11/10 Great book

Hy Chris Bowman, I met you in Bequia (Grenadines) in September 1984, at Port Elizabeth. I was looking for Bob Dylan's boat so I traveled all the way from France to Bequia(Bequee)I was staying at Julius and Isola Guest house.You let me "jump on board"! Thank you so much. Bob was not there and we had a conversation, you were so kind to listen to me! Bob was in London and I couldn't go but fortunately I met him again in France in 1992. Later I wrote a book myself where I mentioned our encounter! I'm going to buy your book through Price Minister! It already looks great by the cover!

Me, the Boat, and a Guy Named Bob - an utterly captivating tale of a series of adventures experienced by a young man cruising the world’s oceans pursuing his dream of adventure, romance, and life outside the box. Written in a flowing style charmingly conversational, yet informed and reflective, author Chris Bowman places the reader seemingly inside his life, making you a partner to his cliffhanging, risky escapades.

Facing shipwreck yet again, Chris writes “ I do remember it stood out as a dark and stormy night, the kind of a night when strange riders could have been seen approaching as the wind began to howl.” Countless jewels like this are sprinkled from cover to cover. 

I can attest his yarns, improbable and occasionally hair-raising though they are, are literally true, because I was there, as a shipmate aboard the old, leaky yet durable ketch “Hawcon” as Chris began his life at sea, a life which eventually led to his exotic ship building and partnership with mega-star folksinger Bob Dylan aboard a 68 foot wooden yawl they built in the native Grenadine style, among the palms of yesteryear Bequia Island in the far south Caribbean.

My only complaint I made to Chris about his story is that at 437 pages, it is too brief. Grab it, settle in to your most comfortable chair, and hang on for the ride - hopefully, soon coming to a movie theater near you.

Oh, to be a young man again.

I’ve was looking forward to Chris’ memoir since reading his first book
“Tradewinds” which I enjoyed thourghly. His stories are so amazing and flow off the pages like a tropical breeze. I met Chris 45 years ago in Grenada 4 months after he survived his harrowing trans-Atlantic crossing aboard “Tyree” a 23’ daysailer. His telling of that voyage and his travels leading up to that stuck with me all these years and to finally get to find out where the winds blew him after our short time together was not short of astounding. It is hard to fathom one can find saltier stories written about more amazing events than those Chris Bowman shares in “Me, the Boat and a Guy named Bob”. Enthralling read from cover to cover and I felt like I was there personally experiencing the adventures with Chris.

i just finished the book!!! i spent time on boats in all those places around that time!! also i was on a boat that was shipwrecked in haiti in 1977 - lots and lots to relate too. thanks so much for this wonferful book...🍎🍀🌠

Yo Chris, I'm re-readng the one you gave me back in 2016.....Tradewinds. It's been long enough (and my memory short enough) that it's like a first read. Years ago I also gave you a copy of the one I wrote "the Chronicles of the Schooner Lusty I" Did you enjoy it? I'm still in Chiang Mai......going on 32 years now and with the same woman Lin for 12 of those years. Not surprisingly, I've had some medical dramas but so far no fatal ones, altho last year was a tester. You said you're building another boat.....far friggin' out! I would love to hear about it. And get a copy of your other book if it's mailable to Thailand. I'll cover the costs....should I order it from your web site? Look forward to sharing some more news with you....you've got my email now. Standing by matey

Me, the Boat and a Guy Named Bob is a wonderful portrait of traditional boatbuilding on the Caribbean Island of Bequia, and of the local community that makes that island so special in many sailors hearts, There are also interesting anecdotes about some of the other fascinating characters that pass through, including the one called Bob, and a background story about how the author came to wash up ashore there (he literally did). Although I have never visited Bequia, I've met a few of those extraordinary sailors here and there, and heard many tales about the Frangipani Hotel, a sailor's bar if there ever was one. My friend, Utz, a German singlehanded circumnavigator, came to roost there after two circumnavigations aboard Fauken of Bremen, as did Klaus, on Plumbelly. Chris Bowman brings all these character to life in this mesmerising tale of romance and beautiful boats. This is an important book about Caribbean culture, with an equal standing to Douglas C Pyle's classic text, Clean, Sweet Wind, and even more entertaining!

As a professional yachtsman in the Caribbean during the 1970s, I saw the schooner “Water Pearl” when she was in frame on the beach at Bequia. On another visit, I saw her finished and at anchor in the bay. I always wondered what became of her, so I welcome this interesting, and for me, nostalgic autobiography. I knew some of the characters personally, and knew of many in passing, as I must have with the author, but for anyone interested in traditional boats, its a page-turner.