Customer Reviews

Kawabunga's South Seas Adventure: Blue Water Cruising in a Twenty Foot Boat (Microexplorer)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What a magnificent adventure!

This book is a must read for any real sailor, sailor wannabee, non-sailor, adventurist, South Sea Island aficionado and/or for any of us who doubt that dreams can come true. Charlie's passion for his mission coupled with his unique and humorous style make it fun for even those of us who are nautical dummies. The author masterfully weaves in the history and local culture of his Island destinations and paints a vivid description of the tropical paradises, which he visits. The adventure of the Kawabunga is one "hell of a good story" and clearly illustrates that some risks are worth taking. Charlie and Margaret have "set the bar high" in terms of goal setting and dream fulfillment. Their accomplishments will serve as constant incentive for me to never give up and to continually push myself to achieve my goals. Not only did they overcome many obstacles to accomplish and survive their death-defying voyage, but they also endured all of the financial and literary challenges and did us all a huge favor by authoring and publishing this magical chronicle of their trip. Kawabunga's South Seas Adventure is a special book and makes a fabulous gift.

This book was a great read on blue water sailing. If you have ever dreamed of doing it I would highly suggest reading this book. Many great illustrations and photos. Awesome south sea adventure and many words of wisdom in a 20 foot cruiser.

A friend loaned me this book about a week ago and I found it to be a great read. I'm one of those wan-a-bee's "trying to leave the dock" and will begin retirement soon with a boat (trawler) in my immediate future. This book affirmed that I'm heading in the right direction to begin living my dream as soon as I can. I'll be purchasing a copy to share with friends and to read again while I'm in the water chasing whales and my own dreams in Washington State and Alaska.

Hard to put down, this book is enticing and pushes me a few inches closer to the dock and out to sea. Hopefully I do and you will be reading my book next! (Today I go see a Hylas 44 to do a similar trip...)

This is a great book about everybody's fantasy--having a dream and than actually living the dream. The author started out as an insurance agent, not a lot of money, and no boat. But he did have a dream--to sail to the South Pacific. Most sailing books are about the journey--and this spends plenty of time at sea. But I found the most interesting part of the book to be the story of how he left his job, bought his boat and actually managed to leave the dock. The sailing part is easy. It's getting away from the dock that's hard. Great reading and great photos. It makes you want to sail to Tahiti.

I read the reviews of this book because I totally enjoyed this sailing romp through the south pacific and was curious as to others views.

I didnt understand the vitriolic ignorant coments of "roystr" so I visited his other reviews.....its weird. He notes repetedly that he is disabled and his reviews are of power tools boatbuilding cat tablets and a singer. All are misspelled and mostly negative.

His review of this book is so out of place with his other garbage that I just put it down to a bitter guy who denigrates anyone who does something he is incapable of but then....I received 2 trojan horse viruses (ajent bfj and ajent k) the next time I started my computer.

I tested it again by cleaning the virus and doing nothing but revisiting his site..same result. I have notified Amazon and while it may not be him (a virus can attach to any site and wait for you to come in) beware you will probably have to spend an hour fixing your comp if you go to his site.

If roystr sees this for your future reference : does not "dose": probably not "probly": feeling not "feelign": extreme not "extreem": which not "witch": phone not "phine"......also as you did not bother finishing the book a little help to save you time : War and Peace..the french lost : The Sixth Sense..hes dead: "Cujo'..dog gets rabies dies: Love Story..the chick dies. I could go on but you get the picture, just trying to save you time dude.

His remarks about the french are from someone in the safety of New York. I was in the French Pacific and Australia at the time the book was set and the French nuclear testing was going on. All pacific nations demanded that they be stopped and the French ignored all protests sent navy divers to blow up the Rainbow Warrior greenpeace protest ship in Aukland harbour killing two crew (they got caught). At that time the french were defensive, nasty and isolated with attitudes pretty much as portrayed in this book.

This book is not Nabakov Tolstoy or Fitzgerald..but those dudes did not sail across the largest expanse of open water in the world in a tiny sailboat with minimal experience either.

My sumary of this book would be that its a can do tale of an average joe who has a lifechanging adventure, it inspires us armchair critics to fantasise about doing more with our lives and is a thouroughly enjoyable read.

Charlie's adventure is extraordinary! He lives out his dream and we get to travel with him. When I first picked up this book I thought, "Is he crazy, this boat is SO small"! After reading it, I admired him for following his dream and doing everything necessary to make it happen. His book is a real inspiration for all of us who HAVE a dream. The maps and pictures were wonderful and his style of writing was vivid and playful making it a very enjoyable read.

Charlie's passages aboard his small, 20' Flicka are amazing! His story telling is light and enjoyable, as well as informative. The challenges he faced were met with good seamanship, along with a sense of humor, both necessary when putting out to sea for thousands of miles, primarily alone. This story is very well written, and a must for those who plan to - or just dream of - sailing to distant shores.

I had a wonderful experience reading the adventures of Kawabunga and her crew. It is very enjoyable and allows the reader to get to know these two wonderful people. If you enjoy sailing adventures this is one to add to your library.

This is my first review of a book on Amazon, and I've purchased and read 100's, but I never felt compelled to leave a review before. I just finished this book. After becoming interested in sailing across the ocean in a small boat I found this book and decided to buy it. I found it from a link on the Flicka 20 website - which is the website for the model sailboat this author and his wife sailed around the South Pacific. It's seems like a marvelous little boat and this is a marvelous book. The author is so witty and has a great sense of humor. He comes across as an everyman and all-around nice guy and he you root for he and his wife as you read. His descriptions of sailing across the Pacific alone from California all the way to the South Seas really put you in his shoes. There's excitement, fear, and boredom - and it's all described wonderfully and made me want to cast off and do the same myself. Thanks for writing this book - great job!