Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 11-10-2014, 08:15 PM   #1
Scraping Paint
 
City: -
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 13,745
The Boys in the Boat

I was up until 3:00am this morning finishing one of the best books I've ever read. The title is "The Boys in the Boat" by Daniel James Brown.

It's not a brand new book; it's been out long enough for someone to be making a movie from it. But if you haven't read it, it's well worth doing so in my opnion.

In brief, it's the story of the University of Washington 9-man rowing crew who won the gold medal at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. The story is centered on one of the crew members, Joe Rantz, and it follows his life in the depression through a series of events that I doubt people of that age today could even survive.

The book is extremely well written in my opinon, and covers all the aspects of the sport, from the sheer physical agony of rowing a 60' shell in competition, to the buidling of the boats by the legendary George Pocock, to the mental struggles of achieving what it takes to win, to the blow-by-blow descriptions of the races themselves.

The book teaches a lot about character and what forms it.

Outstanding story, in my opinon. I gained a hell of a lot by reading it.

The 1936 UW crew is pictured below.
Attached Thumbnails
1936 UW Crew.jpg  
Marin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-10-2014, 09:25 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
Retriever's Avatar
 
City: Seattle, WA
Vessel Name: Akeeva
Vessel Model: Nordhavn 50
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 449
Agreed. It's a compelling and well written story. Pretty cool how the scrappy upstarts from a little town somewhere out west did so well!
Retriever is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-10-2014, 10:14 PM   #3
Al
Guru
 
Al's Avatar
 
City: ketchikan, Alaska
Vessel Name: 'SLO'~BELLE
Vessel Model: 1978 Marben-27' Flybridge Trawler(extended to 30 feet) Pilothouse Pocket Cruiser[
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 2,206
Marin- Thanks for the tip, Just placed an order via Amazon.
AMJ
Al is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-10-2014, 10:42 PM   #4
Scraping Paint
 
City: -
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 13,745
I probably should have added that the book is available on Kindle for quite a bit less than the paper edition.
Marin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2014, 12:31 AM   #5
Guru
 
drb1025's Avatar
 
City: Port Ludlow
Vessel Name: Fiddler
Vessel Model: DeFever 46
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 703
My wife's book club recently read that book. At their meeting to talk about it, they invited Joe Rantz' daughter Judy to speak. She lives in the Seattle area. Very cool.
drb1025 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2014, 12:37 AM   #6
Hospitality Officer
 
Andy G's Avatar
 
City: Pittwater
Vessel Name: Sarawana
Vessel Model: IG 36 Quad Cabin
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 1,897
I'll track it down.

Got a few other recommendations but that may be too much of a hijack.

Our school was into rowing, of course our hero's were the Ist VIII.

I still vividly remember the six boats appearing at the bend in the river, neck a neck with the finish line 400 meters ahead and a couple of thousand school kids cheering their teams on for all they were worth.

In my six years we never managed to win, came very close though.Great sport.
Andy G is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2014, 04:19 AM   #7
Al
Guru
 
Al's Avatar
 
City: ketchikan, Alaska
Vessel Name: 'SLO'~BELLE
Vessel Model: 1978 Marben-27' Flybridge Trawler(extended to 30 feet) Pilothouse Pocket Cruiser[
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 2,206
Kindle?::confused Sheee Marin, forgive me for I have just come into glass boats from drift wood!!

Al
Al is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2014, 07:34 AM   #8
Moderator Emeritus
 
dwhatty's Avatar
 
City: Home Port: Buck's Harbor, Maine
Vessel Name: "Emily Anne"
Vessel Model: 2001 Island Gypsy 32 Europa (Hull #146)
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 2,846
I rowed competitively for 7 years in secondary school and college so I was interested in this book and just got it.

Having a bit of difficulty getting into it as I am not sure I like the author's writing style. Will keep going though.

Used to row in wooden Pococks and Garofalos. I sank a Pocock 8 in the East River (NY) one time when swapping into the shell from a launch and my foot broke through the step plate and down and out the bottom. I was not popular that day. Shots (both medicinal and alcoholic) were required for all after the swim in those waters.
__________________
David Hawkins
Deer Isle, Maine
dwhatty is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2014, 05:06 PM   #9
Veteran Member
 
snakeriveridaho's Avatar
 
City: Buhl, Idaho
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 43
Thanks. Just got it on my Kindle!
snakeriveridaho is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Trawler Port Captains
Port Captains are TF volunteers who can serve as local guides or assist with local arrangements and information. Search below to locate Port Captains near your destination. To learn more about this program read here: TF Port Captain Program





All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:08 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0
Copyright 2006 - 2012