The Bottom Line
If you have ever longed to live a life different from your own among the Caribbean islands, this is a must-read. The author takes us through two years of cruising the islands, from beginning to end. The result is a very eye-opening picture of the cruising life.
Pros
- Ann's prose makes it seem as if you are there sharing the adventure
- She doesn't hold back, readers see the good and bad aspects of the cruising life
- Every chapter includes authentic recipes
- The Caribbean and its people come alive
Cons
- You may consider crazy scenarios to follow in Receta's wake
- Their adventure, and the book, ends
Description
- Paperback: 320 pages
- Author: Ann Vanderhoof
- Publisher: Anchor Canada
- Release date: 2005
- ISBN: 9780385659550
Guide Review - Book Review - An Embarrassment of Mangoes
I've always wanted to cruise and live in the Caribbean, so I loved this book. I originally came across it looking for a book that would instruct me on how to make the transition from a typical American lifestyle to cruising in the islands. I got much more than I bargained for in this book.
Ann Vanderhoof and her husband Steve, forty-something Canadians ready for a change of pace, quit their jobs, rent their house, and head for the Caribbean aboard their 42-foot sailboat, Receta - which means recipe in Spanish. Ann loves to cook, and shares recipes that she picks up from Caribbean natives they befriend among the 47 islands they visit.
Readers get a first-hand account of life aboard a sailboat, and the cruising lifestyle, as Ann and Steve sail from Canada to Trinidad aboard the Receta. We get a clear sense of what it means to exchange a fast-paced life for island time, something many boaters - power or sail - dream about.
This book makes a great vacation read, or for lazy days at the dock. I am avid reader, rarely reading any book more than once, but this is one I can pick up again and again as I dream about someday living on island time myself.
