Customer Reviews

Kayaking the Vermilion Sea: Eight Hundred Miles Down the Baja

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

 

 

This surprisingly captivating book is not as much about kayaking as you might think. A select, but very useful, coverage of Baja's history, and observations on the current human culture and ecology, are continually mixed with philosophical thoughts on the human condition. I am not a kayaker but read the book essentially in one sitting. I'll be reading more of Waterman's work, hoping for the same spare but effective movement through interrelated and complex subjects.

It's very well written and full of interesting information. but it's one of these misanthropic ecology tracts. Much of what he says is well justified but, considered as entertainment, it was so full of grouching about the adverse effects of everything on the environment that it ended up with too many sour notes.
I was struck by how close his moral attutudes were to those of the early missionaries he describes. He extols the virtues of mortifying the flesh, and relishes describing the hardships he has inflicted on himself. He keeps encountering residents who do not share his beliefs about how life should be lived. They commit such crimes as fishing and using toilet paper. They are not the original inhabitants of the country.

Kayaking The Vermillion Sea, by John Waterman was my inspiration for a superb seakayaking holiday in Baja. During my solo trip I had some close encounters with whales, met some wonderful people(native and non-native), had some superb experiences and learnt a word of Spanish or two. Waterman's wonderful book should be on the "must read" list of every intending traveller to this remarkable part of the world. David Cregan Canberra Australia

Those who criticize this book as too "whiny" might be the type of person that is turned off by books without a Disneyesque happy ending. This book does contain a lot of darkness and has a existentialist tone throughout. The final sentance (a lyric) is "Life is worth nothing." If you are not comfortable reading a book that delves into the darker realms of our existence then you might not like it. If however, you enjoy reading an author who is brilliant and able to bare their soul, you'll like this. The author is very knowledgeable about history, science, culture, etc... and I found his observations to be spot on. His politics are to the Left of course... How many environmentalists and anti-racists are Rightists? If you are demented enough to have voted for George Bush forget about this book.

I read the book after sailing the Sea of Cortez. It was a depressing book by a disenchanted romantic written during what appears to be the breakup of his marrage. The wife sounds great but he can't maintain her paddling pace and she does not share his penchant for whining.) If you are looking for a guide book to the Sea of Cortez, this book has little to offer. I meet some folks at Bay of Conception who were among the few who had received favorable remarks from the author. They were furious that he had totally distorted their comments. Save yourself the greif and try something else.

I had the pleasure of meeting Jonathan Waterman during his kayak trip in Baja and have found him to be as interesting in book form as in person. In Kayaking the Vermilion Sea Jonathan provides us with more than just an adventure into the rugged Baja Peninsula. He allows us to view the Sea of Cortez, the isolated villages, the Mexican people, and a beautiful, but oftern hostile, landscape in a way seldom experienced by the visitor. And he occasionally holds up a mirror for us to look into.

This book is a depressing story of a failing marriage. The fact that the relationship unravels during a kayak trip in Baja does not in any way make this a good read for kayakers interested in paddling Baja. If, on the other hand, you'd like to experience that miserable feeling of a relationship going down the tubes, this is your book! Enjoy.

About an inexperienced sea kayaker with a great facility for solociting sponsors. The authors personal struggle with his wife and general disappointment with all that he encounters overshadows what might have been a fine adventure story.

Waterman spends most of the book whining. The three main threads of his complaint are the ecological devastation, how the native peoples were taken advantage of by the various colonizers, and how his one year old marriage seems to be on the rocks. When he talks about the stark beauty of the land, it is always in the same breath with how badly the place is getting ruined.
I read the book when I was in Baja California Sur in May, 2003. The place was beautiful, the weather was great and the people were extremely friendly. The book's doomsday predictions were very much out of whack with the reality.

Not just whiny, but pretentious. The writer is a good adventurer. I'm sorry that his marriage did not work out. But I had to quit reading after a chapter or two. The author is preachy, and frequently reminds the reader of his morally superior views. Even when I agreed, I found the author's constant self-praise exhausting.