Summary:

Title: The Venturesome Voyages of Captain Voss (2018)

Author: Voss John Claus

Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir

Overview: Sail around the Pacific with Captain John Claus in the late 19th century looking for treasure. Then, and why not, sail around the globe with many different mates, in a 19th century Indian sailing canoe. 

Critique: Like Joshua Slocum’s book, Sailing Alone Around the World, Voss’s narrates his own adventure from British Columbia, through the South Pacific, around the Australian Islands, through towns of disbelieving bystanders, across the Indian Ocean, and Finally, across the Atlantic and back to British Columbia, over three years.  His tone is similar to Slocum’s. His adventure is similar, albeit he always had a mate. This book certainly tells us something about Voss, and the attitudes of men at the turn of the 19th century.

Suggestions: If you are into adventure history, this is a book to read. I found the title while reading “The Curve of Time,” and thought it’d be nice to learn something about treasure hunting in the Pacific. What I found, outside of treasure hunting in the pacific, is a portrait of customs and mannerisms of an old salt looking to do his will upon the Earth…. The book is by no means exciting. It’s not a page turner. And it’s not epic.  His adventure is written as a side note, while his focal point is on his own perception of his fine sailing skills.

Dirty Sailor Company (DSC) Essay:

Voss’ Mates

by Bradley Angle

How many mates did Voss go through on his voyage round the globe? He found them at union halls and sailor homes. His first was a writer, a man who wanted a story to share. His second, was washed overboard, so says Voss – and the man processes his guilt and innocence throughout the book. The third was a drunkard. The fourth, a dog. The fifth and sixth, companions in a near death experience…. Voss mentioned everything as a side note, with the exception of his sea anchors methodology and his sailing advice. His trip was a side note. His success, a side note. Nearly dyeing a side note…. His mates, however, were that mechanism to turn the page. They were the eyes of Tilikum while Voss nearly slept. They were the damaged baggage Voss healed simply by his presence.  

What I truly want to get at, is that I feel that Voss threw mate, Louis Begent, overboard. He killed him. But what of it, for me to say this? I could list my evidence, mostly in page number format, with guidance to read between the lines (66, 68, 74, 94, 127, 149, 140), but does that give me some sort of right, or moral obligation, to post such an accusation of a long ago dead man? Or does it make me an asshole? Or a headliner? Or a monger of some newage sort? I don’t really give a shit. Voss seems just like the type of psycho-path that could through a man overboard, tip his hat to his sister, write about it to “exonerate the blame,” continue “driving the troubles out of shipmates,” and go on sailing!

What a time to live!  What a place to think! The sea! Stories! Personal moments! Strife! 

The mates of Voss know.  They know.