Customer Reviews

Coming About : A Family Passage at Sea

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

My wife & I are considering such a trip in a few years, and are reading as much as possible about others' experiences in the mean time. My advice is to skip this one (glad I only checked it out of the library...). What you get is the story of how a couple lacking in seamanship skills (yes, even her "Capt. Bligh" of a husband) and trapped in a dysfunctional marriage manage to survive 9 months in the Bahamas & Caribbean...with a graphic, poorly written "romance-novel" style sex scene every 25-30 pages or so. It all comes off as some sort of strange exhibitionism.

I have sailed and otherwise travelled to many of the places she describes, and find her descriptions mostly on the level (although I hold Provo in higher regard than she does.) The rest of the book should serve as a cautionary tale on how NOT to do it.

My family currently owns the boat written about in the book, the Hei Tiki II, so it was interesting to see some of the voyages of the family and the boat. Susan writes as a woman who has almost no sailing experiance thrust into a long voyage at sea. She recounts how the various experiances changed her, her family and saved her shaky marriage. She tells how a long time at sea effects the attitudes of the people involved. At first it is easy to feel sorry for her, having no boating experiance but being coerced into it by her husband, but it quickly shows you the enormous strength this woman must have to cope. The tales of exotic ports of call, friends gained and lost, and stormy seas are all secondary to the story of the family. The book is subtitled "A Family's Passage At Sea," and this is what the book is really about, the family.

While planning for a sail away voyage myself, the last thing I wanted to read was another story about cruising. But a friend strongly suggested I read one more. And I am glad I did! Susan's story was interesting, compelling, and makes me want to leave on my trip even more. Good for sailors and non-sailors alike. I hope she finds her second boat and takes another trip!

I just finished this book and I spent the first half just loathing both huband and wife: wife for being a doormat and husband for being a jerk. Then, through the story I came to know Susan and Dave and the story of their earning each others' trust was so moving for me. Trusting each other enough to feel safe in their expressions of frustration. And to be able to slog through problems because they had to - what else were they to do? 32 ft isn't a lot. The tranformation of the kids, their willingness to have John homeschool (once they were back), their ability to work as a team and express needs without feeling bad about it. It was wonderful to read about these changes. I also loved reading about the islands, port life and Susan's learning to sail in a sink-or-swim situation. It's clear that Susan is a super strong woman who is clear in her ability to work with what she's got and understand her choices. She takes the world and makes it her own. If there's something she doesn't like, she changes it or accepts it if she cant.

The kids were amazing though it was hard to see how hard they are on them and how little positive intent is not often assumed, if at all.

Some folks here have given poor reviews of this book. My take on those reviews is that Susan was brave enough to expose her life and all of its intricacies so that others may benefit. it's called non-fiction i believe. And their love-making scenes, while not my taste, were real and far better than some made up, grody, milky-white-thigh-laiden romance novel.

We have just purchased a cruising boat and plan to leave with our little one when she's a little older. This book has taught me some things about cruising life. Thanks Susan for the honest account!

This book is very good. It is a good story about the adventures, trials, and tribulations of a family at sea. Although I did like the book, it is written from a woman's point of view. Not that that makes it good or bad, but being a guy I couldn't help think that the author liked to constantly "put down" her husband...almost to the point of airing their dirty laundry in literary form. This book is well worth reading, even if you are a guy.

I really didn't like this book. This isn't so much a book about sailing as it is about marrige counsuling. I never could warm-up to the members of this cruising family and the author's non-stop soul searching was embarrassing. The descriptions of the couple's loving making positively made my skin crawl--yeech! On the whole if I had to go sailing with this family I'd stay home.

t

Since I am a newcomer to sailing and intend to sail with my family I was expecting a lot from this book. Unfortunately, the tone in the entire book is negative, almost depressing. I was OK when it started that way as I was hoping Susan would finally tell me how her life became more positive, at least filled with positive energy, as a result of her experience. However, I just couldn't find this, skimmed to the end and realized her tone never really gets more optimistic. Also, I felt a bit disgust reading details of her sex life. Those are OK in a fictional novel, however, not something you enjoy reading about when hearing from a fellow sailor.

This story depicts a realistic viewpoint of a family adventure while living aboard a sailboat. The trials and tribulations are known as well as the fun and beauty of sailing life and adventure on the sea. This book is a good read, and one that I'd suggest to those thinking about casting off on a long sailing adventure. Enjoy!

Coming About: A Family Passage At Sea is the memoir of Susan Tyler Hitchcock, a wife and mother of two young children. Feeling the demands of daily life slowly pulling all of the members of her family apart from one another, the Hitchcock's embarked upon a nine-month, 3,500 mile Caribbean sea voyage in order to reconnect and discover more about the world. Highly recommended reading, Coming About biographically chronicles their adventures and life experiences with a vivid and engaging honesty which includes internal contemplations on the values of marriage, family, and togetherness.

My wife & I have made this trip by sail and truly enjoyed reading about the familiar ports of call, however, despite our desire to share this type of story with others, I would not recommend this book to friends or family due to the pathetic marriage underlying the story, and the lack of focus. I wanted to puke when encountering the sex descriptions, given that the author is a door mat and the husband an self center jerk. There are better books out there on families at sea. Keep searching.