The Brendan Voyage: Sailing to America in a Leather Boat to Prove the Legend of the Irish Sailor Saints (Modern Library Exploration)

ExcellentReally a joy to readIt is like a history lesson too .. Well written, information added to describe each event and every stop during the tripAnd a mistery, are they going to make it ?Highly recommended.

Excellent read.

Having recently read Thor Heyerdahl's Kon Tiki, I was expecting something similar. In many ways it was, but in some ways,it was better. Give both crews credit for outstanding courage for setting out in a vessel that nobody, even the crew, knew would survive the first week on the open ocean. At least,the Brendan crew had the example of Kon Tiki thirty years earlier to encourage them, but setting out across a warm tropical sea is quite a different proposition from setting out across a stormy, iceberg infested, arctic ocean.Perhaps the most important difference, between the two trips is the tremendous amount of research involved in the voyage of the Brendan. To be fair, there wasn't that much written. information available to Thor Heyerdahl. He was researching Inca and Easter Island legends, and neither culture was very literate to start with and zealous missionaries had wiped out much previous culture in both places, especially in Peru. On the other hand, the priesthood of the Celtic church was highly literate and made records of everything they did and saw. Of course, being Celts, there was a wee tendency to exaggerate. (Having sighted a whale, they had to have mistaken him for an island, go ashore, and build a campfire on his back.) As a result, there was quite a lot of information available about St. Brendan's voyages, which turned out to be surprisingly accurate.In addition, although a curragh looks like a simple structure, building one with sails and capable of long sea voyages is quite another matter. What kind of leather, how to tan it, what kind of wood, what kind of thread to sew it together with, what kind of thongs to lash it, and even the ropes had to be right or disaster would result.The outstanding thing about the book is how thoroughly the author explains the problems he encounters and the people he finds to help him solve them.Perhaps more than anything else, this book is a tribute to the many Irish people willing to go out of their way to help the author explore and display what was,after all, a minute and obscure part of their history.Finally, with the boat built, we embark with the crew on a voyage as hazardous as any in history. The North Atlantic is a very dangerous place. At the same year as this story happened a thoroughly modern, and much larger, icebreaker was lost in the same area that the Brendan crossed. tremendous credit has to be given to the men who stayed with the project under terrible conditions.This book is worth reading, just for the knowledge that the spirit of exploration is still alive in the modern world, and that are still men who are willing to undergo extreme hardship to prove a scientific or historical theory.

An intriguing tale of replicating the St Brendan voyages using historical sources to replicate the vessel. There are smaller contemporary coracles still in use in Ireland. We saw them in many Western harbors 5 years ago. Nevertheless, this is an adventure on a much larger scale, It covers 2 years and vast expanses of the North Atlantic. The extreme courage (foolhardiness + luck?) and seamanship make a true and exciting yarn. All the crew of 4 to 5 lived to tell a tale which should cure any water sailor of thinking repeating this voyage.

I discovered this book after discovering the Irish Currach Clubs in Albany NY and upon visiting Ireland. This book is riveting and so detailed giving the history of this amazing crafted and timeless boat sail to America. I couldn't put it down for a week. It's absolute proof that our country was duped to believe that Columbus discovered America. In addition to St. Brendan and his crew, the reenacters were true explorers in their own right. The writing is beautifully detailed too.

I learned about this book when I was at the place in Ireland from whence this Brendan Crew departed. I found the story to be incredibly intriguing. After I finished it, I bought a copy for my father-in-law. He builds model ww1 bi-planes so I thought he might appreciate how much attention to detail the author gave to building a boat as St. Brendan would have done. Anyone with an appreciation for authentic, high quality, craft reproduction and nautical adventure may well enjoy this book. I am so glad that the author was able to find true craftsmen to help build the Brendan boat before the art was lost to death (of such men.)And I love all I learned about whales & sea life.

This is a recount of 4 guys , in 1976-77, who re-enact St Brendan's 500 AD ocean voyage from Ireland to North America in a leather curragh!! Amazing! Author and captain, Tim Severin, of " Brendan" does a great job of aligning the sights and sounds of his voyage to the ancient passages in the "Navigatio" , explaining what the fantastical sights and creatures described in the "Navigatio" could be and probably were. I enjoyed the historical connection, as well as reading about the dangers and challenges the guys faced. Sometimes the history was a bit tedious as I was hoping for more excitement in the man-vs-nature challenge. But, on the whole, I enjoyed this book.

I'm a sucker for books and TV shows that recreate the ancient world. The Brendan Voyage is a great true story about a man who tried to recreate the legendary travels of St Brendan to the as-yet-undiscovered New World. The author's adventures don't *quite* match the mythic voyage of the intrepid sixth century Irish monk, but he recounts plenty of real-life adventures along the way that make this account a fascinating read. Especially recommended for anyone who enjoys maritime tales and modern experiences with ancient technology.I first read this in paperback when it was selected by my book club. Later gave it to a friend who loves tales of the high seas, and then regretted letting go of it, so when BookBub advertised a sale on the Kindle version, I bought it again. Now I'll never have to let go of it.

Although a fan of Liam O’Flynn’s Brendan Voyage, many things Celtic, and travel writing generally, I was surprised by this book. I am not at all interested in sailing, but the appeal of the ancient St Brendan’s curious spiritual purpose in sailing combined with the modern challenge of recreating the craft and then Brendan’s Atlantic crossing was totally compelling.The author moves between Brendan’s Navigatio – often thought to be more myth than real, but proved intriguingly believable through this recreated voyage – and the ongoing project of Severin’s crew of 5, then 4, sailing in a handcrafted curragh from Ireland to the Hebrides, the Faroes, Iceland, round Greenland, through ice floes to Newfoundland.How does one live in an open boat for weeks on end? How can a leather boat compete with fibreglass or metal? What does one do when met by a whale? How does one fix a puncture in the open sea? In co-operation with the elements, apparent impossibilities became remarkably possible, which was one of the points of both voyages.After each chapter I was saying, ‘Just one more’. This book touched my love for the romance of travel, fantasy, human interest and history in one happy read. I'm looking for the next one now…

A wonderful account of the conception, planning, building and realisation of a dark ages voyage of discovery to prove the concept that the Irish got to the new world hundreds of years before both the Vikings or Columbus made it. A triumph of archaeology and story telling, brilliant

I re-read this after about 30 years and it has increased even further in my estimation. A most enjoyable and easily readable travelogue from West Kerry via the Aran Islands, Iona, Tiree and onto The Faroes and Iceland. It begins with Tim Severn's account of the journey to find the raw materials for his leather boat and the most helpful people that went out of their way to ensure he got the best materials. In recounting the many exciting happenings on the way he developed him a new and very plausible insight into St Brendan's seemingly outrageous stories. Highly recommended.

A great account of one man proving that St Brendan probably did get to America ahead of the Vikings. I don’t know much about boat building or sea faring but I was fascinated by how he tracked down people with the knowledge of old trades to recreate the curracle of the era, and how he learnt on the voyage that the old tools and foods still worked the best, and could interpret the old records from his contemporary experiences, proving (to him and me) that this voyage was historically undertaken many times.

Beautifully written, I could not put this book down. The story is incredible from beginning to end, from the remarkable creation of the boat and creativity of the people involved, to the many vividly recounted sights and adventures encountered along the north Atlantic journey. What I enjoyed most was that the account is told from a personal perspective which made me feel that I was alongside the people on the journey. A wonderful saga.