years, and a motorcycle rider for 46 years, so I can hardly claim to be a typical or neutral reviewer of this book. If Amazon permitted 6 stars, I would award them. It is a rare event indeed to find a work that so lovingly deals with both motorcycle riding and books.
   
   Ted Bishop captures vividly the essence of long distance motorcycle riding, including writing in one's head while riding, and the distraction to a writer to riding in one's head while attempting to write (a considerably less dangerous activity). His words took me back to an 11,000-mile ride that I made two years ago, along many of the same roads.
   
   Equally vivid are his characterizations of librarians and archivists who work in special collections, and of the process by which a scholar mines the books and papers in such collections for insights and publications.
   
   Bishop has a keen eye for irony, and I found myself laughing so hard while reading Riding with Rilke on a plane flight that I fear I was creating a disturbance for my fellow passengers.
   
   Riders who aren't especially interested in books may find too little motorcycle content in this book. Scholars and librarians with little interest in motorcycles may find too little about books and literature (and very little, indeed, about Rilke). For those few who are passionate about both motorcycles and books, Riding with Rilke is a rare treat.

5 comments about A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains (The Western Frontier Library, 14).

1. Did you ever read any of the BEANY MALONE novels by Lenora Mattingly Weber? In them I first read about Isabella Bird and her remarkable life in the American West. Beany's older brother, Johnny Malone, is a teenager when the series begins, a young Denver boy with a remarkable passion for unearthing the memoirs and daguerrotypes of Colorado pioneers and taking notes on the old-timers who settled the state. Their colorful lives make his ordinary life seem rather pastel, so he often sinks into a nostalgia of the past, while his family members tease him about the dreamy look in his eyes. He helps a veteran journalist, Emerson Worth, complete his magnum opus, OUR CITY HAS DEEP ROOTS. And among the pioneers Johnny obsessed about was none other than Isabella Bird, so when I found this book on a recent trip to Boulder, I added it to my rucksack.
   
   If you are reading on horseback, as Isabella Bird did, this is perhaps the ideal book to carry with you. She was a woman used to the English-style horse with its Ascot breeding and high carriage. What she found in Colorado were, naturally, the horses of the West, more perfectly adapted to the mile-high atmospheres, but slung somewhat lower than anything she's been used to and slightly swaybacked. Bird adapted quickly, and the fun of her autobiography is to see her taking in her stride a series of calamities and hardships that would have Job complaining bitterly! No matter if it's an insect infestation or tumbling right through a sheet of ice into zero degree river chills, for Isabella Bird it's all part of a day's fun. Travel writing in the 19th century was, of course, the leading genre of prose. From no other source were English-speaking readers able to find out more about other people's lives, and the curiosity was immense.
   
   You'll like Isabella, and her crazy love affair with Colorado. She remains very much a lady, but will challenge your preconceived notions of what a lady is and isn't. Most of all you will thrill to follow the course of her journeys up and down the mountains through which, now, there are some better trails but still the same amazing sunrises which she describes with the thrill of one for whom every day's an adventure.



2. For many years I saw this book in National Park bookstores and passed it by thinking it would be an example of the overwritten, rather tedious journals of other Victorian travelers. When I finally found it at a used bookstore and rather reluctantly bought it, I was surprised to find out how exciting and relevant her story was.
   
   Because I live in Colorado, I recoginize and travel through many of the places she describes. Just this weekend as we traveled along Highway 67, my husband and I remarked on the likelihood, that this was the same route she'd taken out of Colorado Springs.
   
   Her accounts lend life to the grey, weatherbeaten cabins, abandoned roads and rusting rails that we see. Even though many parts of Europe and the US were relatively modern at the time of her adventures, it is surprising to read just how primitive and precarious was the life of many Colorado settlers.
   
   Even if you aren't from Colorado, read this book to become aquainted with a Victorian woman who found a way to live life fully. Read it to learn about life in the west. Read it just because it's a good read.



3. I bought this book while visiting Estes Park, CO...hungry for books about life in the West that may not be so readily available here in NJ. I found it to be one of the most enjoyable books I have ever read! Isabella's descriptions of the Rocky Mountains and the climate through which she travelled are vivid and gripping. But more than that, she gives a detailed and honest account of what life was like for settlers on the frontier. How she managed to ride thru the mountains where the only "trails" were tracks of wagons or animals, when often those were covered with the seemingly constant snow, boggles the mind. Her love for Colorado sings out in every word she writes. I too was deeply touched by its beauty, and hope to return again, this time with an enriched appreciation due to this wonderful recounting of Isabella Bird's journey.



4. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the descriptive way the author wrote. I have been through Colorado and have seen the beauty she described. Also enjoyed the story because there wasn't a lot of violence and if there was any sex, it was only in our imagination which is the greatest kind. I was amazed at how the lady rode for miles in rugged wilderness without seeming to get lost. The fact that she could subsist on meager food was also interesting.



5. This book arrived in top condition and in time. In a college book store this book cost a lot more, so I am very pleased to be able to buy it from this seller.

5 comments about Hatteras Blues: A Story from the Edge of America.

1. This is a very well researched book about the history of charter fishing off Hatteras Island. The author combines archive research with annecdotes collected from his repeated trips to the island. The reader also has a feeling of sadness as the author's wife slowly succumbs to MS while he is doing his research.
   
   Well worth the time to read.



2. I have been visiting the North Carolina outer banks since 1970. I did not think anyone had as much love or reverence of this special place as I, but I was wrong. Tom Carlson in Hatteras Blues has established himself as a true devotee of these narrow islands off the Carolina coast. He captures the lure of isolated and wind-worn beaches and ever-changing off shore waters where fishermen (and women) from the smallest North Carolina towns to the largest international cities have searched for prize bill fish, bull drum, cobia and a host of other species for several decades. The reader is absorbed in the story of the Fosters and others who fought the harshness of life on the outer banks to create a thriving charter fishing industry that today is being challenged by corporations and those uncaring of the outerbanks special culture. Carlson is a waterman by birth and a "Banker" by choice. Hatteras Blues is a heartfelt story of great loss, love, spirit, transformation and hope set in one of the most magical places on planet Earth. Rates with Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea for bringing to life the conflicts, the turmoil and the serenity of what it means to be a part of the sea and the coast. Highly recommended.



3. Great book. I love to hear the stories of the people in this book, of course the fishing is always good. The weather and the constant movement of the cape was and is totally intriguing.



4. HATTERAS BLUES: A STORY FROM THE EDGE OF AMERICA is part biography and part regional history: it uses the experiences of one long-time fisherman on North Carolina's outer banks to reveal the issues of a fading industry and the development of Hatteras Village in the heart of Hurricane Alley. Tom Carlson's involvement with his subject leads him to the heart of a family and a town's struggles and faith in a warm first-person survey which at times reads with the quiet drama of fiction.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



5. A compelling storyline full of facinating bits and pieces about North Carolina's coastal heritage. It's a must read for NC fishermen.

5 comments about Shipwreck Hunter: Deep, Dark & Deadly in the Great Lakes.

1. This is the second Book that I have read by Volgenau. This book tells the true story of modern day adventurers who dive deep in the Great Lakes to find shipwrecks. Fascinating story about the dangers of diving deep. Lots of interesting mariner and Great Lake history as well. Shipwreck Hunter: Deep, Dark & Deadly in the Great LakesMuch different than his first, Islands which is fascinating in a different way-great historical information and travel ideas about the Great Lakes.Islands: Great Lakes' Stories



2. To be honest, I was a fan of Mr. Volgenau when he was a writer for the Detroit Free Press, but this book is really something else entirely. A little bit of fascinating history, lots of drama and a compelling human story as well. I had a hard time putting it down. Definitely recommended for those interested in diving, as well as fans of the maritime history of the Great Lakes. Mr. Volgenau's background as a journalist really shines in this brutally honest look at the dangerous world of deep diving and the people who have the sauce to do it. Loved it.



3. The inside story on how most of the ships in the Great Lakes were found and are still being found.



4. This engrossing book is an excellent tale of the Great Lakes, shipwreck hunting, and underwater diving. I personally know, or thought I knew, the main diver profiled, Danny Fader and his wife, Jeanne. Volgenau paints a very thorough, honest portrayal of both. They are two of the most honest, caring, endearing individuals one could ever meet. If there is any fault with the book, it is that the author tends to get too bogged down with the technical details of shipwreck hunting. There is such a thing as too much detail.



5. It was a OK book about the same one sided as you get from some Andrea Doria Diver books. Why dose He try to glamorize these old men as historians and hero's of the deep when most are not! Most all are just plain salvors and looters of the deep. The book states that one main character in one sentence takes only pictures and in the next breath they are prying a strong box open.And in another Bio he states correctly that one divers problems with the local government (Law) and writes about the one case this diver won but forgets to mention about the cases he lost.Was this intentional? In closing it is nice to know how paranoid some of these old salvors are (were) If they were so innocent sharing locations and information would be the norm as some legitimate groups do today. And I think the author would of done a much better job in including some more facts and interviewing others out of the good old boy network.

4 comments about Fodor's Around Chicago with Kids, 2nd Edition: 68 Great Things to Do Together (Around the City with Kids).

1. I found this book to be MOST helpful in planning a visit to the Windy City with my children, ages 5 and 9. The book lists over sixty activities found in and around Chicago, and includes prices, age appropriateness, hours, phone numbers, and even kid-friendly eateries in the area. I recommend this book to anyone traveling with children. It is also a great gift idea if you have family or friends living in the Chicago area. Happy Traveling!



2. This book is very usefull when visiting Chicago with kids. It has neat ideas and places to go with kids, apart from the traditional Chicago highlights. It made our stay very fun and interesting, we really recommend it!



3. This is a great book, but the most recent edition was written in 2002. Therefore, it recommends things that aren't there anymore and omits things that you shouldn't miss. Even so, my 7 year-old enjoyed having her very own guidebook and picked out a number of activities for our vacation from it, including a few (like DuPage Children's Museum) that we would never have found without it.



4. I was first surprised that this is a postcard-sized book, but the information packed into it is great. Each page spread lists a different site that is kid-friendly. The top of the page has a quick reference: hours, admission, recommended ages, contact information. Then there's a quick synopsis of the site, along with some "Keep in Mind" info, "Eats for Kids," and "Hey, Kids!" that provide some important details.
   
   I especially like that it give some little hints, such as where to park, arrive early, the layout is set up well for families, etc.
   
   And because it's small, it would be easy to tuck into a diaper bag or backpack for an outing.
   
   The only downside is that it should be updated. With its 2002 copyright, things have changed (admission prices if nothing else). I also wish it included a map of the sites listed, as the addresses don't make a lot of sense to those not familiar with the city.
   
   All in all, though, a good little guidebook.

5 comments about America's Lost Treasure.

1. Tommy Thompson is one of those unusual individuals with the fantastic mind of an inventor/engineer, yet with the ability to work with people to bring out their best. Our government should take note of this man, or hopefully they have, and give him the freedom to let his mind find solutions to many of our problems, as he has shown he can do in this book. It was an adventure, filled with suspense and I would recommend the picture book to go along with the text so you can see the magnificent photos of his find.



2. Tommy Thompson is one of those unusual individuals with the fantastic mind of an inventor/engineer, yet with the ability to work with people to bring out their best. Our government should take note of this man, or hopefully they have, and give him the freedom to let his mind find solutions to many of our problems, as he has shown he can do in this book. It was an adventure, filled with suspense and I would recommend the picture book to go along with the text so you can see the magnificent photos of his find.



3. Tommy Thompson is one methodical scientist. He found a ship that sank in the Atlantic Ocean in 1857 that had eluded searchers for 130 years. He has taken the same methodical approach in creating this book "America's Lost Treasure".

   Gary Kinder wrote a 1998 bestseller on Thompson's search entitled "Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea". It is one of the best pageturners I have ever read! More amazing is that it actually happened! The ship was the United States Mail Steamship "Central America" which was making rounds between the Atlantic coast of Panama and New York City during the California Gold Rush era. She was a side paddlewheeler steamship and was hauling a huge cargo of gold ingots, freshly minted gold coins, gold nuggets, and gold dust along with 38,000 pieces of mail and 578 passengers. Much of the gold was being brought to New York to shore up the bullion holdings of banks that had been putting out too much paper money without the available gold reserves to back it. Most of the passengers were returning from the Gold Rush; many were women and children. The ship sank after a heroic battle with a hurricane in 1857 off the Carolinas taking about 425 lives with her and all the gold. Both books chronicle Thompson's epic adventure finding the ship and recovering the gold down 8000 feet underwater where even the US Navy couldn't effectively recover items. Kinder's book clocks in at over 500 riveting pages but, is largely without pictures of all the incredible finds. "America's Lost Treasure" fills in that photographic void quite admirably in it's 186 pages.

   "America's Lost Treasure" is broken down into a background history of America at the time leading up to the Central America's sinking, a detailed account of the CA's fateful last voyage, a background of the equipment and people involved in the search and rediscovery of the CA, the discovery of the ship and the 'Garden of Gold', a review of the personal items found at the bottom other than the gold, and a section on the other scientific discoveries made at the site such as decay processes and new species of life found. There are hordes of very appropriate photographs that perfectly illustrate the topic discussed in the very readable and concise narration. The page layout is very well done and makes full use of the book's ten inches by ten inches size. Particularly interesting is the discovery and opening of several intact passenger's trunks revealing intact clothing and still visible photographs! The gold, however, is the expected showstopper.

   Overall, I can't recommend this book enough when read in companion with "Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea". Some people will bristle with disfavor on the efforts in general to recover items from this wreck feeling it is a desecration of history and wrong. I couldn't help but be astounded by the disciplined and rigorous scientific and engineering skills put on display in the efforts. This is an absolutely fascinating pictorial account of a remarkable period in the history of America. It will rivet your attention from beginning to end and have you looking back at sections again and again. It is one of the best coffee table books in existence. The lost treasure found is truly breathtaking and this book is an absolutely worthy account of it! VERY highly recommended!




4. Category: treasure hunting
   
   Boats: SS Central America and a big, capable ROV
   
   Heroes: Tommy Thompson
   
   Location: USA, Midwest and East Coast
   
   Synopsis: Coffee table companion book to Gary Kinder's excellent Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea. Thompson has put together a very good set of photos and descriptive text that doesn't overlap the Ship of Gold story. It's great to see the systems and treasure recovered that you read about in detail in the earlier book.



5. The loss of the U.S. Mail Steamship CENTRAL AMERICA in a hurricane off the Carolina coast in 1857 still ranks as the nation's greatest peacetime disaster at sea -- 425 lives were lost (most of them passengers from the California gold fields) as well as an unbelievable amount of gold in the form of newly minted coins from the San Francisco Mint, assay ingots of many types, raw nuggets, and dust. Thompson, a multi-disciplinary "research engineer," spent years searching methodically for the deep-water wreck and finally located it and began recovering materials from it in 1989. Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea told that story in technical detail; this is the pictorial version, and a gorgeous volume it is. In addition to all that gold in all its many forms, the researchers used a robot to bring up passengers' trunks, discovering books and newspapers that were still readable and clothing that had faded but still maintained its structural integrity. A fascinating work in marine archaeology.

2 comments about Exploring Martha's Vineyard by Bike, Foot, and Kayak, 2nd.

1. I've been vacationing on the Vineyard for about a decade - but only last year picked up this great book, packed with terrific suggestions on places to go to see the "real" Vineyard -- on foot, on bike and even on kayak. The format is easy to follow - providing local history, step-by-step directions, and details on what you'll see along the way, such as the types of flowers, birds and trees. There seems to be a wide variety of activities (I didn't try any of the kayaking options), geared to people of all ages and fitness levels. The book is very well-researched, and since the summer I've recommended it to many Vineyard residents as well as to vacationers - there's something in it for everyone. I did found it helpful to tear out pages of interest and bring them with me, as the book is a sizable one. But I will be using it for years and years.



2. A DETAILED MUST HAVE GUIDE FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO EXPLORE THE VINEYARD'S WATERS, PATHS, AND TRAILS. EXCELLENT MAPS, LOCAL HISTORY, BOTANICAL AND WILDLIFE ILLUSTRATIONS ARE COMBINED TO ENHANCE EVERY ADVENTURE. A GREAT GIFT FOR A NEWCOMER TO THE ISLAND.