Customer Reviews

Sailing Away from Winter: A Cruise from Nova Scotia to Florida and Beyond

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Sailing Away from Winter

After reading the first page of Sailing Away From Winter I immediately realized that I had forgotten what a good writer Silver Donald Cameron is. Unlike many sailing adventure books, Cameron shies away from writing a glorified log book but rather makes the reader feel that he is in the cockpit of "Magnus" and experiences the joys of sailing in a fair wind on a sunny day to the unending frustration of a finicky and somewhat unreliable diesel engine that is maintained by a bilge dwelling scurvy crew of evil Norwegian trolls.

While slipping southwards from his homeport of D'Escousse, Silver Donald makes port in such historic Nova Scotia locales as Canso, Halifax, Lunenburg and Yarmouth and then onward to crossing the Bay of Fundy and entering our "beloved" neighbour, the United States of America. Here we learn that like most Canadians, not many Americans on the New England Coast are fans of President George W. Bush as evidenced by many bumper stickers "Needed: One florist to send two Bushes to Iraq"

One common thread in Cameron's many works is his love affair with Cape Breton. During the entire southward voyage Magnus pursues long time friend and fellow Cape Bretoner's Jim and Carol-Anne Organ, of Port Hawkesbury, aboard Seaduction. In the Abaco's the crews of the two Cape Breton vessels rendezvous and share many colourful yarns after cruising more than 3000 miles away from their beloved island. If there's one thing about Cape Bretoner's as the song goes "One thing I know wherever I go there's always friends from back home".

From a sailor's perspective I found that Sailing Away From Winter can be used as a reference book for those of us planning to navigate the Intracoastal Waterway while keeping company with the family pet, a travel guide of good marinas along the ICW, and maybe most importantly a guide for diesel engine repair. As any seasoned cruiser knows: The sailing is the easy part of the cruise, it's knowing how to fix things that really count. Well done Captain.

First off the title and cover are misleading because the Cameron's didn't really sail Magnus down the Atlantic coast, they drove it, not unlike an old Range Rover driving down I-95. A major reoccurring theme throughout the book is getting Leo (aka BFD), their self proclaimed old lumpy dog, ashore every 10 - 12 hours to relieve himself. If that doesn't stir your excitement the book is full of local yarns that would put even the characters they were about to sleep. If you're looking for a book about a sailing adventure do yourself a favor and keep looking.

"Sailing Away From Winter: A Cruise From Nova Scotia to Florida and Beyond" is the true-life memoir of Canadian columnist Silver Donald Cameron, who dared to make his dreams of a sea voyage come true. With his wife and their beloved dog, he traveled more than three thousand nautical miles in 236 days, visiting towns dotting the coast from Nova Scotia to Florida, crossing the Gulf Stream, experiencing the Bahamas, and much more. A vividly detailed recounting of the joys and perils of navigating the ocean in an aged Norwegian-built ketch, the camaraderie shared with other cruisers, and much more. Highly recommended.

An additional title could well have been The Flight of the Snowbird!

Called "Silver" Donald (to differentiate him from other celebrated Cape Breton Cameron's), the author, a favored Columnist and Broadcaster in Canada, was an experienced sailor before this 3000 mile trip down the ICW and East Coast of America. His previous writing cover some of those previous cruises, along and into the challenging coasts and lives of his fellow Maritime countrymen. This time with his wife, and their dog, they undertake to motor-sail a classic Norwegian double-ender he christens Magnus away from the Canadian vicious winter to the sun of Florida and the Bahamas.

This descriptive travelogue is typical of his observant and very witty thoughts and comments on the peoples and histories he encounters, evident in his books, columns and broadcasts. Through a sometimes troublesome cruise of breakdowns and groundings - he blames some Scandinavian Trolls that live in the bilge and caper about in the type of jolly mischief so beloved in other Celtic `small people'- the Cameron's find this to be a pleasurable voyage of discovery.

Of course, being from Cape Breton wherever they go - particularly in the Bahamas - there are other `Acadians' with the resulting whiskey, wind and music, with the Trolls joining in of course.

A delightful read, a sailing-cruise romp, and a truly useful guide to the Inter-Coastal Waterways stops and cities.

Having read and thoroughly enjoyed Wind, Whales and Whiskey a couple of summers ago while vacationing on Isle Madame in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, I had high expectations for Sailing Away from Winter. While Cameron is a fine writer stylistically, the content of this offering was disappointing. First, as others have noted, this book is not about a sailing adventure insomuch as a what appears to be a 6 month long motor boat ride interrupted by the author taking his dog ashore for bathroom breaks. Perhaps, that is the reality of such a trip (as I have never made such a journey, but hope to someday!).

Moreover, the really grinding part of the whole book was the constant reference to politics (as it was set during the 2004 presidential election). There were numerous occasions where I had to force myself to keep reading as the author went out of his way to emphasize - mainly through the people he and his wife met along the way - his disdain for George Bush. I think a more appropriate title for the book would have perhaps been 'A Liberal Canadian's thoughts on the 2004 US Presidential Election While Traveling South from Nova Scotia to the Bahamas'. A particularly nauseating passage occurs somewhere in one of the mid-atlantic states where the author meets a woman who realizes that he is Canadian and goes out of her way to apologize and emphasize her embarrassment about her country's actions regarding the war in Iraq. The author an the woman go on to have an cathartic exchange that results in Cameron more or less forgiving her.

The bottom line is that if you want to read a good book about the adventure of coastal sailing by this author, try Wind, Whales and Whiskey if you can get you hands on a copy - Leave this one alone. I was planning on reading Sniffing the Cost: An Acadian Voyage after I read this one... I think I'll see if the timeline takes place in an election year first now.

I had hoped to find a book about an older couple who adventured into cruising life style without having years of previous experience and multiple friends who also sail. Don't get me wrong it was an interesting read but I found that the writer had years of experience and network of support from friends. Those of us who are trying to use books to determine if we "arm chair sailors" could ever make the jump this book doesn't help. Most of us wish to know more about the cost and necessary preparedness for the cruising life. Can we ever do it? Since we weren't born into a sailors life and been sailing since we were knee high.I was a little put off with the writers obvious bias toward the more liberal political views. But the book was an easy read and you got a Canadian's view of visiting America's eastern sea coast. You also got a little American history to boot.