Old Bertram Book: Caribbean Cruise

[SteveM]

I collect old books on the Bahamas and enjoy reading them. Reading these books allows me to jump back in time and enjoy the unspoiled, less inhabited places.
I usually find them on ebay for 1 dollar to 10 bucks. However this time I splurged and paid $29 bucks. Somehow I tripped across a book from 1948 called Caribbean Cruise, and it caught my eye as the author was Kate and Richard Bertram. I went to Dick Bertram's Wikipedia site and sure enough, he and his first wife were married during that time. So I bought the book. Dick wrote the Introduction and explains, "it's really Kate's book" aside from the Introduction and the photos, he left the writing to her. I'm posting this for any Dick Bertram fans who might want to take a walk in his footsteps while he cruised the Caribbean on a sailboat with his first wife. Here's one on ebay, with the dust jacket, there are others on Amazon too.
PS: while on the topic of old books, if you don't have Walter's cook book, you should get that too. They come up on ebay from time to time.
Steve
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1948-CARIBBEAN- ... 4183e020d5

[Preston Burrows]

Steve:

Thanks for posting that.

One for you if you've not already read it.......slightly Bahamas related and a very good read of a life/times much more simple.............. 'The Last Schoonerman' by Joe Russell, about the life of Captain Lou Kennedy.
ISBN 0-9789350-0-4

[SteveM]

Thanks Preston, I'll check it out.
It's amazing to read this book and think that they had none of the modern luxuries we have today for piloting your boat.
They go from NY to the bottom of the Antilles and back via sail in the 40's.
He says, "anyone can pick up a book and learn celestial navigation".
The war interrupted their cruise, so he joins the Navy in PR.
What's even more pleasing is to read the English language, words so properly chosen, and done by a young person in their 20's...she could probably write cursive really well too! As well as handle a sailboat and cook.