Book Review: The Wide Wide Sea, author Hampton Sides; Doubleday, 2024

       The Wide Wide Sea, also known as the Pacific Ocean, covers about a third of the planet earth. It stretches from the Arctic Circle to Antarctica, peppered here and there with minuscule islands, a few in the form of related chains of volcanic mountain tops. Until the late 18th century, few humans had ventured across its vast reaches; only a few intrepid explorers, a few bold islanders, and none others. The age of exploration was at its zenith, and the unknowns were becoming the knowns as charts, maps, and globes began to take the shapes we know today. 

      The European monarchs, always looking for new territories to conquer, funded exploration with their navies and sea captains, hoping to find new sources for materials used to enhance their kingdoms, their lands, and their influence. Captain James Cook, Royal Navy, fit the category of intrepid explorer and navigator. Not once, not twice, but three times this man ventured forth into the unknown, seeking, seeking, and seeking. And while seeking, writing, writing, charting, mapping, recording everything he saw and everything he did- and didn't do.

      After two very successful global cruises, his reputation was established as the MAN, the man who could do it all on the high seas and survive; ship and crew intact. The age of sail has been written about endlessly and continues today. In his book, author Hampton Sides retells Captain Cook's story of the third voyage of Discovery. This is Cook's final voyage whose mission was to find the Northwest Passage, that pathway over the North Pole from the Pacific Ocean to Europe thus bypassing the Atlantic Ocean and sailing directly to the shores of Great Britain. This mythical passage had entranced many navigators who searched for it; but it remained only in myth and folklore- a distant treasure route sought by many, found by none.  If anyone could find it, it was Captain James Cook.  His cartographic skills were immense; his research impeccable; his instruments state-of-the-art. His work endures to this day and his name appears on maps universally.

Captain James Cook, R.N.

     

    The Mayor of Tahoma is intimately familiar with the wide wide sea, having crossed the Pacific Ocean 8 times east to west and back again. A modern steamship cruises on a given course and sets out with a steel ship with known qualities. 

To be continued