Wish I'd had the opportunity to do this with my Dad. A wonderful story.

"My Old Man and The Sea" is an exceptional book to read. Especially because I am a very avid sailor, (I have been sailing since I was four). This book is about David and Daniel Hays, father and son, who sail to Cape Horn which is at the very bottom of South America. Their 17,000 mile voyage across the high waves and stormy weather of the southern ocean in their homemade sailboat with only a compass, sextant, and a pet cat, not what every father and son does. Not only is it an adventure but also bonding time for father and son to connect as they assess their complex relationship. Daniel, just out of college has no idea what job he wants, and is struggling with job options, and David his father is just getting more forgetful each day. As they go on they have hardships and laughs that go on throughout the book. Overall I found this book really interesting and was very bitter sweet in each moment. I suggest others read this book even not as a sailor, you still will love the book as the deeper you go the more exciting. "My Old Man and The Sea" is the right book for everyone.

Sometimes unnecessary, sometimes not enough.

O velho não é brasileiro mas não desiste nunca.
A narração é curta, e ainda bem, pois me deixou num crescendo de angústia, de tristeza, de torcida e sobretudo de admiração.
Se algum dia você se sentir incapaz, impotente, prestes a desistir de um objetivo, leia este livrinho, pois o Velho (com letra maiúscula) é um exemplo de obstinação.

How to sail around Cape Horn in a 26 foot boat without a motor using celestial navigation. Fascinating.

A father and son build a 25-foot sail boat and sail it around Cape Horn. A very interesting book for sailors, others may not identify with as much of the story.

Couldn't have chosen a more appropriate book to start a father/son book club with.

It's written by a father/son team about their real life experience sailing around Cape Horn in a small sailboat.

It's written journal-style taking turns between the two men. It's partially about their relationship and the struggles they both have with aging, pride and mortality, and partially about their sailing adventure.

Recommended to sailors and sons.

I came across this by accident, with the intention of reading Hemingway's 'The Old Man and the Sea'. But I am glad for the mistake because I found this beautiful gem. The influences of Herman Melville, Joseph Conrad and Hermann Hesse are apparent and frequently quoted. The Hays father-son duo are excellent explorers and story-tellers that deliver an autobiographical dual-perspective account of their journey around the infamous Cape Horn. But their journey is as metaphorical as it is literal, as the duo navigate their relationship with each other, with self-acceptance and identity.
In the prologue, the father, David, writes "My son, Dan, writes of a voyage external and internal, a true passage of personal struggle and growth. To me, the account is a love story, the greatest adventure of all". All of these themes are strongly resonant and inspirational. Personally, reading this story incited longing for self-growth and adventure in tandem, which every person should experience in different phases of their lives. 100% recommend.

I guess I not much into sailing but I like Memoirs. I did listen to it while I worked in the kitchen or my craft room or walking.

Friends of the HHI Library find. A warm, funny and touching "adventure travel" story of a father and son building a 25 foot sailboat (with no motor) and their sail from New London CT, around Cape Horn and back to New London. Even if you don't like sailing this is still a very engaging story of this relationship.

This dual narrative of a strenuous journey and a complicated relationship is intriguing-- especially if the reader lets the nautical jargon just wash over, and enjoys the ride.

This is mostly just a spoiler. I completely lost interest in their silly voyage after they lost Tiger, and at that point I quit reading. I knew it was coming. And when it did I was hoping the boat would sink with both of them on board too. The only crew member who was remotely likable was the cat. The two human crew did nothing but whine or boast. They were both intolerably self-appreciating. And that's about all I have to say.