Dhow of the Monsoon: From Zanzibar to Oman In the Wake of Sindbad, A Memoir of a Man’s Adventure in His Youth
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Product Description
Intrigued to learn that fleets of dhows have sailed the Indian Ocean with the monsoon winds for thousands of years “and still sail today,” the author flies to Zanzibar. He boards Harisagar, a throwback to the Dark Ages. It has no motor, no radio, no lifejackets, no running lights. He is the lone passenger of seven Hindustani Moslems. For many days Harisagar plows sun-flashing seas and courses nighttime seas ablaze with phosphorescence, following Sindbad’s wake from Zanzibar a thousand years ago. The wind dies, and for three days the voyagers swelter in helpless immobility. The wind blows again, escalating into a frightening storm. Teak timbers creak and groan. The author shudders as he recalls a warning letter: “Whenever there is really rough weather, a great number of dhows are lost.” At last Harisagar jams into a port in Oman, conquering the ocean once more. Salaam aleikum, gallant shipmates!
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March 31st, 2010 at 8:41 am
Bill Holden’s Dhow of the Monsoon is superb–literate, insightful, revealing, wide ranging. The book encompasses a bit of geography, history, meteorology, seamanship, marine biology, with characters abounding, exotic locales, AND a well-told story. As a bonus, the book includes a selection of the author’s photographs–black & white, a bit grainy, and a bit washed out, but for all that well suited to the story.
The book starts in the middle of things, gets the reader right into the action on the dhow (an ancient type of sailing vessel), and then backs up to explore how the author got to Zanzibar, and why, and how he finally made connections with a ship sailing to what he thought was his intended destination (India). Holden makes effective use of details of sound, sight, taste, and other sensations, and introduces the reader to memorable characters on the voyage and preceding it.
Read it with an atlas nearby, as it will help in picturing the geography of the trip. A diagram of a dhow, labeling some of the features, would have been a nice addition to the book, but one cannot have everything. Holden cites elements of history and mythology and shows the reader images of ocean life that make the story vivid and that will, I suspect, lead many readers to learn more about marine biology and about the region in which the voyage took place.
This one goes on my short list of recommended books as a great book for armchair adventurers.
Rating: 5 / 5
March 31st, 2010 at 9:02 am
Sacramento author William M. Holden, I thought I knew all about him from my casual conversatons at local book events and from his book “Sacramento Excursions Into Its History and Natural World”. However, I was not prepared for this fantastic adventure story of his personal experiences in his book “Dhow Of The Moonsoon” which is the short title. The subtitle gives the book even more mystery, “From Zanibar to Oman in the Wake of Sindbad: A memoir of a Man’s Adventure in His Youth”. This is one of those pleasant discoveries that makes you wonder why it took the author from 1958 when he set out on this personal quest until to 2005 to publish this memoir. It is a tale for the ages and conjures up visions of an Indiana Jones or the voyages of ancient mariners.
The book begins in the middle of his story, as the younger Bill Holden is about to board a old teakwood boat called a “dhow” and sail from Zanzibar to India, or at least that was the initial plan. These boats are built exactly the same as they were some 3,000 years ago–with no navigation equipment, no radios, no running lights and primitive accommodations for its crew. The crew, in this case, was 7 Indian Moslems with very little understanding of the English language, which left the author with no real meaningful conversations for the voyage. Holden has second thoughts about boarding the boat after seeing what they look like and thoughts of losing his life in some unknown part of the ocean. But he goes ahead and begins a true journey of a lifetime.
His story then flashes back to Sacramento where we learn why he planned this adventure. The birth of his dream actually began, of all places, at the Sacramento Library. He then sent a proposal letter to True Magazine to inquire if they would be interested in buying a story and the photos of his trip. Two weeks later they actually replied and liked the idea but told him they would take it on spec–meaning there was no guarantee that they would buy his story when he came back. That meant that he would be footing the entire costs of this trip from his own resources. That would entail flying half away around the world and then getting back home again to Sacramento.
We find out that this adventure story is a perilous one indeed and one worthy of any ancient explorer. Major storms called monsoons, or as they would probably call them in Florida– hurricanes, made the sailing frightful at times. Then there were the ever present sharks and the constant dangers of collisions with large ocean going ships (They had no running lights!) which are just more parts of the thrill ride the author enjoyed. Of course, nothing really ever goes as planed and they end up in Oman and not India.
There is so much more to his story about people, history, nature and even his own outlook at life. This is one riveting read and would actually make for a great movie. The old black and white photos add another level of enjoyment to the reading experience. If any non-fiction book could be called “a page turner” then this one qualifies. A fulfilling reading adventure for anyone who has dreamed of doing something daring and wild; now you can vicariously experience that thrill from your favorites arm chair!
First Published in the Elk Grove Citizen Newspaper
Rating: 5 / 5