The Canoe Boys: The First Epic Scottish Sea Journey by Kayak

by Alastair Dunnett (Author), Alastair Dunnett (Author), Ninian Dunnett (Author)

New
Paperback
2007
$15.69

It's too late in the year! they were advised, but they still did it. By canoe from Bowling to Kyle of Lochalsh with numerous stops along the way, Alastair Dunnett and Seamas Adam spent a heady Autumn in the 1934 meandering up the glorious West Coast of Scotland. On their way they sent reports back to the Daily Record informing the readers of their progress and the people they met along the way. Their account makes fascinating reading as they were hailed by onlookers and bystanders wherever they went as 'The Canoe Boys'. Escapades as varied as running the infamous tide-rush of the Dorus Mhor to a balmy harvest working on Calve Island off Mull, quenching their thirst with a mug of drammach (oats and water) are related in superb, lyrical style by Dunnett. This is an adventure story of youthful exuberance and of how life once was lived before the war changed everything for ever. Fully illustrated with archival material and contemporary press cuttings, this cult travelogue will find a new market among the growing number of adventure kayakers taking to Scotland's coastal waters. This new illustrated edition has an introduction by Dunnett's son, Ninian who has also supplied a full glossary and notes on each chapter.

Synopsis

"It's too late in the year!" they were advised, but they still did it. By canoe from Bowling to Kyle of Lochalsh with numerous stops along the way, Alastair Dunnett and Seamas Adam spent a heady Autumn in the 1934 meandering up the glorious West Coast of Scotland. On their way they sent reports back to the Daily Record informing the readers of their progress and the people they met along the way. Their account makes fascinating reading as they were hailed by onlookers and bystanders wherever they went as 'The Canoe Boys'. Escapades as varied as running the infamous tide-rush of the Dorus Mhor to a balmy harvest working on Calve Island off Mull, quenching their thirst with a mug of drammach (oats and water) are related in superb, lyrical style by Dunnett. This is an adventure story of youthful exuberance and of how life once was lived before the war changed everything for ever. Fully illustrated with archival material and contemporary press cuttings, this cult travelogue will find a new market among the growing number of adventure kayakers taking to Scotland's coastal waters. This new illustrated edition has an introduction by Dunnett's son, Ninian who has also supplied a full glossary and notes on each chapter.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 224
Edition: New
Publisher: In Pinn
Published: 30 Sep 2007
ISBN 10: 1903238994
ISBN 13: 9781903238998

Media Reviews

'Quite enthralling. I have read it with unfailing interest and unflagging pleasure.' Eric linklater 'One of the most unusual travel books published in a long time - Only those who have sailed among the Western Isles in substantial craft can realise the full implication of a trip there in a frail canoe. Such a method of voyaging in these waters seems fantastic. Yet it was done - absorbing reading.' Glasgow Herald 'A daring feat.' Sunday Times ' - spacious, humorous, penetrating log-book - the observant eye as well as the racy pen. New Books 'Adventure surely was part of the story, and that aspect of it is given full prominence. But there was more to it than adventure; there was a purposeful determination to discover personally the causes contributing to the depopulation of the Highlands.' Sunday Mail 'The purpose and spirit of the book stand forth inspiringly.' Daily Record 'A memorable cruise - he hotly denies that Highlanders are sly ne'er-do-weels; he rails at authority for its neglect of Gaeldom.' Evening Dispatch 'As a record of what must have been a very hazardous voyage, this is first-rate and exciting reading. It is, in the highest sense, a fine travel book.' Evening Citizen 'The charm of the book as a record of experience does not obscure the value inherent in its assessment of conditions and potentialities in a beautiful but long neglected area.' Scotsman

Author Bio

Alastair Dunnett was one of the foremost Scots of the 20th century and was a key public figure in the Scottish Office after WWII. He married novelist Dorothy Dunnett in 1946 and later edited The Daily Record and The Scotsman before being instrumental in the evolution of the oil industry in the North Sea in the 1970s. He died, aged 89, in 1998.