Good Old Boat Reviews Hard Aground... Again
Hard Aground…Again: Inspiration for
the Navigationally Challenged and Spiritually Stuck, -
-by Eddie Jones
(Winoca Press, 2006; 148 pages; $14.95)
Review by Kristen Brochmann
New York, N.Y.
In Hard Aground . . . Again, Eddie Jones sends
dispatches from the creeks, mudflats and sounds of the Carolina
coast. The chapters are gathered from his magazine columns
and can be read as separate stories. Fans of Dave Barry will
understand the southern comic voice that Eddie uses very well.
He is part good ol’ boy and part tent-revival preacher,
telling stories about hapless navigation, cranky outboards,
and other cruising foibles and drawing life lessons from them.
He tells these stories in an easy conversational tone, as
if the reader were sitting next to him on the rusted Wal-Mart
lawn chairs that he uses for deck seats while watching the
sun go down over the swamp grass and hummocks.
In the prologue he calls himself a “recovering boataholic”
who wishes “boating wasn’t my passion.” His
dreams of blue water and distant islands are grounded by a
large family and a small bank account. But he lives the dream
as much as he can in whatever boat he can borrow from friends
or “borrow” from the bank. He makes the best of
tough situations that occur frequently, mostly because of
his lackluster navigation.
When the bank takes back a boat, he makes do with a friend’s
Sunfish. That his anchorage is a mud flat or that he seems
to hit every sandbar and crab pot in the Neuse River leaves
him undaunted. He is the cheapest guy in the marina, known
well by the gas dock owner and waitress at the local diner.
These setbacks inspire him to see the larger picture as reflected
in his Christian faith. He reminds himself that Saint Paul,
in his cruise around the Mediterranean, had to swim to shore
more than once after a shipwreck. The point is that “running
aground is nothing to be ashamed of, but staying stuck is.”
He applies lessons to each story. Talking about his experiences
with VHF and NOAA weather reports, he says, “intercessory
prayer can be a little like the VHF radio,” and he offers
a list of tips on radio use, many of which “can be applied
to your prayer life as well.”
The invocations to prayer and Christian life lessons are
not for everyone. Some do not go to the nautical bookshelf
for Christian meditation and prayer focus. But if readers
want their humor straight, they can skip the last few paragraphs
and still get a good yarn with a Carolina flavor. And besides,
a little prayer and Scripture can’t hurt. You never know
from where inspiration might come.
U.S. Power Squardron Praises Hard Aground...
Again
Eddie Jones has done it again. Done what? Gone hard aground
of course, and lucky for us he has included it all in his
latest work, Hard Aground…Again.
North Carolina’s most beloved “navigationally challenged”
sailor shares his good, bad, but never ugly cruising experiences
and boating adventures in this sequel to Hard Aground with
Eddie Jones. This time Jones has added a touch of Spirituality
to the stories based on his strong Christian faith. No matter
what your religious beliefs you will find his advice sound
and inspirational. This book had me laughing from the Acknowledgements
through the final chapter.
Any boater who reads Hard Aground…Again
is going to find plenty of boating mishaps with which to commiserate
and they are all hilarious. He even makes about four or five
mostly tongue in cheek references to the US Power Squadrons.
EJ lives and works in Raleigh, NC but it’s obvious that
his heart is in the islands. Like most of us, Jones is always
looking for another, i.e. bigger, boat. Maybe if he sells
enough books he can buy a comfortable cruising yacht and he
and his long suffering bride Bennie can follow their (or at
least his) dream to live and sail wherever the wind blows.
At only $14.95 a copy he’s going to have to sell a lot
of books. Makes a great gift for your Boating friends or anyone
needing a good laugh and/or a spiritual boost.
Press Praises
A satisfying large dose of Eddie's down-to-earth humor...
along with a goodly supply of advice (some of it actually
useful!)..." - From The Foreword by Ted Brewer
"De new book shell reach mon dat be some fine scerfin
get to all dem spitual pigmies what don't know."
- Capt. Frank Papy
(Frank talks funny but we think he liked the book.)
"Eddie is a very undervalued writer, observer, and
sailor. Translation: the book is good." - Dave
Martin, Cruising World's 1995 Seamanship Medal Winner
"Eddie's book is very good. Many good points and
good advice, but the humor is what keeps me tuned in. After
owning six sailboats you would think his experience would
at least qualify him for the rank of Commodore. The story
about Dinty Moore and poaching the crabs with the ten bucks
in the aspirin bottle was too much." - Ricky on
Chuckatuck Creek
"Thank you for the copy of your new book! Great job—it
looks great! I LOVE the cover. Hey, just think what could
have happened if YOU’D been on the ark!" - Vonda
Skelton
"Looking for some good laughs and reflections on
life? Look no further....the answers are found in Hard Aground...Again
by Eddie Jones, a gifted writer and very talented story teller.
He has a way of making you think about your life and your
dreams, and how you can find them and make them come true!
Don't waste another minute, pick up a copy of this soon to
be best-seller and you won't be disappointed." -
John Riddle, reviewer for Publishers Weekly and founder
of I Love To Write Day
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