Sandy Mackinnon says it himself - 'I exaggerate, for effect'. I loved the description of the journey from small streams in the north to the tidal rivers of the south and the crossing over to France. It all rings true to my own much more limited experience of rivers and canals in small rowing boats and canoes. But this man is much more capable than you might think from a superficial reading of the book - I know this because I'm on my third reading and have no intention of leaving it there.

The only other book I've loved this much is Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers, in some ways the complete opposite of this book where the main character convincingly describes the skill and expertise of Davies, the owner of the small yacht Dulcibella. A J Mackinnon as a single-hander must write of his own journey himself, so to preserve modesty and to entertain the reader he presents himself as a bumbling amateur with little idea of how to row, sail or maintain his eleven foot boat, but he still gets to the Black Sea by way of rivers and canals that would challenge any experienced sailor. His self-deprecation mightn't fool me but I'm left feeling even more impressed by the journey he describes so well.

I'm not a sailor nor intend to be after reading this wonderful adventure book but, I love adventure stories especially true ones where someone goes off on their own and let's nature do what she will.

This book had me laughing out loud as I think our boy here bit off more then he could chew at the start . seemed like a good idea at the time I suppose : ) altho he did manage to become learned about the nautical jargon thru trial and error . buy it, borrow it ...have a laugh .

Sandy Mackinnon sets out from Shropshire in a tiny sailboat and sails and rows himself and his small boat across England, across the Channel, and across the canals and rivers of Europe to the Black Sea.

This is a fascinating journey and Mackinnon is a brilliant and charming storyteller. Although his voyage involves many privations and even humiliations, he is always optimistic, happy, and carefree--well, almost always. Mackinnon's joy and love of adventure, people, and the outdoors is highly infectious. No one will come away from reading this book with anything less than a lighter heart and a brighter outlook on life and its tribulations. Jack de Crow is witty, entertaining, and edifying. It is one of the best sailing adventure books that I have ever read and I have read very many. I highly recommend this book to every reader whether or not you are a sailor or boater. You don't need to know anything about boats or sailing to fully enjoy this wonderful book.

I have one important and heavy dissatisfaction with the book that I must air. I almost broke ranks and would have been the first reviewer to give it fewer than five stars. Mackinnon from start to finish depends on the kindness of strangers to get him through tough spots. His journey, and even his life, is saved several times by other boaters or people along the shore who give him shelter, a tow, make repairs for him, etc. etc. He simply would not have gotten more than a few miles on his own. Of course, this is part, and a central part, of the whole story and journey--trusting to your luck and to the unanticipated and unpaid assistance of strangers. Mackinnon is basically a good natured and kind hearted screw-up. He really doesn't know what he is doing or how to do it, but goes on anyway. Well this makes for a good story as Mackinnon recognizes--no screw-ups, no stories.

But I favor a tradition that values self-reliance at least in things nautical. A watery voyage requires proper craft, charts, equipment in good order, and the ability to navigate and conduct the voyage on one's own. The only excuse for seeking or accepting help from others is dire and unavoidable life-threatening emergency. Mackinnon violates these basic principles of boating, often to his peril, sometimes to the peril of others. I cannot respect this. I believe that Mackinnon should not have made this voyage, that he was morally irresponsible, and that despite the wonderful book that resulted, the overall effect may be detrimental.

One other minor problem with the book is that readers should be aware that there are many many references to English children's literature and other works that are obscure and will not be familiar, and there are no notes or explanations. This comes off as a bit pretentious and puzzling and somewhat diminished my enjoyment of Jack de Crow.

Sometimes Mackinnon can be insensitive. He glows over the beauty and wealth of Vienna--Europe's greatest city (his description). Mackinnon describes with excessive enthusiasm Vienna's glorious history, but never mentions the most important event in Vienna's history--the anything but glorious Kristallnacht. I quote from Wikipedia: "Events in Austria were no less horrendous. Of the entire Kristallnacht only the pogrom in Vienna was completely successful. Most of Vienna's 94 synagogues and prayer-houses were partially or totally destroyed. People were subjected to all manner of humiliations, including being forced to scrub the pavements whilst being tormented by their fellow Austrians, some of whom had been their friends and neighbours." I find it hard to share his insensitive enthusiasm for Vienna.

But in the end I suppose that Mackinnon is some sort of genius, a genuine free spirit, and true eccentric and cannot be held to the same standards as the rest of us.

A friend shared this book with me, hoping I'd enjoy it as much as he did. And I did. Being familiar with the country and the people - but not the rivers, I loved every mile of Jack De Crow's journey, laughing at almost every page at the impossible conditions that Mackinnon found himself in. As I knew they would, Mackinnon and Jack De Crow rose above it all.

I grew to love that little boat. In turn I shared with friends and family.

If you like sailing small craft and mini-crusiers and camping out, you will love this book. Most entertaining, humorous and well written.....good work Jim McKinnon !

This is my favorite sailing book. The combination of humor, insight, warmth, fascinating places, interesting people expertly sketched, odd experiences, wrecks, near death experiences, coupled with the pure joy of traveling by water, make for a very memorable book. Not only is it hard to put down once begun, it is hard not to immediately restart once finished.

"Sandy" Mackinnon tells a tale of nautical adventure with a style that reads like a delightful mix of Jerome K. Jerome, Jean Shephard, and Monty Python. This books is so very English, though Mackinnon is Australian- it is told with love, warmth, wisdom, humanity, and with prose as crisp as Beaujolais and warm as old port. This is a very FUNNY book, but also life affirming without being pretentious. Once you start this book you will want to keep rowing through the pages as the author travels along the great rivers of Europe from Wales to Romania. This book is definitely a new classic, and ranks up there with The Saga of Cimba and Alone in the Caribbean as one of the three most evocative nautical travelogues ever written. A genuine treasure- and pleasure.

Mackinnon is a wonderfully good writer but, to hear him tell it, he ain't much boathandler. That's a delightful combination for a story of a long, long trip in a tiny boat. If you don't allow yourself to get too exasperated at his predicaments, you'll really enjoy reading this book.

A beautifully written book - but then you would expect that from an English teacher! Full of hilarious escapades, frightening experiences and gloriously colourful accounts of this unbelieveably exciting yet delightful journey! Should be on the bookshelf of every Mirror Dinghy owner, and the reading list of every school! With its broad appeal this book makes an excellent gift. I look forward to the author's next publication - which I have no doubt will be forthcoming in due course as a result of world demand!

Like the Author, once you start this journey it is difficult to stop. This book is very difficult to put down.

As you breeze along the waterways and across seas with Sandy you find yourself saying "No! You can't? You won't? You shouldn't..." then you turn the page and he can, he will and he has; your eyes open wide and you read fervently onwards.

After one crisis is over you are calmed back into the beautiful journey, bumbling along serenely and naively into the arms of the next demon waiting beyond the horizon.

Whilst many of the literary quotes went over my head I found this a fantastically written story of eccentric daring-do with laugh-out-loud moments of extreme hilarity.

A real, live "Lord Of The Rings" journey full of near-death experiences told as if they weren't and real life experiences told like it was.

You have to read this book.

Incidentally whilst not putting down this book at 1 am, high up in the Taipei Hilton the other week I found my hotel bed shaking with laughter, when I stopped, the bed didn't and the contents of the min-bar spilled out onto the floor. It was then that I realised the Earth was moving! That's never happened with any other book I've read.

Well done Mr. Mackinnon!