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My Old Man and the Sea | 
 enlarge | Author: David Hays
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Category: Book
List Price: $13.00
Buy Used: $0.01
You Save: $12.99 (100%)
New (54) Used (190) Collectible (5) from $0.01
Avg. Customer Rating:  32 reviews
Sales Rank: 201100
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.2 x 0.8
ISBN: 0060976969
Dewey Decimal Number: 910.45
EAN: 9780060976965
ASIN: 0060976969
Publication Date: June 5, 1996
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
David and Daniel Hays, father and son, designed and built a small boat together, then set out to sail it around the tip of South America, a journey that David had dreamed of ever since childhood. Along the way they fought and swore and sweated and shared triumphs large and small.
Product Description
Some fathers and sons go fishing together. Some play ball. David Hays and Daniel Hays sailed 17,000 miles through the world's most feared and fabled waters in a little boat they built together. This is their story. Alone with nothing but the mammoth waves of the Southern Ocean, the unceasing wind, a compass, a sextant and a pet cat, they voyage down the Caribbean, through the Panama Canal, past the Galapagos Islands, beyond Easter Island and around their destination--Cape Horn. Father and son narrate in alternating fashion, their voices weaving together an engrossing story of travel, exploration and difficult, dangerous sailing. But more than a tale of adventure, this is a touching account of a father and son's rite of passage as they assess their complex and evolving relationship. Daniel, out of college and unsure of what he wants in his life, sees his father getting older, more forgetful. David deals with unresolved issues he had with his own father, fearful that he'll make the same mistakes with his son, yet frustrated that Daniel treats him like an old man. Moving, often hilarious, often poignant, My Old Man and the Sea is a rich and profound chronicle of their voyage of discovery. Every reader will identify with this uplifting story of a father and son who go down to the sea and find each other.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 27 more reviews...
Convoluted, but enjoyable... September 2, 2008
This is a refreshing read, if the reader finds substance in rambling, meandering and occasionally convoluted story-telling, and I often do... For a short tome, the format works well - seemingly extracted (and occasionally embellished) bits and pieces of the vessel's log... but this tale really concentrates more on the father & son relationship, as well as the interplay of peripheral actors who come and go with little or no introduction (or explanation as to why they were included at all), than about sailing... The sailing is good, but the uniqueness of the engineless craft, the preparation and the actual voyage only sneaks up on the reader a shred here and a snippet there. A good nightstand book for reading a few pages now and again - and looking forward to bedtime and rejoining them on their way...
 Do you have a father? November 29, 2006
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
Do you have a son? Have you ever dreamed of a sailing
adventure? This is a book about fathers, sons and
adventures. David and Daniel Hays had a unusual
partnership. This father and son team built a sailboat
together and then sailed it through the Panama Canal
and around Cape Horn.
Just the thought of that accomplishment is enough to
stun me to silence. But wait, as they say on late
night TV, there's more. The narration of the voyage is
shared in alternate chapters by the two men. They are
each astonishingly engaging writers and very willing
to share feelings about this enterprise and each other.
There is no posturing in their writing, just the sense
of hearing the voices of a particular family.
And what voices they are! You would be hard pressed to
find two more engaging writers. Even Dan's account
of being rolled by a Brazilian prostitute is,you should
pardon the expression, infectious.
Ignore the snarky title. This book is much better than
that and would make the perfect Fathers' Day gift from
or to a man you would like to have share your adventures.
--Lynn Hoffman, author of THE NEW SHORT COURSE IN WINE and
the forthcoming novel bang BANG from Kunati Books.ISBN 9781601640005
 Mildly interesting, turned off by language February 18, 2005
2 out of 7 found this review helpful
I was enjoying this moderately until right about midway (between Galapagos and Easter Island) when the language got rougher than the seas and I deep-sixed it. After reading Joshua Slocum's "Sailing Alone Around The World", (a tremendous story!) this book seemed crude and sophomoric.
My old Man and the Sea September 1, 2002
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
I listened to the audio version during a cross country drive with a friend. Along the way, we found ourselves laughing at times, crying at others. Our trip had a lot of ups and downs, much like their travels- of course the amenities of driving a car cross country cannot compare to sailing a boat around the horn!Anyway, my friend identified a little more with the older character, while I identified with his son- it made us think a little more about each others perspective. Definitely the best book on tape I've ever heard.
Inspiring! August 7, 2002
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
David and Daniel Hays are the first Americans to sail around Cape Horn in a boat under 30 feet in length. "My Old Man and the Sea" is the inspiring true story of a father and son's 17,000-mile voyage in a 25-foot yacht named Sparrow to the bottom of the world and back.
Although David and Dan sailed the easier route from the Pacific into the Atlantic with the prevailing westerly winds and currents they endured horrific storms that included Dan being tossed overboard during Sparrows dangerous sideways roll.
The tale is even more impressive when you learn that they chose to sail simply, without an engine and used a sextant and compass instead of a navigational system. David explains, "Our sport is to tune our senses not our instruments."
David and Dan's eloquent descriptions of the magnificence of the ocean and the magic of sailing brought back fond memories of my own six-month adventure hitchhiking on sailboats in the Bahamas. Like them, I was inspired to write a book titled "Earth, the Forgotten Temple." Tales concerning profound encounters with Mother Ocean and her other wilderness places need to be shared.
Most moving of all, despite conflicts, the deep love between the father and the son shine through to warm us all.
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