Product Description

Redmond O'Hanlon describes his extraordinary three-week trip on an Orkney trawler as it journeys far into the north Atlantic in search of its catch. Young skipper Jason Schofield has a 2 million pound overdraft on his boat, the Norlantean, which is why he has to go out in a Category One Force 12 hurricane when the rest of the Scottish fleet has run for shelter. O'Hanlon may not be much help when it comes to seamanship - in the words of one of the crew, he doesn't know his arse from his tit - but he is able to wax lyrical on the amazing deep-sea fish to be found north of the Wyville Thomson Ridge: greater argentine, flying squid, blue ling, the truly disgusting hagfish and many other exotics. Combining humour with erudition, O'Hanlon has written a vivid and compulsively readable account of a journey that for sheer terror beats all his previous adventures.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #158144 in Books
• Published on: 2004-06-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

About the Author
Redmond O'Hanlon has written three bestselling, highly acclaimed travel books: Into the Heart of Borneo, In Trouble Again and Congo Journey. For fifteen years he was the Natural History editor of The Times Literary Supplement. He lives outside Oxford with his wife and two children.

Customer Reviews

ALL AT SEA AUTHOR-READER SINKS GOOD BOOK
Just when you thought travel writers had exhausted their subject matter - like, dare we say it, the dwindling north Atlantic cod supply - O'Hanlon breaks waves with an unusual, and quite remarkable voyage of self-discovery on an Aberdeen fishing trawler. It's ironic to think that the "mad and seasick" writer left his "safe, warm house in peaceful Oxfordshire" to endure this cold, cruel sea hardship so listeners can enjoy a little escapist adventure in the comfort of their favourite fireside armchair. But Michael Palin he is not. Reading the book himself, O'Hanlon's flat, breathless tones become monotonous and his amateur dramatic attempts at characterisation with a dreadful Scottish accent is simply dire.
Nevertheless, it's a fine fisherman's tale that will make you appreciate your next haddock supper.
Kelvin MacGregor, The Herald, Glasgow

Gripping stuff
This is a great read that takes you on an extraordinary trip into a way of life that most people overlook. O'Hanlon is such a sympathetic and self-effacing character that you can't help but root for him to survive the storm amid men who are much younger and fitter than he is. He does bang on about marine biology quite a bit, but he more than makes up for it with his depiction of the spaced-out, paranoid atmosphere on the boat created by a communal lack of sleep. Five stars.

Sick
Despite the fact that one gets the feeling that O'Hanlon is a terrible old big 'ead, it is compelling stuff. The serious points that are made about the British Government and its single-handed destruction of the industry should have those responsible hanging their heads in shame (sadly they are more likely to be in other non-jobs or hoovering up fat, taxpayer-funded pensions).
The early section where the author experiences mounting seasickness is a masterful piece of writing, which I had to abandon halfway through for fear that I would get trainsick for the first time in my life.