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(as of Apr 14, 2024 22:47:31 UTC – Details)
Could an Irish monk in the sixth century really have sailed all the way across the Atlantic in a small open boat, thus beating Columbus to the New World by almost a thousand years? Relying on the medieval text of St. Brendan, award-winning adventure writer Tim Severin painstakingly researched and built a boat identical to the leather curragh that carried Brendan on his epic voyage. He found a centuries-old, family-run tannery to prepare the ox hides in the medieval way; he undertook an exhaustive search for skilled harness makers (the only people who would know how to stitch the three-quarter-inch-thick hides together); he located one of the last pieces of Irish-grown timber tall enough to make the mainmast. But his courage and resourcefulness were truly tested on the open seas, including one heart-pounding episode when he and his crew repaired a dangerous tear in the leather hull by hanging over the side–their heads sometimes submerged under the freezing waves–to restitch the leather. A modern classic in the tradition of Kon-Tiki, The Brendan Voyage seamlessly blends high adventure and historical relevance. It has been translated into twenty-seven languages since its original publication in 1978.
With a new Introduction by Malachy McCourt, author of A Monk Swimming
ASIN : 0375755241
Publisher : Random House Publishing Group; First Thus edition (April 4, 2000)
Language : English
Paperback : 304 pages
ISBN-10 : 9780375755248
ISBN-13 : 978-0375755248
Item Weight : 9.4 ounces
Dimensions : 5.24 x 0.67 x 7.93 inches