Two Years Before the Mast

(1840) Non Fiction (Diary/Memoirs) / Nautical (Sailing ship) / Historical (1830's) / Travel (California/Pacific Islands/Ocean)


R: * * * *


Plot bullets

• The voyages of the old sailing ships was measured in years, not days.


• A sailor who was not an officer or passenger, but only an 'ordinary seaman' was quartered in the forecastle, which were the living quarters situated before the mast. This part of the ship got the worst movement in bad weather as it was the part of the ship that rose and plunged most in heavy seas..


• Dana (the author) signed-on with a merchant ship as an ordinary seaman for a two year voyage to the California coast and islands of the Pacific. He was an educated man, but thought the voyage might help his eyesight.


• He kept a written record of his voyage with no intention to make it sensational or exaggerated.


• The book, while interesting from a travel and historical sense, should not be thought of in the same sense of a novel like 'The Sea-Wolf'.


• The work and the sea were masters cruel enough for any man who would spend 'Two Years Before the Mast'.

I first read this book 15 years ago. Since then I have spent many wonderful weekends/weeks sailing. This book is a TRUE story of sailing the seas and life on board a ship. From sewing their own cloths, sails, working the hemp rope. A must for sailors, those that might wish to try sailing and even those that are land bound.

I am reading this book now and I am always on my toes.

This is a great read about sailing and California in the past.