Dove

Dove by Robin L. Graham is the extraordinary story of how the author in July of 1965, at 16 years of age, began a sailing trip to circumnavigate the globe in a 24 foot sloop. Five years later he completed his trip. Along the way he had many adventures, faced many dangers and met and married a young woman who followed his trip both on land sea. Of course my first thoughts were how could his parents allow a 16 year old to sail off alone, but my reading revealed a remarkably mature young man who grew up in a sailing family.

While the voyage is described in rather flat tones, Graham’s voice comes alive when he writes about the meeting, courting and marriage to Patti. They met in Fiji but amazingly enough she also called California home. show more As his love for Patti grew, his enthusiasm for the trip lessened but both his father and Patti encouraged him to continue, and he had a contract with National Geographic to fulfill the voyage.

Dove is an interesting account of this young man’s amazing accomplishment and reading this book is very much like reading a diary, yet I never felt that I got to know him or understand his motivations. There was something in the tone of his writing that made feel that this was a young man who felt he entitled to whatever came along and to choose his direction in life without listening to the advice of his parents or others. show less

If Thoreau had lived during the 20th century, filled with materialism and media, I doubt he would have lived near Walden for any appreciable amount of time before going crazy, or having some developer come and tear down all the trees. In these days, he would have had to migrate north to Canada, or become next door neighbors with the militia groups in Montana.

Robin Lee Graham, in 1965, decided to sail around the world, in a sailboat, with little money, and with the rebellious attitude that prevaled in these times. And Dove, the name of the ship, is the book about those adventures. I picked this book up long ago, seeing in it some Thoreauesque themes in it, a Romantic look at the world aboard a boat. I bought it several years ago, but show more only read it recently.

The metaphor for life running throughout the book is obvious. It's a great book for giving to graduates, who should be tired of Dr. Seuss by now. The book also makes a great argument against the current education system in America (which would also have made Thoreau nauseated). As a teacher, I found several students with great intelligence, but only in the Tactile areas. They had to have motion, do things with their hands. They were great artists, and will become mechanics or some such. But the school system has failed them, requiring them only to sit, read, write, and regurgitate material ad infinitium. To sail around the world, to experience the life of a traveler, the depths of loneliness, the joys of gratitude and the simplistic things of life. It would be the most idyllic existence, and no one could ask for anything else. Students should be interacting with their world, not programmed by books and teachers with facts and figures.

The one thing that Graham talks about most of all, and what I found most enduring, was the feelings of loneliness, especially after finding the love of his life. It mirrors the depths of a hollow heart, after a love has gone. Simple writing style, honest, pure. It seemed only at the end, when trying to convince us all of the harm we are doing to the environment does the writing get complex, and more tedious. I wonder if the co-writer didn't do more of that part. There is a follow up book, Home is the Sailor, which was made, but I've never seen it myself. But I'm sure it's available online." show less

As "The Catcher in the Rye" is for Mel Gibson's character in "The Conspiracy Theory", so Robin Lee Graham's book is for me. I must have a half-dozen copies of it. Whenever I come upon one, and I'm sure it's long out-of-print by now, I can't resist purchasing it. I remember first reading it while in the 5th or 6th grade and being totally taken by the story. It's a wonderful account of wanderlust, adventure, innocence and maturity, and a triumphant, uplifting story for anyone who ever felt like s/he didn't fit in with the normal conventions of society.

In 1965, long before cell-phones and GPS and emergency satellite beacons, 16-year-old Robin Graham left Long Beach, CA to sail around the world by himself in a 24-foot sloop. Dove is the story of that 3+year adventure. Along the way, Graham loses 3 masts, one boat, at least one cat, visits some of the most amazing places on earth and marries a girl he meets along the way. Originally published 30 years ago, the book is still in print and for good reason. It's a thrilling true-life adventure story, short enough to hold every reader's interest, and simply and compellingly told.

I've read a few of the sailing-adventure memoirs - this one is the best,

3111. Dove, by Robin Lee Graham with Derek L. T. Gill. I read this because of a note I saw on a book board I follow. It is a 1972 book about a kid who sails around the world. It is a fantastic and almost unbelievable story, told in "National Geographic prose". (read Sept 14, 1998)

Good story of a round the world boat journey.