Whirlaway

Whirlaway follows Martin and Jack from hard times to sheer fantasy; you too might think gainful employment was an oxymoronm with yachting, good times and a lovely life in the tropics dead ahead. So they rob a bank the modern way, with lies on paper to finance a sailing yacht. On a signature and a handshake the future brightens with enough drugs to suspend the entire NFL, enough liquor to make sage brush soggy and women so loose they look boneless. The only thing missing is reality, but not for long. Here is the action, drama, dialogue and delusion contradicting the tropics as the perfect place to be. Down to street level and the real nitty gritty is what Martin and Jack come to, with excellent sailing footage and the real low down on your tropical dreamscape. --- from book's back cover

I bought it to see what Snorkel Bob Wintner had to say, and expected it would be too depressing to finish. Not so - excellent mariner yarn, gritty view of alternate lifestyle showing why so many people choose mainstream. Skill and wisdom of Hawaiian characters well depicted. Nails mainstream foibles. Warning - outrageous comments.

Whomever wrote that Publishers' Weekly review was/is an insufferable snob, methinks. I picked up Whirlaway by random chance at a used book store, knowing nothing of the author, because the synopsis on the jacket back cover sounded interesting, and I happened to be heading to Maui soon anyway. Mr. Wintner's writing style may be like a roughly hewn flint, but he made some sparks on his first go around. There is something very existential at the core of this book that sticks with me many months after the reading. Yes, it is a largely gratuitous romp, but keep in the back of your mind that he lived nearly all of it. This is a modern day adventure - it will take you somewhere far away. Enjoy!

I think this is Wintner's best adventure novel, and it certainly captures the reality of the sailing business, no matter how grim or obscene it might be. I have been offshore and nowhere have I seen prose that captures the feeling like this. Besides that, this was very entertaining.