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How to Avoid Huge Ships [Paperback]

John W. Trimmer
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (483 customer reviews)


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Product Details

  • Paperback: 112 pages
  • Publisher: Cornell Maritime Pr/Tidewater Pub; 2 edition (March 1993)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0870334336
  • ISBN-13: 978-0870334337
  • Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.3 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (483 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,540,988 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Although when I picked this book up I only had time to read this underway. Captain Jeffery  |  30 reviewers made a similar statement
I bought this book for my kids and some of their friends. R. Herschler  |  29 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1,372 of 1,398 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A Parent's Review February 20, 2011
Format:Paperback
As the father of two teenagers, I found this book invaluable. I'm sure other parents here can empathize when I say I shudder at the thought of the increasing presence of huge ships in the lives my children. I certainly remember the strain I caused so long ago for my own parents when I began experimenting with huge ships. The long inter-continental voyages that kept my mom and dad up all night with worry. Don't even get me started on the international protocols when transporting perishable cargo. To think, I was even younger than my kids are now! huge ships are everywhere and it doesn't help that the tv and movies make huge ships seem glamorous and cool. This book helped me really approach the subject of huge ships with my kids in an honest and non judgmental way. Because of the insights this book provided, I can sleep a little better and cope with the reality that I can't always be there to protect my kids from huge ships, especially as they become adults. I'm confident that my teens, when confronted by a huge ship, are much better prepared to make wiser decisions than I did. At the very least my children certainly know that they can always come to me if they have any concerns, questions or just need my support when it comes to the topic of huge ships.
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1,721 of 1,760 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Reads like a whodunnit! December 21, 2010
Format:Paperback
I bought How to Avoid Huge Ships as a companion to Captain Trimmer's other excellent titles: How to Avoid a Train, and How to Avoid the Empire State Building. These books are fast paced, well written and the hard won knowledge found in them is as inspirational as it is informational. After reading them I haven't been hit by anything bigger than a diesel bus. Thanks captain!
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2,046 of 2,104 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars TOO Informative. December 25, 2010
By Dan
Format:Paperback
Read this book before going on vacation and I couldn't find my cruise liner in the port. Vacation ruined.
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1,799 of 1,941 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Caution: Check the title before purchase April 7, 2010
Format:Paperback
I live near a park and frequently walk around the local area. Given the amount of dog mess that is on the pavements I thought this book would be the ideal read to stop me having to scrape my shoes on the grass before going home. It was only after it arrived that I looked closely at the title and realised it said 'How to Avoid Huge SHIPS'. A simple error that means I am still treading on massive examples of canine excrement. Having said that, I read the book anyway, and I'm pleased to say I'm not even having near misses with huge ships anymore. No sir, they aint getting anywhere near me!
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494 of 530 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Wake Up, Haters! December 13, 2010
Format:Paperback
I'm a little annoyed with the sarcastic "reviewers" of this book. You all seem to think it's funny that some people would honestly like some expert advice on ways to avoid huge ships. What, you've never been traveling at a very, very slow speed straight toward something really, really big that you could see for miles and miles away, and wished you'd known what steps you could take to avoid crashing into it? Well, all I can say is "congratulations!" What's it like to be so perfect? You haters just keep on enjoying your huge-ship-collision-free little fantasies. I for one am going to buy this book and learn something, because I live in the real world, where huge ships and the dangers they present to people like me are actually a serious issue.
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310 of 331 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Now I know what that steering wheel thingy is for January 30, 2011
Format:Paperback
This book really is one of the best huge ship avoidance references I've come across, not just for the effective methods it teaches as to avoiding huge ships, but also for exploding some of the huge ship avoidance myths that many of us take for granted.

For example:
- Do not charge the huge ship at full speed in an attempt to scare it off. This may work with coyotes, but it is less effective with huge ships.
- Similarly, do not roll your boat over and play dead. Unless the huge ship is captained by a grizzly bear, this will not work.
- Do not attempt to go under the huge ship. This is typically not successful.
- Do not attempt to jump over the huge ship.

Captain Trimmer presents a rather novel technique for avoiding huge ships - move your boat out of the path of the huge ship. I know what you're thinking, this goes against conventional wisdom, but Trimmer presents significant empirical evidence to support his theory. Indeed, over the long run, moving out of the way will dramatically decrease the number of huge ship collisions you will have to endure in your daily life.
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165 of 175 people found the following review helpful
By Adrian
Format:Paperback
After reading this book, I relized exactly what I was doing wrong everytime I was run over by bardges on the mighty Mississippi. I always played dead and hoped the boats would go away, like I was taught by a book I read, "How To Survive Bear Attacks." I guess I thought the lessons taught by that book applied to everything life, but it clearly meant just bears. Now I am surviving the waterways better than a BP oil rig.
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199 of 213 people found the following review helpful
By Jamie
Format:Paperback
There is one major oversight in this generally well-written book, and that is that it addresses animate readers exclusively. As a large rock in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the coast of Giglio Island, I have recently been confronted with instances in which avoiding huge ships was of fundamental interest to my personal well being. However, the methods presented in Capt. Trimmer's book were none too useful in my efforts to avoid huge ships, as I was recently struck by a very large ship indeed, a cruise vessel called the 'Costa Concordia'. I think the ship came off slightly worse in the exchange, but the experience was disruptive to my afternoon and rather jarring. In a situation such as this, Capt. Trimmer's advice would have been immensely beneficial to humans, fish, seabirds, and other animals, but I am none of those things. I'm a big rock. I can't zig-zag or duck and cover. Rocks don't do that. I've tried. I tried some time ago to scoot over to the left a bit to get some better sunlight, and it took me three thousand years! That's not fast enough to avoid even the slowest huge ships. It is for precisely this reason that I would advise Capt. Trimmer to augment his original volume with a section intended for readers like me; perhaps "How To Avoid Huge Ships If You Are A Rock, Iceberg, Or Coral Reef". There is a market out there for this, Capt. Trimmer, and I assure you it would be well worth the time and effort.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars I Take No Chances
I live near the town of Kyle, South Dakota at the so-called "pole of inaccessibility" for North America. Read more
Published 3 days ago by Karl D Garrison
2.0 out of 5 stars George Takei
George Takei hasn't reviewed this book? How is that possible? Unless... He was piloting the USS Enterprise and encountered - you guessed it.
Oh Sulu, why? Read more
Published 3 days ago by Flam
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book, if a little outdated
A highly informative book about the underlying theory behind what is colloquially known as"Ship Dodging". Read more
Published 6 days ago by Vik
5.0 out of 5 stars One More Peg Added Due to Expense
Avast and hear me sad tale o' woe, hearties. Me old pappy taught me everything he knew, aye, but he warned me that the one lesson I'd regret not payin' attention to was 'ow to... Read more
Published 15 days ago by Constantinos Maltezos
5.0 out of 5 stars Bravo Good Sir Bravo
Now I know what you are thinking, 598.00 is so crazy for what might seem like a pointless book BUT let's be honest, how many times have you had trouble sleeping thinking, omg how... Read more
Published 15 days ago by tirtul
1.0 out of 5 stars What a waste of money!!!
I bought this book before travelling to the Sahara desert. Although initially it appeared informative, the fraudulent nature of the text became apparent as I never ONCE saw a huge... Read more
Published 15 days ago by A. Earle
5.0 out of 5 stars A Life Saver
Thank you Cap'n Trimmer, it simply works. I went out to sea in a bathtub and a month's worth of pork rinds to test the strategies. I found the "Zig vs. Read more
Published 23 days ago by Brooke
1.0 out of 5 stars Ugh it was a paperback book
Really, people, what century are we in? If you write a book about avoiding large ships, one can't be expected to remember all these instructions - you have to be able to pull up... Read more
Published 27 days ago by Guy From Pasadena
1.0 out of 5 stars Biding my time...
The day is yours, Capt. Trimmer. Go ahead and gloat about your so-called victory over the huge ships from the illusory safety of your small, maneuverable watercraft. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Bruce Hansen
5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have for huge ships looking to outwit smaller ships
This book is a tremendously valuable contribution to the literature detailing the age-old conflict between huge ships and lesser vessels (which I prefer to refer to as "flotsam. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Guy L. Smith
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