Washed Up: The Curious Journeys of Flotsam and Jetsam [Paperback]

Skye Moody (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2006

Where does it all come from? From tennis shoes, gold doubloons, and rubber ducks to ambergris, seedpods, and dead whales, the ocean gives up many curious prizes. In Washed Up, author Skye Moody walks the coast, dons her wet suit, and heads out to sea to understand the mysterious debris that accrues along the tide line. She finds advanced military technology applied to locating buried Rolexes, hardcore competitive beachcombing conventions, isolated beach communities, and learns about the Pacific Garbage Patch, a 200-mile swirl of current that holds everything from car parts to basketballs to kilos of heroin. Like the best walks down the beach, Washed Up pauses for shiny objects and colorful people and gives inspiration to both budding and seasoned treasure hunters.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Washed Up knocked me out. Informative, funny, intimate and beautifully written. I'll never walk a beach again without thinking about hermaphroditic barnicles, the truth behind the mystery of purple sea glass, and the fact that ambergris is incredibly exp

About the Author

Writer, photographer, and former East Africa bush guide, Skye Moody is also the author of Hillbilly Women and Fruits of Our Labor: Soviet and American Workers Talk About Making a Living. She lives in Seattle.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Sasquatch Books (August 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570614636
• ISBN-13: 978-1570614637
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.5 x 8.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #98,373 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #25 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Biology > Marine Biology
  • #45 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Ecosystems

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beachcombing, January 31, 2007

By 

Cara Lynn "book reviewer" (Whidbey Island) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Washed Up: The Curious Journeys of Flotsam and Jetsam (Paperback)

The author has travelled all over the world and beachcombed. She uses humor to teach us about ocean currents that take items from say Japan to the Washington state coast. I was expecting a book about beachcombing, another quick read about glass floats and driftwood. But this book is so much more than that. Skye explains currents. She explains about sperm whales that regurgitate a product that can be found on some beaches, then warns us about buying this products on the internet. (It's illegal in the states to purchase products from sperm whales because they are an endangered species.)

She also writes about the problem of dumping wastes in our oceans, and how that affects the food chain.

All of this is done in a highly readable writing style, laced with a sharp humor. Weaving through the book is a tale about an item she found at Alkai Beach in Seattle, but she discarded thinking she couldn't possibly carry one more item. She regrets having tossed it.

I'm glad I purchased and read this book. Now, I must go...beachcombing!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting tidbits, but terrible execution, April 12, 2008

By 

Paul Kafasis "Man-About-Town" (Beantown) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Washed Up: The Curious Journeys of Flotsam and Jetsam (Paperback)

I've read amusing tales of flotsam before, such as the rubber ducks that spilled into the sea and were used to track currents, so I picked up this book.

I must say, I found it tremendously frustrating to read. Ms. Moody's writing style in this book is irksome at best, juvenile at worst. She employs phrases like "hella-bad ugly" and uses bizarre interludes with a (presumably imaginary) psychiatrist, and I found none of this enjoyable.

Further, the book lacked any sort of organization. The major sections are stretched to their limits (and beyond), such that they become meaningless. Each section then has shorter sub-sections, but these too seem to be scattered. Repeatedly, I found myself reading a tidbit and feeling it had been cut very short. I'd finish a paragraph, and expect to read on and get more information, but instead an entirely different topic would come up. I don't think I've ever failed to finish a book I've started, but I was sorely tempted with this one.

If you're a die-hard beachcomber, perhaps this book is worthwhile. Otherwise, I'd absolutely advise steering clear.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stories from time and space, October 16, 2006

By 

No Dreads (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Washed Up: The Curious Journeys of Flotsam and Jetsam (Paperback)

This is a book for filling your head with amazing facts to regurgitate when walking on the beach with friends or children. I can attest to the latter's fascination with tales of astronaut poop, and the origins of ambergris, the fragrant sea-borne product of whale regurgitation.

The book collects together stories from across the globe and over the centuries, in styles reminiscent of People Magazine (with photographs), Tattler and National Geographic. Moody has a journalist's eye for detail, and a storyteller's ability to inject dry facts with human interest. Her name-dropping is both cheeky and fun. She covers whimsical topics (floating phalluses) and serious ones (the proliferation of plastic garbage in the tidal gyres of the Pacific), but it's a quick read, ideal for say, a flight to Melanesia (home of the cargo cultists).

The book could do with an index, to allow the reader to locate and re-read some of the more interesting tales. And, there was an unfortunate bobble in the explanation of why driftwood floats. But neither criticism detracts from what is an entertaining and informative read. I recommend it.