Barefoot Pirate: The Tall Ships and Tales of Windjammer (Hardcover)

~ Ed Crowell (Author), Robert W. Schachner (Author)
Key Phrases: tons draft, cruise business

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A gorgeous coffee-table book . . . the next best thing to a Windjammer cruise." -- The Palm Beach Post, 11/30/03

Product Description

Barefoot Pirate is the captivating tale of one man’s pursuit of an unshakable dream--a true story of swashbuckling adventures, classic tall ships, and a sailor’s steadfast determination to prove himself right. It is the personal account of Captain Mike Burke and the world-famous Windjammer Barefoot Cruise line he built with his barefoot spirit and his iron will to succeed.

Brilliantly written with full-color photographs and illustrations, this book offers an insider’s view of how Captain Mike managed to save classic sailing ships from sure destruction, and, along the way, put together one of the finest fleets of vessels in the world. Also included are stories of ships once owned by Aristotle Onassis, E.F. Hutton and his wife Marjorie Merriweather Post, and George Vanderbilt III, to mention only a few.

While you may never experience the excitement of boarding a tall ship or feel the sea spray on your face as your ship glides through the ocean, you can come close by sharing the many stories and pictures courtesy of Captain Mike Burke, the Barefoot Pirate.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 290 pages
• Publisher: Square One Publishers (August 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0757001289
• ISBN-13: 978-0757001284
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 9.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #149,640 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Windjammers, September 20, 2008

By	Martin G. Smith (Florida) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Great book !!
I used to be a " barefoot" sailor, on the Flying Cloud,-
Mandalay,- -Yankee Clipper,-Yankee Trader, -
so this evokes some wonderfull memories, wish Windjammer was still operational.
This book captures the essence of "Windjammer", and explains some of the dedication that was part of its creation.

Reccomend this to any FREE !!! spirits left out there---

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A tale of the sea if there ever was one., March 5, 2008

By	L. Dunkelman "larrydunk" (White Plains, NY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Barefoot Pirate will have a huge appeal to anybody (including me) that has ever sailed on one of the Windjammer fleet's vessels. It details Mike Burke's (the founders) career and gives the history of each of the sailing vessels in the fleet. As a prior windjammer reading the book, it took me far away from my normal office job- even though I have not sailed Flying Cloud for over 30 years! I still have vivid memories to this day.
On the down side, the book is understandably biased and does not give a full
accounts of the safety and financial issues that have dogged the business, and the quality of the photographs in the book are not nearly what we expect in modern printing. Many are grainy and many others lack detail.
As I write this (March 2008) the future of the entire fleet is uncertain, and books like this may ultimately be the final historical repository for the Windjammer fleet of sailing vessels.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the tall ships and tales of windjammer by ed crowell, May 12, 2007

By	Dennis J. Green (san diego ca) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have been doing windjammer cruises for over 20 years. The book shows what happens behind the scenes and how windjammers got there start. But it's more a book about a very interesting man.