Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Coyote Lost at Sea by Julia Plant - Book Review


BookCoyote Lost at Sea: The Story of Mike Plant, America's Daring Solo Circumnavigator
AuthorJulia Plant
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir 
Publisher/Publish DateInternational Marine Publishing / February 27, 2013
SourcePublisher, NewGalley
Pages: 256
Rating: 4/5
GoodReads  •  Amazon

Coyote Lost at Sea tells the story of Mike Plants rocky life and successful sailing career told by the person who probably knew him best, his sister Julia Plant.  Along with journals and memoirs that Mike had started writing, she pieces together the life of someone who was a risk-taker, charismatic, intense, and liked to hide from the limelight. This is not just a book about adventure, but a look into who he really was, and what lead up to his disastrous final trip across the Atlantic.

What drew me to this book was the adventure of singlehanded ocean sailing, but what I really enjoyed is how much Julia shared about her life growing up with her brother. She using the writing of the book to process what his life and death meant to her, and tries to uncover what lead him on his unending travels and dangerous endeavors.

About half of the book covers his childhood, growing up on a lake, travels through South America in his early twenties, and trying to balance his life against the expectations of his father. At 35, while living in Rhode Island, he decides to build a sail boat and enter a singlehanded, around-the-world yacht race. I won't give away the result of the race, though it's easy to find with a quick internet search. He was so in love with singlehanded sailing, by the time he died at age 42 he was one of only five people to have completed three solo circumnavigations.

I recommend this book to anyone who really loves memoirs or adventure books.

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