This was the first book I ever read that taught me how incredibly difficult it was to be a sailor in the Age of Sail. This book was written by two men who were not sailors, but wanted to make a documentary about sailing. From them I learned the hardships of sailing these old ships. I didn't even know they had to climb way up there to let out the sails. Just being way up there above deck, knowing you'd die if you fell, would unnerve me.

The other thing I couldn't believe was the cold! Down by Cape Horn it is extremely cold and extremly stormy. This makes for constantly rough, icy waters. The men are constantly drenched by the cold seas and the cold rain at the same time. When their watch is over, and they go below decks to sleep, they have no way to dry their clothes except lay them out as best they can. The next watch they must put on their cold, wet clothes and get back to work. And depending on how long they stay in the lower latitudes and how long it takes to cross the Horn, they may stay like this for months. Those men were wet and freezing cold for months. The thought makes me shudder.

This book was a little slow sometimes, but I'm glad I read it and discovered what it was like in the Age of Sail. Now whenever I get cold here in Florida, I just think about those crazy men who sailed around the Horn.