Customer Reviews

The Boat Who Wouldn't Float

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Farley Mowat is nothing if not persistent. After purchasing the Newfoundland schooner from Hell, badly misnamed as Happy Adventure, he finds he has a boat that leaks constantly, has a compass that doesn't know where magnetic north is, hates to head West, has an engine that works when it feels like it and that is just for starters. Much of the time sailing is in the fog, both real and self imposed. Most sane men would have turned this boat into kindling, but Mowat sailors on, one harrowing experience after another with an assortment of mates and in the process tells us a funny and true story of his adventures as only he can. Written over thirty years ago, the story has lost none of its charm and interest.

Farley Mowat is the kind of writer whose words flow across the page as easily as breathing - and what a delight those words are! I've never sailed, I'm not a boat lover and yet I could not put down this true tale of one man's adventures getting a primitive vessel into seaworthy shape. Several pages had me laughing out loud, especially Mowat's account of drinking Screech, an alcoholic beverage of near deadly strength.While this book is classified as a "children's" book, I think it is far more suitable for adults, who may appreciate some of the humor here with an adult's perspective. Then again, if you have a reluctant reader, I can't think of a better book to keep him or her reading. I guess this book is actually for the WHOLE family.

This is a tremendous sea yarn told by an old salt with many years of sailing under his belt. Farley Mowat is not well known as a sailor perhaps, but as someone who has skippered his way along the Newfoundland coast and survived, he must be reasonably authentic. Like many inland-born Canadians, Mowat had not sailed a small boat at sea before arriving in Newfoundland after the war. However, he had done a lot of sailing on Lake Superior in his boyhood and youth, on a yacht his father owned and sailed for many years. And sailing appears to have been in his blood.

The tale of how he acquires this particular boat, then sails along the coast for the summer and finally brings it up the St-Lawrence Seaway all the way to Montreal, will please any lover of maritime fare. Among his many books, Mowat wrote a number of autobiographical ones, some of which are lighter in tone. "The Boat Who Wouldn't Float" is delightfully easy to read and, along with "The Dog Who Wouldn't Be"(the story of Mowat's childhood), gives interesting insights into the life of one of Canada's foremost writers.

Farley Mowat has been accused of sitting in a Toronto bar while concocting these wonderfully stirring tales of the island rock, Newfoundland. Put your mind at ease, mates, and enjoy the book as a true treasure. I lived in Newfoundland for three years before discovering this book. I can heartily recommend you read it with good appetite! It is a cake mixed with truth skillfully told, covered with a frosting of humor, and served with a piquant flourish.These saltwater tales, revolving around Mowats' titanic struggle to find, refurbish and actually sail a boat determined to sink herself and all hands, are chalk full of laughs, tension, tragedy, and still more laughs. Its truths are better than any fiction.Haul up your anchor and sail away with this master storyteller as he outsalts the famed Royal Canadian Mounted Police, falls into the rummish cluthes of Screech, narrowly escapes icy death, and finds the beautiful maiden."The Boat Who Wouldn't Float" is a worthy vessel in which to sail the seas of leisure time. So fill your cup and drink deeply while the captain spins his tales

Farley Mowat has written on a wide variety of subjects, from arctic wolves, Northern Man, WWII, deep-sea salvage tugs, and his experiences as a boy and young man. All have been well worth the reading, and many have become my treasured friends, to be re-read over and over...

In "The Boat Who Wouldn't Float" Mowat describes in detail his ownership of a Newfoundland schooner "Happy Adventure" (aka "Itchatchozale Alai" and the flagship of the Basque fleet of St. Pierre - read the book, you sort of had to be there...)

Vintage Mowat, and yet another which I have worn out the paperback, and sought the hardback.

I first read this book in middle school, and have re-read several times over the years. What I really liked about it was that, though Happy Adventure ... and Farley are the reason for the book, the real story and focus is on the Newfoundlanders and their way of life. Far more than you hear about Farley, you hear about Muddy Hole, "the boys of Burin", Farillon and Ferryland, and various other places, as well as the people who inhabit them. It's a delightful peek at another place and time, that still endures to this day.
I was recently delighted that I had read it, since I discovered the band Great Big Sea, which comes out of Newfoundland. Thanks to this book, I can understand their idiom, and recognize places that they sing about. It gives the music a richer feeling for me.
Both are worth spending your time on.

The first time I read this book was on a passage aboard a thirty foot sloop. We were sailing from Baddeck on Cape Breaton Island on our way to the south coast of Newfoundland.This was in 1977. The book I believe had been relaesed not much before that time. It was as if I was reading an introduction to the Island and to the people of Newfoundland.I could not put it down. My sides ached from laughing from the beggining to the end.If you have never been to Newfoundland this book will give you inspiration to want to go there. It is a wonderful portrait of the Island and the People.

I had a heart attack in 1993, and spent some time in the hospital. A friend gave me The Boat Who Wouldn't Float. It was the only book I have ever read (and I read a lot) that caused me to laugh out loud over and over. I just had to read passages aloud to my wife, and then she read it, and we laughed together. It may have helped me get better. Whether it did or not, it'a a treasure. I'm surprised it's classified as a children's book; it doesn't strike me that way, though it's OK for older children. Adults should buy it and get in on the fun!

I bought this book for my father, a maritime history enthusiast. I planned to save it for a holiday gift, but I decided to read it myself first. Not being as excited about maritime stories as my father, I didn't have high expectations, but after the first page, I was hooked. My husband could not be in the same room with me because my laughter disturbed his own reading. I was especially enthralled with Mowatt's anectdotes and descriptions of the people residing in the various villages he visited. I felt like I was there with him. This book was sheer delight from beginning to end. I don't think I will be able to wait until Christmas to give this book to my father, I must share this unexpected joy.

The only thing that would have made this book better is if I could have shared it with my boat loving dad before he passed away. This book made me so nostalgic for the old tugs my dad bought and struggled with and rarely got past the breakwater at the marina with. I learned all my best cuss words on those weekends on the boats.

Mowats memoir of his time with the Happy Adventure made me laugh. Made me happy and reminded me why I only ride ferry boats and cruise ships.

I plan to read many of his other works and look forward to learning more of his adventures.