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We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea (Swallows And Amazons)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
I love this book most out of the whole series. The four Swallows spend a few days with an adult friend on board a real sea-going ship. However, while the owner is ashore the ship drifts out to sea in the fog. There is the same loving attention to detail as usual, but this is the first book in which the children face real danger. From the moment the Swallows realise they have drifted out to sea, it's non-stop action until the end.
36 of 37 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
This is my favourite S & A book. The Walkers (no Amazons) are on board a yacht but aren't allowed to sail past the 'Beach End Buoy'. Set in the River Stour in East Anglia, events transpire which see the four children accidentally cross the North Sea in a gale. It is an exciting book which has the most 'sailing' content of all the S & A books.
It is inspirational in that the children triumph over the adversity of crossing to Holland in a small boat in shocking weather.
I have read this book countless times since receiving it as a child. It inspired me to sail and I could practically sail a boat for the first time, aged 12 years, having read this book.
Drag your children away from mind numbing computer games and role models who only want to look good - thrust this in their mitts and hopefully their imaginations will be inspired. If not, read it yourself and you never know, the magic of sailing will become a part of your live.
Jib-booms and bobstays, that was profound !
It is inspirational in that the children triumph over the adversity of crossing to Holland in a small boat in shocking weather.
I have read this book countless times since receiving it as a child. It inspired me to sail and I could practically sail a boat for the first time, aged 12 years, having read this book.
Drag your children away from mind numbing computer games and role models who only want to look good - thrust this in their mitts and hopefully their imaginations will be inspired. If not, read it yourself and you never know, the magic of sailing will become a part of your live.
Jib-booms and bobstays, that was profound !
26 of 27 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
No plain sailing but a great read nevertheless! Arthur Ransome's seventh "Swallows and Amazons" adventure is set not long after the action of "Pigeon Post". The action occurs, this time, in the south of England, rather than in the Lake District, and with just the Swallows alone. They are passing the time on the Rivers Orwell and Stour, while waiting to meet up with their father - due, at any time, on leave from his overseas posting with the Royal Navy.
What starts out as a few days quiet sailing, though, quickly turns into something rather more frightening, with the children suddenly drawn into a terrifying and completely unexpected adventure, when they find themselves and their (borrowed) boat being swept out to sea by a fierce tide. For once, the Swallows face a very real and serious danger that is to test their combined courage, fortitude and seamanship to the utmost. It is fascinating (for grown-up readers, at least) to see each of the children's highly individual (and completely characteristic) reactions to their predicament. Younger readers, of course, are more likely just to be carried away by the pure nail-biting suspense of it all!
While this is a gripping and enthralling tale throughout, the tensions (arising from the danger and the worries of the older children) are lightened for the reader by the pure infectious glee of the younger pair. They, of course, are less aware of the seriousness of their predicament - especially Roger, who, as usual, is perfectly content so long as there is plenty of food around - and rather enjoy themselves!
As in all of the "Swallows and Amazons" books, Ransome's story-telling abilities are second to none, here. The narrative is at all times feasible and this book is a completely absorbing read for young and old alike.
... Read more ›3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read this book when I was a boy. I have now bought it for my great nephew. It's an excellent adventure story suitable for girls or boys. A group of children on a yacht off the East Anglian coast find they have drifted into the North Sea by mistake. They end up sailing - without any adults on board - across to Holland. Lots of nautical lore and lots of atmosphere. Very exciting.
The same author wrote the more famous Swallows and Amazons.
The same author wrote the more famous Swallows and Amazons.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By ajk77
Format:Hardcover
This is the most exciting tale - even if it features only the Swallows and no Amazons - because the adventure told is real. Many of the other books involve a mixture of reality and imagination: the S&A Kachenjunga was the previous generation's Matterhorn and I think is the less than 3000ft Old Man of Coniston.
There is genuine danger here and thus genuine skill and courage in their successful channel crossing - a feat for anyone to be proud of. I like Susan being sick too as she is a bit too mummyish normally
There is genuine danger here and thus genuine skill and courage in their successful channel crossing - a feat for anyone to be proud of. I like Susan being sick too as she is a bit too mummyish normally
By Tough Chops
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Re-reading this book as an adult nearly 50 years after the first time, I got so much more out of it. It is quite a technical read for the non-sailor, and even though I am not particularly well up on nautical jargon, it certainly made more sense for me this time. Don't let that put you off, though, it is still a great read. It is dated by today's PC standards, in that the females are given the chores, and spend some of the time being sea-sick, but none of that matters. I would rate it as my second favourite after "Swallowdale".
By K E Pearce
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is Ransomes finest book ; not for me perhaps his most enjoyable, that is Winter Holiday, but still the finest book he wrote. Ransome is well known as a sailor. He owned several boats and in real life cruised the baltic and the south and east coasts of England widely.
The plot draws on his extensive knowledge of the joys and hazards associated with the activity. The dragging anchor, the fog, the storm with dangerous land to leeward and any number of other events in the book are all brilliantly described and evoke a real sense of excitement anxiety and finally triumph as one by one each event is dealt with.
Ransomes characterisation of all the children is the best he achieved in any of his books but John, the skipper, is a true hero. Outwardly calm , inwardly in turmoil ,he is a young man who has learned the lessons of his elders. Conquering his fears he applies those lessons and having done so finds that things aren't so bad after all, and that even the most trying circumstances can be quite enjoyable. John brings the boat and the children through to safety. His reward when he finally meets up with his father is described in the most intimate bit of writing in any of the books.
"" A lot of things were lucky," said Daddy, and suddenly while they were walking along, brought his hand down on John's shoulder and gave it a bit of a squeeze, "you'll be a seaman, yet my son."
And John, for one dreadful moment, felt that something was wrong with his eyes. A sort of wetness......"
The plot draws on his extensive knowledge of the joys and hazards associated with the activity. The dragging anchor, the fog, the storm with dangerous land to leeward and any number of other events in the book are all brilliantly described and evoke a real sense of excitement anxiety and finally triumph as one by one each event is dealt with.
Ransomes characterisation of all the children is the best he achieved in any of his books but John, the skipper, is a true hero. Outwardly calm , inwardly in turmoil ,he is a young man who has learned the lessons of his elders. Conquering his fears he applies those lessons and having done so finds that things aren't so bad after all, and that even the most trying circumstances can be quite enjoyable. John brings the boat and the children through to safety. His reward when he finally meets up with his father is described in the most intimate bit of writing in any of the books.
"" A lot of things were lucky," said Daddy, and suddenly while they were walking along, brought his hand down on John's shoulder and gave it a bit of a squeeze, "you'll be a seaman, yet my son."
And John, for one dreadful moment, felt that something was wrong with his eyes. A sort of wetness......"
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
we did't mean to goto sea
A great read so far, takes me back to sailing on the river when i was a child with my family,
Published 1 month ago by carol jellings
4.0 out of 5 stars
Arthur Ransome.
A lovely book for children from the Swallows And Amazons author. Something for all children to read, even Mum and Dad.
Published 1 month ago by Patricia
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another great book in the Swallows and Amazons series
If you like sailing, you will enjoy this tale of the Walker children's adventure in an accidentally-borrowed boat. We did!
Published 1 month ago by Jackie Brown
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great novel with all the important tips
A great adventure, writen by someone who knows about sailing and sea.
Has all the important tips for those who mean to go to sea, in a novel that stucks us from the... Read more
Has all the important tips for those who mean to go to sea, in a novel that stucks us from the... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Luis Castro
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best
I was never a huge fan of Arthur Ransome's other books, but I remember enjoying this one and had a real need to reread it recently. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Kate
5.0 out of 5 stars
Children can do far more than they think
Sometime in Britain of the 1930's it is a different generation, the language shows that time has passed. Sea and boats do not change that much, and I enjoyed this adventure hugely. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Julian Brown
4.0 out of 5 stars
Arthur Ransome in a challenging mode
When I first read this, perhaps 50 or so years ago, I felt it to be the weakest of the Ransomes. Indeed a friend who took it out of the school library described it as... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Mr. Robert G. Hughes
5.0 out of 5 stars
not to be missed
In the previous books of the series the The children sail a small boat in the safe waters of the Norfolk Broads or Lake District. Read more
Published 17 months ago by brianthegent
4.0 out of 5 stars
A tiny bit of dated sexism lets down an otherwise awesome adventure
The only one of Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons novels to feature solely the Swallows, 'We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea' sees the four siblings do just that, as bad weather... Read more
Published 17 months ago by J. R. Johnson-Rollings
5.0 out of 5 stars
ransome review
I intend to work my way through swallows & amazons stories until the end or I tire. I have chosen the same cover for each book & have not been disappointed with any of the... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Mp Coupland
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